water softener doesn't recharge - any ideas?

[44trxfun]

water softener doesn\'t recharge - any ideas?

(I posted this on CBN, but since there have been some water softener discussions recenlty, I thought it might get some attention here too.)

I have a Culligan (Mark 10) water softener system that suddenly (?) stopped recharging though nothing was changed. Until a couple/three weeks ago, it was set to recharge every other night. Now it doesn't see to be tripping, even though the pins appear to be set as they were previously.

I'm not very familiar with these systems. Any ideas what could be going on?

Thanks.

 

[PhilNH5]

Re: water softener doesn\'t recharge - any ideas?

44trxfun,
If it is not even trying you could have a bad solenoid. My old system had a bad solenioid. I tested this by moving the mechanical clock. The intial "click" to start the process never happened. But as I rotated the clock the second click happened as the pin made contact. I replaced the first solenoid.

If it is attempting to recharge - Do you hear the water backflushing but still have hard water the next day?
If this is the caes your brine tank could have a "salt bridge" - the salt solution is super saturated and when it starts to come out of solution it forms a solid cake. This can interfere with the pellets making it to the water to dissolve. You have to clean out the brine tank.

 

[Moon]

Re: water softener doesn\'t recharge - any ideas?

Phil is right on. If you move it manually thru it's cycle you can quickly tell if it's the solenioid or not.