I have a Sears water softener that is about 10 years old. About a month ago, I noticed that it had stopped working. I tried all the things in the troubleshooting manual (cleaning the ventura housing, making sure all the tubes were clear, etc.) to no effect. I've concluded that the problem is that during recharge, the brine is not getting into the resin chamber for some reason. The brine level does not go down in the main tank during the recharge phase, and the water coming out of the resin chamber during the brine-rinse doesn't taste salty. The tube from the brine tank into the ventura housing is clear, and during the brining phase, I can feel/hear some kind of movement in the tube and ventura. It just doesn't seem to be getting into the resin chamber for recharging. I don't think the resin beads are 'exhausted', because didn't gradually weaken - and also because I can see that the brine level in the tank isn't falling.
Any ideas? Hopefully, its something I can do myself - I'm guessing that a repairman will cost about the same as buying a new one.