water flow restricted

[perrylep]

I have a whirlpool water softener. Lately i've noticed that water flow is sub par. the house is not old..maybe 6 yrs old. Copper piping. I am in the extreme deep south.

I put the water softener in "bypass" position and the pressure/flow/volume picks up noticeably. I put it back in the "use" position and it declines.... I've cleaned the venturis and I think that is mostly for the brine wash to the catalytic beads. and there was no debris there anyway.

Is there anything i should look for as to blockage..could the beads be building up a sludge that's restricting flow and how do i overcome that? Perry

[Robert Neville]

As you noted, the venturi only affects the water flow used to recharge the resin, not regular use.

If you've cleaned out the venturi, you have the skiils to replace the resin. That's what I would try.

[dpb]

cajunpaisley wrote: ...

Look up instructions/owners' manual for the unit you have--it'll describe ordinary maintenance (which this is)...

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[cajunpaisley]

thanks for your reply... I've googled and probably not using correct search terms... where does one find resin beads? are there different kinds. how do i dispose of the old beads (any environmental or safety issues?) perry

[perrylep]

I did look up the owners manual and the only maintenance really mentioned is breaking a salt bridge..but doesn't really address anything like this. One thing that I will try is the "clean" feature...for iron deposits.

perry

[perrylep]

ok.. according to the manual press and hold the program button will take you to the clean feature...

doesn't happen... i get a code that says 5r 17

mmm perry

[dpb]

No clue, really...I have and will not have one; all I know is they either have to have salt replenished and/or resin bed refreshed/flushed on occasion.

I'm sure there are ways they can build up but one would think the manufacturer would have instructions on dealing with it.

If it's showing an error code, would expect next step would be to wait until after holiday and check w/ manufacturer if can't find the error code and fixes on a web site or in manuals...

[tnom]

How often do you have to add salt? Is the brine actually being drawn in for the regeneration cycle?

Can you regenerate manually to give the beads an extra cleaning? Can you watch the manual regeneration to look for problems in the sequence?

[cajunpaisley]

this unit is maybe 2 or 3 yrs old, and the salt usage hasn't changed...it has always been a salt miser. the only new development has been the drastic reduction in flow, pressure, volume...when i put the unit in bypass mode, there is good flow, etc. so it's not anything in my plumbing that's a problem, it appears to be in the unit itself. I did a backwash cycle and the water flow coming out was quite a bit lower than what i've seen before...very much diminished. an acquaintance, who operates a car wash, and is quite learned about water softeners, say he thinks the resin beads are compromised and sludged and therefore restricting flow. whirlpool has an email to contact them, i did that, and will hopefully get a reply soon. they also have an 800 phone number, i'll give them a call after this holiday weekend. perry