Water Softener Trouble

[momot]

I recently went to Europe to work for 6 months. I rented my house for that period so there was constant use of the water softener. When I returned home, I found that the flow meter was worn and had gotten stuck, so while there was continual flow through the water softener, it never recharged. When I got home, I replaced the flow meter and performed regular recharges, including "rust-out". After 3 months, the water softener is still not performing well. Is it possible that the resin has become so coated that it won't function anymore? Is there any way of cleaning the plastic beads, such as dumping vinegar into the tank? Using vinegar worked well for our glasses, silverware and everything else that became coated with calcium. Would flushing the hot water heater help? Thanks for any help.

[Oren]

My limited understanding is that the resin can last 10-15 years. A service tech once checked my softener resin. He rubbed a small amount between his fingers; stating if it was "gritty" feeling it was still good. It's not real expensive to replace.

Is the softener plugged into a tripped GFCI outlet and just not re-generating? Bad timer/clock preventing the scheduled re-Gen?

I would not try the vinegar idea, but that's just me.

-- Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

[Gary Slusser]

You need to do two manual regenerations with the maximum salt dose for the volume of resin you have. I.E. a 1.5 cuft (48K) softener needs 23 lbs of salt for maximum 45K. A 1.0 cuft (32k) requires 15 lbs.

So, do two regens at max salt one after the other with as little water use as possible between the two regens. You may have to do three.

You can use Iron Out to clean the resin if you have iron in the water. Don't mix it with anything else; like vinegar. Mix a 1/3 to 1/2 cup of it in a gallon of warm water poured into the water in the salt tank for each of the two regens.

Gary Quality Water Associates