21
PROBLEM
CAUSE
SOLUTION
1. Softener fails to regenerate
A. Electrical service to unit has been
interrupted
A. Ensure permanent electrical service
to unit (switch, circuit breaker, plug,
etc.)
B. Meter cable not inserted into meter
B. Insert meter cable into meter
C. Defective timer motor
C. Replace timer motor
D. Faulty meter assembly
D. Replace meter assembly
2. Softener delivers hard water
A. Bypass valve is open
A. Close bypass valve
B. No salt in brine tank
B. Add salt to brine tank and maintain
salt level above water level
C. Brine tank overfilled with water
C. See Problem # 8 below
D. Insufficient water flowing into brine
tank
D. Check brine tank fill time and clean
brine line flow control
E Leak at distributor tube
E. Check length of distributor tube and
condition of pilot tube o-ring
F. Internal valve leak
F. Replace piston and seals/spacer kit
G. Softener not regenerating
G. See Problem # 1 above
H. Slow leak in plumbing that is not
registered by the meter IE dripping
faucet
H. Eliminate sources of slow leaks
I. Softener resin fouled by iron
I. Manually regenerate with a strong
solution of resin cleaner for iron or
re-bed the softener
3. Unit uses too much salt
A. Improper salt setting
A. Correct salt setting
B. Excessive water in brine tank
B. See Problem # 8 below
C. Leak in plumbing that is sufficient to
be registered by the meter IE
running toilet
C. Eliminate sources of leaks
4. Loss of water pressure
A. Softener too small for application
A. Check application requirements and
resize water softener as required
B. Foreign material buildup in water
softener
B. Perform an extended backwash:
1) Place unit in manual regeneration
2) When backwash begins, unplug
the unit from the electrical outlet
3) Allow unit to remain in backwash
for 30+ minutes
4) Plug unit back into electrical
Outlet, allow regeneration to
finish automatically
5. Loss of resin through drain line
A. Air in water system
A. Locate source of air in system:
1) Check for low water table
conditions in well
2) Check for positive seal on brine
line connections
B. Drain line flow control is too large
B. Ensure proper drain line flow control
is installed
C. Mineral tank is overfilled
C. Remove excess resin or allow resin
to discharge to proper level during
backwash
6. Loss of resin into service line
A. Softener is installed backwards
A. Re-plumb the softener correctly and
clean resin from faucet screens,
flush valves and water heater
B. Hot water has backed up into the
softener and melted components
B. Re-plumb the softener correctly
(minimum 10’ pipe before water
heater or install an expansion tank)
and replace damaged components
C. Broken distributor basket
C. Replace distributor basket
D. Gravel underbed shifted to one side
D. Redistribute gravel to cover
distributor
Troubleshooting
