Water Softener Help!!!

[Corie]

Ok, so I have a water softener.

It has two, upright tanks which kinda look like welding gas tanks, except they appear to be made of fiberglass.


Next to the two tanks is a larger, thin plastic tank, which I surmise is where the salt belongs. The lid of this tank removes easily. The two, taller tanks (one is slightly taller than the other) have a removeable cover with a disc type timer in them, which I'm assuming determines when the softener regenerates.

That's all I got. I have no other clue as to how it works, etc. Can someone, ANYONE, please help me?

 

[Corie]

Does this describe what I have?

The third type of system is twin-tank with regeneration initiated on demand. As this system has two tanks instead of the usual one, when one tank has reached its capacity, the other one can take over, leaving the first free to be regenerated. This means there will be a constant flow of soft water and there is never any wasted water or salt. As such, this is certainly the simplest and most efficient type of water softener. Though initially the most expensive type of system, this will become cost-effective over time as it allows no wastage.

 

[TMonter]

Sounds like it might be a two tank system. Any Idea who makes it Corie?

 

[Corie]

There isn't a brand name anywhere I can find. I'm going to root around and try again, but I'm lost with this stuff, to be honest.

I guess I've figured out that the salt goes in the big tank and that the other two probably contain plastic beads. I'm curious whether being unfilled with salt this entire time has ruined the thing?

 

[granpajohn]

I believe I have a similar system; 2 resin tanks, 1 brine tank, 2 controllers. Go to this site: www.softenerparts.com....They have a good DIY section, and also you can figure out the brand you have by looking at their good pictures. I was able to buy a new controller clock from them about 2 months ago, and in the process I got a users manual for my system. BTW, the manual is available for free as a PDF file from other web locations. Also, I doubt that you've hurt anything by running without salt. Add a system-saver or iron-out type salt to help avoid clogs.

 

[velvetfoot]

I had an unpleasant experience with a softener recently.
The salt had solidified in the tank and I don't know why-maybe humidity- but Culligan suggested the crystals as compared with the pellets.
My manual says to put about 6" of water in the salt tank before filling with salt.
You might have to manually regenerate for two cycles before it works.
I bought some water hardness test strips to test for myself how the softener is working-the slimey feel test when showering is also good.
My model is about 4 years old or so and its electronic controller measures gallons of water used to determine when to regenerate.
Culligan is not open about its stuff (the softener came with the house)-they want to make expensive visits to your house.
You can basically build your own from generic parts from the site mentioned above, which would be attractive to me.
The resin lasts a long time they say.

 

[pdboilermaker]

If you have high iron (rust) and it has set for a while, run IRON OUT through it according to the instructions on the bottle. DO NOT WASH CLOTHS FOR A DAY OR TWO AFTER YOU GENERATE IT. They will beach out.