I have a relatively new Kemore 150 that has done a bang-up job since we bought the house. Out of warranty, though -- of course.
First sign of trouble was if I let the salt get low and then added salt, the water took a few days to soften up.
But eventually it seemed to produce no soft water.
So I cleaned out the brine tank which was major league mushy. I'm not sure if it was a salt bridge, but I cleared it out, added a new bag, ran a cycle, and no soft water.
I had previously cleaned the little venturi gaskets so I didn't check them.
Read a thread that the basket/screen into the resin tank might be clogged, and it was -- major league. Cleaned it out well, put it back together and no soft water.
Took the whole thing apart and together again including the cleaning nozzle and venturi. All gaskets look great, (including the figure 8 guy), but I greased them w/ plumbers silicone grease and no soft water.
Did the Sears troubleshoot thing and no soft water.
Here's what seems to be working...
- the valve in the plunger (in the brine tube) does both pump and suck water like it's supposed to (as per the Sears website animation diagnostic)
- when I remove the little black hose on the venturi I'm getting good suction (diagnostic)
- the control mechanism works through the cycles in the correct order.
- water is draining into the sump pump during the brining cycle.
Things that might not be...
- the manual says the salt tank should have about 2-3 inches of water when it's done cycling -- mine has about 9 inches. flooded tank?
- during the fill cycle I can see the water flowing into the brine tank, but the water level never seems to go up (maybe that's normal) and it never goes down so that during the "service" phase, the water level doesn't change despite the fact that the brine vale is pumping and sucking at the right time.
I've taken it all apart and put it back together twice to see if maybe I got something wrong. I'm sure it's all where it's supposed to be.
Is is possible that air got into the system somewhere and it just needs to be burped? It feels like everything is testing fine, but if the brine isn't getting pumped over the resin... Is that possible?
(When a guy walks into an auto repair shop with his troubled Chevy and the mechanic says, "Well, what did you buy that piece of crap for? You should have bought a Rolls Royce like I drive [and sell, by the way]" --- when he says that it doesn't help the guy w/ the Chevy. So here's hoping some Chevy mechanics will chime in and some gracious Rolls owners will provide some insight on my lowly Kenmore 150.)
First sign of trouble was if I let the salt get low and then added salt, the water took a few days to soften up.
But eventually it seemed to produce no soft water.
So I cleaned out the brine tank which was major league mushy. I'm not sure if it was a salt bridge, but I cleared it out, added a new bag, ran a cycle, and no soft water.
I had previously cleaned the little venturi gaskets so I didn't check them.
Read a thread that the basket/screen into the resin tank might be clogged, and it was -- major league. Cleaned it out well, put it back together and no soft water.
Took the whole thing apart and together again including the cleaning nozzle and venturi. All gaskets look great, (including the figure 8 guy), but I greased them w/ plumbers silicone grease and no soft water.
Did the Sears troubleshoot thing and no soft water.
Here's what seems to be working...
- the valve in the plunger (in the brine tube) does both pump and suck water like it's supposed to (as per the Sears website animation diagnostic)
- when I remove the little black hose on the venturi I'm getting good suction (diagnostic)
- the control mechanism works through the cycles in the correct order.
- water is draining into the sump pump during the brining cycle.
Things that might not be...
- the manual says the salt tank should have about 2-3 inches of water when it's done cycling -- mine has about 9 inches. flooded tank?
- during the fill cycle I can see the water flowing into the brine tank, but the water level never seems to go up (maybe that's normal) and it never goes down so that during the "service" phase, the water level doesn't change despite the fact that the brine vale is pumping and sucking at the right time.
I've taken it all apart and put it back together twice to see if maybe I got something wrong. I'm sure it's all where it's supposed to be.
Is is possible that air got into the system somewhere and it just needs to be burped? It feels like everything is testing fine, but if the brine isn't getting pumped over the resin... Is that possible?
(When a guy walks into an auto repair shop with his troubled Chevy and the mechanic says, "Well, what did you buy that piece of crap for? You should have bought a Rolls Royce like I drive [and sell, by the way]" --- when he says that it doesn't help the guy w/ the Chevy. So here's hoping some Chevy mechanics will chime in and some gracious Rolls owners will provide some insight on my lowly Kenmore 150.)