New homeowner...existing water softerner...no manual...not regenerating

[Akpsdvan]

The drive motor is only going to running for very few seconds, just long enought to move the cams to the next spot on the wheel.

If the drive motor is bad , the unit will not switch tanks nor will it move the upper piston to the different spots for the cleaning cycle.


When the float is down the air should be able to go either way, if it is up the air should not be able to go down.

There was awhile back a float assembly that had a rubber washer go bad it is at the base of the float arm.. where it goes into the body of the assembly. if that rubber went bad, then it could not draw water out of the brine tank, but it could and would let water in to the brine tank.

If I am losing you on this and you need the phone... pm me and I can send it to you.. no cost...

[msomerville]

I think I am following you.

When the system regenerated it was drawing from the brine tank so maybe the rubber washer wouldn't be the problem here.

I should see the lower shaft start to rotate when I turn the star shaped dial. The fact that this isn't happening might point me in the direction of the drive motor.

If I took a multi-meter and tried to measure the output of the motor would that tell me anything about the motor? Since the motor only works for a few seconds it may be pretty hard to measure.

Thanks for your help with this.

[Akpsdvan]

There is a way of "hot wirring" the main drive motor....

Kids,,, do not do this at home with out an adult over seeing the job....

unplug the unit.. find the 2 black wires from the main power supply.. then find the 2 wires coming off the motor.. there should be some wire nuts , undoing the nuts, and taking the wires from the moter to the main power line, nut them together.. then plug the unit in... if the motor is good it will turn.. if it is not good nothing will happen.

Kids,,, do not do this at home with out an adult over seeing the job....


On to the brine.. if the washer was bad in that float assembly it would draw air in that spot, more air than water..

The reason that I say that the injector normally does not plug is because there is always treated water going through it.. one is using the fresh tank to clean the out going tank, and when it fills the brine tank it is with treated water.

Now if the main drive motor stopped when the unit was in brine fill , the float would stop the water from continuing to go into the brine tank,, it is a safety float.. some will use it as the main stop... but really it is the fail safe on the brine tank fill...

[msomerville]

Well the drive motor is working when I hot wired it.

I am going to empty the brine tank one more time and make sure everything is clean, and if that doesn't do the trick I am gonna call someone out to look at it.

Again thanks for your help.

I will post my findings.

[Akpsdvan]

Look up page 46 and fig 46 of the wiring .. if the drive motor is good with the hot wire, then there could be a break some place else, some thing not tight and letting the power flow when needed..

There is really no need to empty the brine tank, just send the unit into a cycle and it will pull the brine out.

Unhook the meter cable from the meter cap and swing out the timer assembly , then turn that star wheel just far enough to push down both micro switchs and check back in x minutes to make sure that it is moving along as it should.

[msomerville]

Well the good news is everything seems to be running fine now. One thing I did do was check the connections. I noticed one of the wires for the drive motor seemed to pull out of the wire nut fairly easily. Was that the problem- I don't know. Maybe something is still starting to flake out one me and I will have to call someone down the road.

If I did need to empty the brine tank in the future I would be able to stop the softener mid-cycle? Would I just unplug the unit after it is drawn out of the tank?

Keeping fingers crossed.

Thanks for all of your help.

Matt

[Akpsdvan]

Is the unit still having some challenges?

That lose wire could cause some challenges down the road...

If you notice that the brine tank has extra water in it, yes unpluging the system for about 30 minutes will hold the system in the spot that it is in.

The timer motor would stop and then start back up when it gets pluged back in.

[msomerville]

The last time it did filled the tank to a lower level than the previous two times. The brine enclosure has a higher level of water in it though- it looks like at the same level the brine tank had filled up to the past two times. It seems like they should be the same level if the float is used as a saftey shutoff? I did almost run out of salt in there if that makes any difference. Less displacement?

Maybe my problems aren't over.

That wire is no longer loose. Nice and tight now.

[Akpsdvan]

I have always seen a difference in levels between in the brine well and out of the brine well.. if the difference is getting larger, then the brine tank may need to be cleaned out , the bottom of the brine tank may have some kind of build up not letting the water pass freely between tank and brine well.


If you add salt when the water has no salt in it, then the water will displace a little, but more if the water already has salt in it..

[msomerville]

There is about a four inch difference between the two. Is that telling me that the water is not passing freely or a common difference?

[Akpsdvan]

4" is a bit much... you might check the bottom of the brine well to make sure that there is no kind of build up on the open holes or slots on the bottom end of the brine well.

[msomerville]

Well it's been a few months now ,and all is well. I don't have any real conclusions drawn. Whether is was loose wiring, or something dirty and clogged.

Thanks again!

[Akpsdvan]

Glad to hear that it is working..