Need help/advice on water softener

[senrab]

I'm reposting this as I putit on the plumbing forum by mistake. Sorry!

My Culligan mark 812 softener stopped working. I've cleaned the screen in the valve, the pickup and fill tube seems to working ok, has suction and discharges water into the brine tank. So today I emptied the brine tank of salt and cleaned it. I'm 73 and don't bend like I used to so this was a little hard for me, so before I refill with salt I'd appreciate some advice.

The tank has a finely perforated plastic disk on legs which keep it about 3 inches from the bottom of the tank. The stack fits tightly through this disk with the intake hole just below the bottom of the disk. When the disk was removed the bottom of the tank was filled with a very thick salt slush. This doesn't seem right to me, shouldn't there be only salt water below the disk? Also, the disk has a series of flexible tabs around the edge that appear to be meant to function as a seal between the rim of the disk and the wall of the tank. A number of these tabs are missing and I think this has allowed too much salt to enter under the disk. I didn't find any of the missing tabs when I cleaned the tank, but they may have been hidden in the slush. Question; do you think this is the source of problem, and if so where would I get a replacement disk or any suggestions on repairing this one. Last question: what is the proper settings for the stops on the float rod that determine float travel up and down.

Hope this description makes sense! Any advice, suggestions or info very much appreciated!!

[JKERN]

The salt slush in the bottom of your tank can be caused by either low quality salt or that your drain line for your softener is set too low in your drain and not properly air gapped. Typically after you clean the brine bin and reinitialize your system things should be back to normal. You may also need to use a resin cleaner to revitalize the media in the tank your local water dealer should have this and if not you can email me and i would be glad to help you.

[Gary Slusser]

On most Culligan softener control valves there is a brine valve on the control valve, so if you have water going into the salt tank when it shouldn't be, that valve is leaking or, the main piston and/or seals are leaking.

If so, most likely is that you need their seals and piston kit and a new brine valve is a good idea too.

The float controlled valve in the salt tank is a safety valve that closes if the water level becomes too high, it shuts off the flow of water so it doesn't overflow the tank onto the floor. That is its only function.

The disk/platform with the tabs that the salt sets on is called a salt grid. It is normal for the tabs to break off over time.

The type of salt used has nothing to do with it or your problem. Nor does the drain line from the control valve.

You say the softener stopped working but don't say what it is doing that it shouldn't be doing or what it should be doing that it isn't doing....