Water softener problems

billygruff

I have a chemical exchange water softener installed under the kithcen sink for the last 10 years, it has not given much trouble and took approx one bag of salt cubes every 4-6 weeks.
This year I noticed the salt was not being consumed and the floating ball in the air check valve lost it boyancy and sank
I got a new one and installed it into the air check valve without much trouble
The problem was that I had adjusted the brine flow valve without recording the original position :mad: and was not sure how to adjust it correctly.

I got the water softener company that supplied the unit out to check the settings and they hadn't got much of a clue... so I got stung for a 85 euro call out charge :eek: - won't be calling them again...

Question 1. Does any other part of a softener need to be changed out after ~10 years of service?

Question 2. Can excess consumption of salt by the softener cause skin rash from use of (over) softened water? (Some of the family got red skin after a shower)

Question 3. What is the best method of testing softened water? (would litmus paper do as a basic check??)

Any advice appreciated.

metroman_12000

Hi,

If you could measure the size (height x diameter) of the resin vessel I will be able to tell you at which setting to set the salt dial.

A.1. If the water supply is just hard, with no iron or manganese present you should not need to change anything as the resin (if its good quality) should last about 20 years.

A.2. If the softener is working properly (even if it is using excessive amounts of salt) no residue of salt should be left in the water after regeneration as the unit should rinse away any excess during the "fast rinse" cycle.

A.3. Litmus paper will only tell you the ph. You need a hardness test kit to check water hardness.

I hope the above is helpful