Water Softner Issues

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AR_Hills

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I recently purchased a softner system via dittohead. It's a two tank 2.5 cf Pentair system with KL.

The issue is the softner will throw a "No Flow" alarm after about a week or two of light usage. This leads to my H2S2 and hardness issues returning.

Even with the alarm I'm getting normal output flow, however it seems the water isn't filtered. I can force the alarm off by cutting the main and reopening it after a minute or so. When this happens I can hear the Fleck click over with a rush of water and the Flow Usage Meter returns to normal. The softner is staged after the KL tank.

My typical flow when it's working is 2.5 gpm with a max of 3.6.

I'm gone for days at a time and my father said he thinks that the system doesn't like the lack of flow. He suggested a timer on an faucet to run the water for an hour or so a day.
 

Reach4

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I recently purchased a softner system via dittohead. It's a two tank 2.5 cf Pentair system with KL.
Do you mean that one 13" x 54" tank has KL, and the other 13" x 54" tank has softener resin?

If so, the one with KL would be called a backwashing filter, and the softener would be the one with the softener resin. So what is indicating an alarm condition?

My typical flow when it's working is 2.5 gpm with a max of 3.6.
What do you mean by that? Are you referring to the numbers in the softener diagnostics? I presume that you are not saying that 3.6 is as much as your pump will put out, because the KL system will need a whole lot more backwash that that. However the backwash of the KL filter would not be reflected in the softener diagnostic numbers.
 

ditttohead

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I assume it is an XTR2. I would set the Day over ride to every 21 days, this will force an automated regeneration regardless of flow. Call me to go through the programming, it is a little wonky for a forum discussion.
 

AR_Hills

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Do you mean that one 13" x 54" tank has KL, and the other 13" x 54" tank has softener resin?

If so, the one with KL would be called a backwashing filter, and the softener would be the one with the softener resin. So what is indicating an alarm condition?

What do you mean by that? Are you referring to the numbers in the softener diagnostics? I presume that you are not saying that 3.6 is as much as your pump will put out, because the KL system will need a whole lot more backwash that that. However the backwash of the KL filter would not be reflected in the softener diagnostic numbers.

The softner is the one with the Alarm Code.

The softner flow meter shows 2.5/7 typically. My well only outputs maybe 8gpm. After the pressure tank and a pre filter it's maybe reaching 5gpm to the KL Filter. So the Softner is seeing half that after the KL.
 

AR_Hills

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I just ran a regen cycle. The issue popped up again after the cycle was completed. The flow meter shows 0.0 and no flow can be felt even with an outside faucet on full blast.

I have to shut the main off and quickly reopen it for the softener to kick open and start flowing. I'm wondering if my issue comes from the fact my well only outputs 8gpm. I just now noticed the KL Filter also doesn't show any flow.

Do these filters bypass if there isn't enough flow to trigger the Fleck heads ?
 
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Reach4

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I just now noticed the KL Filter also doesn't show any flow.
KL filter will not have a meter, so it will not show flow. It will be a timed regen. What size is your KL tank -- diameter or circumference?

Do these filters bypass if there isn't enough flow to trigger the Fleck heads ?
No. However a very low flow will not register on the softener. I don't know what the threshold of that should be.

The flow meter shows 0.0 and no flow can be felt even with an outside faucet on full blast.
Normal; the outside faucets don't go thru the filter or the softener. Run the bathtub for your test.
 

AR_Hills

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KL filter will not have a meter, so it will not show flow. It will be a timed regen. What size is your KL tank -- diameter or circumference?


No. However a very low flow will not register on the softener. I don't know what the threshold of that should be.

Normal; the outside faucets don't go thru the filter or the softener. Run the bathtub for your test.

Same size as the softener - 2.5 cf tank.

Yeah my house has very odd plumbing. The landscaping and outside water faucets are connected to the house AFTER the softener. In my new piping layout I left a capped bypass pipe for later landscaping use.

Well something is very wonky with this softener system. My dishwasher is covered in chalky mineral deposits and the water tastes very off. One of my friends gagged on a glass of water this evening. I can stand the unfiltered water but this is a different taste.

The system worked for about two weeks and since then it's gone south. When I last checked the Hardness yesterday it was just shy of 250 . That is with the system tied in. When I first connected the system the Hardness was basically 0 on the same test strip.
 

Reach4

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Your filter needs something like 11 or 12 gpm to backwash.

Regarding the white and the taste, could that be salt?
 

AR_Hills

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Regarding the white and the taste, could that be salt?

I think I've figured out the issue or issue(s) to be more correct.

The water coming out of the system, before the house, is insanely soft. My test kit is showing almost no hardness, alkalinity of about 200ppm, and pH of about 8.5.

The deposits and horrible taste is coming from my WH and my pipes. The water is eatting the 30+ years worth of mineral buildup. So I've slightly opened a bypass I installed to see if I can stablize the water around a 50 Hardness.

In my limited knowledge. Let me know if I have this hypothesis wrong.

The "No Flow" alarm was a Red Herring and I think it's a broken or blocked turbine. As it works when I quickly introduce a water pressure head.
 
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