Ge Pro Elite Water Softener problems

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duker733

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Well, I got the new 1.25" riser tube installed ran regeneration and now I have soft water. Thanks so much for all the suggestions here.
I have tested my water now and it's still testing out at 3.5 - 4.5 gpg of hardness. Will it get softer over time or how can I get that number to 1 or less?
 

Reach4

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I have tested my water now and it's still testing out at 3.5 - 4.5 gpg of hardness. Will it get softer over time or how can I get that number to 1 or less?
I think you need to trigger an immediate regeneration. The leak was bypassing the regeneration flow as well as the service flow.
 

ditttohead

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Do the salt taste test to the drain again. Hardness leakage can also be caused by a damaged riser o-ring. Be sure the riser tube reaches the riser o-ring. Make sure the riser tube does not have a crack in it. On a new system, these would be the most common reasons for minor hardness leakage.

And as Bannerman asked, what test kit are you using?
 

duker733

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I am using a GH drop test kit. It's one I use for testing water for aquariums. It is for testing hardness, so it should be the same as any other GH drop test. I have the salt dosage at 10lbs/cu ft and have the valve programmed for 1.75 cu ft of resin at the moment, and have run a couple of regens on it.

I replaced the riser tube with the 1.25" one that fits my 268 valve and I made sure when I put it all back together that it fit nice and tight in the valve with the o ring in place. So it should be running correctly.
 

ditttohead

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OK, do the salt taste test again to make sure the riser, o-ring, etc are not bypassing internally. If this passes, then the next step would be an internal flapper hanging up or not seating correctly. Get a Hach 5B test kit, you are testing potable water, not an aquarium.
 

Bannerman

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Was any food grade silicone based grease lubricant used to lube the O-ring? If lubricant wasn't used, the O-ring may have been displaced, distorted or damaged when the riser was inserted or while the valve was being threaded to the tank.

I asked about the test method as you stated in post #21 that the water is now soft, but then specified 3.5-4.5 gpg hardness when tested. The two statements appear to conflict, possibly indicating an unreliable test method.

In addition, it is somewhat odd that a range of hardness is shown as a reliable test method should provide consistent results between samples obtained in a short period of time.

Although unrelated to the current test result issue, you specify the unit is programmed for 1.75 cuft of media. It would then appear that the total programmed capacity is 52,500 grains. (30K/cuft X 1.75)

As a 10 lb salt setting will restore 27K capacity in 1 cuft of resin, the restorative capacity of 17.5 lbs of salt in 1.75 cuft of resin would then be 47,250 grains. Your usable capacity should be programmed at 47,250 grains with your 10 lb/cuft salt setting otherwise, more capacity will be used then will be restored.

When a softener is functioning correctly, you would expect less than 1 gpg hardness when testing the outgoing water.
 
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duker733

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Sorry for all the questions, but I'm still learning the math on programming my softener. I'm a little bit confused as to what you are saying.

Are you saying I should program my valve with a smaller number in the amount of resin my tank contains? Or use a higher salt dosage for the 1.75 cuft I have it programmed for now?

As for my test kit that I am currently using, it's very hard to distinguish the blue color created by the drops to get an accurate test reading. I have ordered the hach 5 test kit tonight, so I well retest when I receive it.
 

Bannerman

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As I'm not familiar with your specific controller, I can't advise on the details of programming that control.

With most controllers, the regenerative capacity is programmed as grains, not cuft while the salt setting is in pounds, not pounds/cuft.

While the softener may contain 1.75 cuft of media which could provide up to 52,500 grains of softening capacity, the amount of salt required to restore all 52,500 would be 26.25 lbs. Those settings then provide a salt efficiency of 2K grains per pound of salt.

Salt efficiency maybe greatly improved by reducing the programmed restorative capacity for that same volume of resin, while also reducing the salt dose.

As previously stated, for 1.75 cuft of standard resin, a 10 lb/cuft (17.5 lbs total) salt setting will regenerate 47,250 grains of capacity. (= 2,700 grains per pound)
An 8 lb/cuft salt setting (14 lbs total), will restore 42K grains capacity. (= 3K grains/lb)
A 6 lb/cuft salt setting (10.5 lbs total), will restore 35K grains capacity. (= 3,333 grains/lb)

Similar to a vehicle, while the gas tank may hold 60 litres to provide a driving range of 800 KMs, if you topped-up after traveling only 600 KMs, you would then expect to need only 45 L of fuel to restore the 800 KM range. If less than 45 L was placed in the tank, then the 800 KM range would not be restored.

As the salt utilized in a softener is similar to the fuel consumed, the salt setting chosen will determine the capacity (driving range) which will be restored. If the capacity being utilized is more than is being restored, the tank will eventually run-out before a regeneration cycle (gas station).

A softener unlike a vehicle, is able to obtain higher fuel economy (salt efficiency) when the tank is topped-up when requiring a smaller amount of fuel.
 

duker733

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Well, I received my hach 5 test kit today, and tested the water and it's showing 1 gpg or less, so I guess everything is working tip top! Thanks for all the help and suggestions here.
 

electrok

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Hello, first post here. Great to find this forum to discuss this stuff.

Trying to keep this as short as possible, while supplying as much info as possible. I am on well water and when I moved in here a year ago there was a water softener installed some years ago. It seemed to be working ok, but it looks kind of old so I purchased a new one.

For a really great deal (basically free) I got a brand new GE Pro Elite softener with an Autotrol 268/716 valve on it.

Install was simple as I just swapped it into place of the older one. I ran it about 30 minutes in backwash mode to clean out the resin. Then ran it through all of the cycles to make sure it was drawing from the brine tank, which it is.
Programming the valve was a little confusing, but I think I got it about right.
I had no info on the size of the unit when I bought it, hence the good deal, but researching and measuring the resin tank dimensions, which are: 12" wide x 48" high, it looks to hold about 1.75 -2.00 cu ft of resin. So I've got it set in the valve programming for 2.00 cu ft.

My problem is, it seems to be functioning fine as I've ran it through about 4 or 5 regenerations and it's drawing all the brine from the brine tank and rinsing and refilling the brine tank, but I have no soft water whatsoever.

My water tests out at around 10 gpg of hardness.

I've dumped 4 bags of salt in the brine tank, checked all brine connections, even pulled the injector valve and screen out to make sure it was clean and not clogged, but after 4 or 5 regens, still no soft water.

I think I may have had the salt dosage set a little low. I started first regeneration on 10lbs cu ft and lowered it to around 8lbs cu ft for the last few regenerations.

Thinking that may be too low I cranked it up to 18 lbs cu ft, (max setting) and ran one more regeneration on it tonight. What's weird is that after the last two regenerations the check salt light has been on after it finishes. There is lots of brine and salt in the tank?? I've stirred up the salt and made sure there is no bridge or blockage and still have no soft water.

I even pulled the valve off the tank last night and checked the riser tube and made sure the o-ring was in place. I cannot for the life of me figure out why there is no soft water?? I also made sure there was resin in the tank, it's orange in color, but other than that I don't know what kind it is?

So in follow up here's my settings with no soft water being produced

1.75 - 2.00 cu ft of resin in 12"x48" size tank
Autotrol 268/716 valve programmed for 2.00 cu ft of resin
Salt dosage, as of last regen 16 lbs cu ft
No soft water

Any help or ideas would be appreciated, thanks. Sorry for the long first post.

Is the Pro Elite by GE a good water filter?
What do you think is worth for?
 

ditttohead

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It is an Autotrol based system, it has a few minor design problems, but these problems have been around for decades so I don't see them changing it anytime soon. The design problems are primarily in the way the plumbing connectors connect to the valve. Most modern valves have built in flexibility so the potential for a failure of the connector is greatly reduced. I always recommend using flex lines on the Autotrols, other than that, excellent...
 
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