Kinetico 60 Regen Drive Pawl Skipping - Sticks in Regen Cycle

[Turtlens]

I've got a Kinetico Model 60 (unknown age, serial 01198097 if that gives any indication). City water main broke in front of our home, and shortly after the system would get stuck in the regeneration cycle.

Initial thought was a sediment influx, though there is a pre-filter. Disassembled and cleaned Levels 1-6. Not much debris to speak of, but substantial iron coating the interior components. All components seemed to be present and in working order.

Replaced pre-filter, reassembled unit and things seemed to be back in business for about a month or two. Then back to the same problem of sticking in regeneration. With a now-clear viewing window, I could see the regeneration drive pawl is skipping on the control disc, and unable to advance the disc during the brine/rinse stage. The pawl spring seems to be seated properly. Here's a video of what I'm talking about:

Weirdly enough, the regen drive pawl is able to advance the control disc during the backwash cycle. This leads me to believe water pressure might be playing a roll here. Note: gearing stacks seem to be fine.

Last thing I can't seem to get info about. There is a substantial amount of air beneath the acrylic viewing window. Nearly the entire top of the meter disc is exposed to air. I'm wondering if this is creating some pressure differential making it difficult to push the control disc along the ceramic below. Is there a way to bleed this air out, or is it normal?

I'm not sure how to solve insufficient water pressure, but I would be able to replace the pawl and control disc if I could find the parts. Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated!

Edit: Here's a photo of the control disc and pawls:

 

[Travisdc1980]

I've got a Kinetico Model 60 (unknown age, serial 01198097 if that gives any indication). City water main broke in front of our home, and shortly after the system would get stuck in the regeneration cycle.

Initial thought was a sediment influx, though there is a pre-filter. Disassembled and cleaned Levels 1-6. Not much debris to speak of, but substantial iron coating the interior components. All components seemed to be present and in working order.

Replaced pre-filter, reassembled unit and things seemed to be back in business for about a month or two. Then back to the same problem of sticking in regeneration. With a now-clear viewing window, I could see the regeneration drive pawl is skipping on the control disc, and unable to advance the disc during the brine/rinse stage. The pawl spring seems to be seated properly. Here's a video of what I'm talking about:

Weirdly enough, the regen drive pawl is able to advance the control disc during the backwash cycle. This leads me to believe water pressure might be playing a roll here. Note: gearing stacks seem to be fine.

Last thing I can't seem to get info about. There is a substantial amount of air beneath the acrylic viewing window. Nearly the entire top of the meter disc is exposed to air. I'm wondering if this is creating some pressure differential making it difficult to push the control disc along the ceramic below. Is there a way to bleed this air out, or is it normal?

I'm not sure how to solve insufficient water pressure, but I would be able to replace the pawl and control disc if I could find the parts. Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated!

Edit: Here's a photo of the control disc and pawls:

Sorry to hear about your problem. I think I may have the same. When you say that it gets stuck in regeneration, does that mean it is eating up all your salt in one day and just wasting it down the drain. Happened to me twice now. Thought I fixed it first time around but only lasted a week. Everything I've been reading seems to tell me it is working correctly with the gear spinning and all that. I have not taken anything apart yet but am guessing that is my next step.

 

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[Tgmorris99]

If you mark the top if the shaft that the pawl is connected to then you can verify if that is turning or gets stuck. If it stops turning then one of the internal regeneration drive gears has most likely has a broken tooth. If it turns much slower then normal it can be either water pressure or the metering valve may have swollen enough to reduce the flow driving the turbine. I've had both situations happen to my 4060.

 

[Travisdc1980]

Thanks for the reply back and info. From what I've seen so far is that there is nothing wrong with the gears or pawl. I turned on my largest faucet and watched the pawl move and click in the teeth of the gear. I did that after first time it took 150 pounds of salt down the drain in less than 24 hours. After a couple YouTube videos I figured it was just a fluke or something cause everything seemed to work how it was meant to. I loaded up another 150 pounds of salt. Manually regenerated twice and figured problem solved. Lasted a week, all the salt gone in less than 24 hours again. I cannot find anyone having that specific problem. I am currently trying to find a rebuild kit and see if I can get anywhere with that. Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Tgmorris99]

If the regen pawl is skipping over the tooth as shown in the video then the pawl may be rounded over (doesn't look like it) or the spring is too weak to hold it down. The other option might be that there's too much residue under the bottom disc resulting in too much resistance. Unlikely since it's mentioned that it works in backwash.

I also had a situation where it would get stuck during regen due to a broken gear tooth but would run fine intermittently so it may be worth opening it up (assuming you are comfortable doing so) and visually inspect the gearing.

Here's the section on high salt use from the troubleshooting guide. It doesn't address the situation where it just gets stuck but in may case that used up the chlorine supply for iron removal and not the salt.

 

[Travisdc1980]

Thank you very much for info. I am going to take it apart and see if I can see any obvious problems. I will keep this post updated as I work through this.