Kinetico head keeps resetting

[regalis]

i don't think my kinetico 1040 powerline is working right.
the head would read 1495 or 1499 and then the next day it reads 1500.
the drain hose is clamped to a utility sink, so i put a bucket where the hose is to see if it fills up with water you know? its always bone dry and the counter always resetting.

i leave the bathtub running while eating a meal, some 45 mins pass i go to turn off the faucet.
Meter still reads 1499...

i cleaned the salt tank 2 weeks ago wasnt too bad, and put fresh water softner pellets in.
the brine tube has good suction, this particular model you can pull the whole brine float assembly out and test for suction at the very bottom.

as of now i see much more water in the salt tank, and the salt level has dipped below the water level.
is my softener working? is the meter head just broken? does its auto-regeneration not drain water away?
manual regeneration goes threw all the steps fine, drainline has tons of water coming out, and visually can see salt level drop.

some history for this softener: had it only for 3 months before it needed to be rebedded due to sediment problems. had almost no pressure after softener. After the Rebed water pressure is restored, but I don't think they ever repaired the head or took it apart... i know its the same head cause the injector screen has the same iron stains from before.
To help the softener we got a 200 mesh spindown screen before it.

what do you guys think?

 

[Bannerman]

From your description, it seems the water flow meter is not working to sense soft water useage. If the meter is not recognizing water usage, the unit will not regenerate automatically unless an Override setting is programmed. An override will program the maximum number of days before regeneration will occur when there is insufficient water usage to cause regeneration to automatically occur before the maximum setting is reached.

https://docplayer.net/23983134-Softener-owners-manual.html

Suggest concentrating on the meter assembly and the cable which connects the meter to the controller. As the control valves shown in the Owners Manual linked above are manufactured by Fleck, any replacement parts needed will likely be available from a water treatment dealer local to your area that supports Fleck equipment.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[regalis]

i noticed some arrows near the bypass valves.. it appears the softener is hooked up backwards. and whoever did the install for the undersink 3 stage osmosis put the sediment filter in the Pre-Taste filter slot...
they also never connected the drain line for the softener when they came back with it for rebed...

could backwards install be problem?

 

[Bannerman]

The flow meter is to be appropriately located in the softener's outlet connection so as to measure the amount of soft water flowing to the home's faucets. The meter does not recognize flow direction so with the softener installed in reverse, the meter should be sensing water utilized during regeneration as well as the soft water flowing to faucets. This should be causing the softener to automatically regenerate more frequently than required.

The flow direction needs to be corrected ASAP. Due to reverse flow while soft water is being utilized, hard water will be entering below the resin, flowing upwards through the resin which will lift the resin. When water usage is high, the resin maybe lifted sufficiently to cause resin to exit the softener, flowing into the home's plumbing. Resin in the plumbing will create a mess as resin can collect within the water heater and can clog faucet aerators and screens to laundry appliances, or may enter the dishwasher and laundry equipment valves.

As the softener was not recognizing the flow to the bathtub, I still suspect your flow meter is not working properly. Perhaps the cable tip maybe partially broken so the rotational force applied by the meter, is not being transferred to the controller?

 

[regalis]

I reversed the 2 connections so that the waterflow matches the arrows on the softener and now the meter works.
I haven't noticed any resin in any aerators or the hose filters for the washer machine.
Hopefully things stay solid from here on out...

 

[Bannerman]

Suggest adding salt to the brine tank. It maybe filled to the top to reduce frequently needing to check the amount of salt remaining. Each 1-gallon water entering the tank will dissolve 3 lbs salt.

Suggest also adding 1-2 gallons additional water using a pail. The water should be poured into the brine well containing the brine float assembly so the added water will not wet the dry salt but will dissolve the salt at the bottom of the tank. Wait 1-2 hours to allow additional salt to dissolve then initiate a manual regeneration cycle. This will regenerate some additional capacity as too much capacity will have been depleted while the softener was not being regenerated due to the incorrect flow direction.