Lancaster 7-FESLES-32 - Salt Level question.

[Mike Bradford]

I have just moved into a house that has a Lancaster Water Treatment System model 7-FESLES-32
The brine tank is 18 x 33 inches. The tank appeared to have what I think is a salt bridge and clog on the brine well uptake.

I have removed all of the salt sludge and cleaned the brine well uptake.
I hav allowed the brine tank to go through its fill cycle and I am now ready to add back new salt pellets.

question is it appears the water level is about a third of the way up the tabnk.

do I add enough salt pellets to be above the water line or does the salt stay below>?

sorry for the long question. have never had a water softener before and don't want to repeat causing a salt bridge if I can avoid it.

it is currently set to regen every 7 days, as opposed to by gallons (1600).

any help would be much appreciated.

best regards,
Mike

 

[Reach4]

do I add enough salt pellets to be above the water line or does the salt stay below

I say yes, that is important that to have some salt above the water line, although the salt could be more to one side.

Others say no, and that stratification is not a problem.

sorry for the long question. have never had a water softener before and don't want to repeat causing a salt bridge if I can avoid it.

How long had that brine tank been in service?

What kind of salt are you using? 25 lb Morton blocks seem like they should be pretty immune to bridging. Sams used to carry them. I never tried them, but I had considered it.

https://www.mortonsalt.com/home-product/morton-system-saver-brine-block/

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bannerman]

A salt bridge can occur when the dry salt in storage above the brine level becomes wet, causing the salt to partially dissolve. Once the salt becomes dry again, it can clump together into a hard mass. When the tank is tapered as many are, the hardened mass will commonly become wedged between the walls of the tank, preventing the hardened mass from dropping into the fresh water below. Because all of the salt below the mass will be consumed, the softener capacity will become depleted even as the brine tank will appear to contain plenty of salt.

The cleared brine tank maybe filled to the top with dry salt pellets. Because water enters at the bottom of the brine tank during regeneration, only the salt that is in contact with the water should dissolve, allowing the salt above the fluid level to remain dry. The dry salt pellets will then drop into the water as the salt below is consumed.

Sometimes, additional water will need to be added to the brine tank, but any additional water is to be added into the brine well (plastic tube inside the tank), not poured on top of the dry salt. The dry salt can also become wet when there is a malfunction or power loss during Brine Fill, which may cause too much water to enter the brine tank.

To breakup a salt bridge, often a broom handle is used to push into the salt to breakup the solid mass, allowing the smaller pieces to drop into the water below, allowing them to be dissolved to create brine.

 

[Bannerman]

The specs for your softener indicate it contains 1 cubic foot of softener resin.

To obtain efficient operation, the usual recommendation is to program the softener to utilize 8 lbs salt per regeneration cycle, which will regenerate 24,000 grains usable capacity. To dissolve 8 lbs salt, 2.67 gallons water will need to enter the brine tank at the end of each regeneration cycle.

As you didn't state the hardness level of your raw water, or if your water supply is a private well (possible iron & manganese) or municipal (no iron/manganese). If we know the hardness level and the amount of iron and manganese, we can then calculate the usable gallons per cycle.

For an 18" X 33" tank, each 1" of water height will dissolve 1.2 lbs salt. For an 8lb salt setting, expect there should be 6.67" water + a small additional amount below the brine draw height which will constantly remain within the brine tank.

If the fluid height is greater than ~7.5" above the bottom brine tank while no salt is within the tank, it is then likely the softener maybe programmed to provide increased efficiency.

The current web page for Lancaster shows your unit is equipped with what appears may be a custom Clack control valve. The Operation manual maybe downloaded here: https://lancasterwatergroup.com/resources/product-downloads/#1521596565454-8d819aa0-f057