Update on Brine refill problems, more questions

[MaplesonD]

Hey guys,
Here's my previous post where I asked about how to troubleshoot my problem with unsuccessful brine tank refill. At that point I was too focused on the float mechanism even though you correctly told me that had nothing to do with it. After manually putting water in the brine tank after each regeneration for a few weeks, I had a professional come out to look at it, being a bit intimidated to go further myself. He told me that the brine valve was "sticking" and would need to be rebuilt. I found a video about Brine Valve repairs and took the cover off to mess with the brine valve myself.

When I ran through the cycles to get to the brine refill, I watched the brine tank and brine valve and could see that initially, there is some refill until after just a second or two, it stops. I took a screw driver and pressed in on the brine valve (like they show at the beginning of the video) and I could hear flow and see that the brine tank was filling. It would only fill while I was actively pressing in on the brine valve.

Reach4 pointed me to this link of a post that matches my symptoms to a T, so it seems like I probably do need to replace the brine valve. The pro I had out here priced a valve repair kit at $180 (thats just the kit, labor presumably separate), but the first thing that popped up on a google was a brine valve for $21. I'm more inclined to tackle this myself now, but I want to make sure I get everything I need and have quality parts replacement, so I was hoping for input from you guys on sourcing the parts to replace the brine valve, or any pitfalls I should be aware of.

Thanks

 

[Bannerman]

watched the brine tank and brine valve and could see that initially, there is some refill until after just a second or two, it stops.

Was the brine cam pressing down on the brine valve causing it to be open when the flow stopped? If so, repeat the procedure with the brine line disconnected at the top of the brine tank. If water continues to flow from the open brine line for the entire duration of BF, that will then suggest the safety valve within the brine tank is stopping flow.

 

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[MaplesonD]

Was the brine cam pressing down on the brine valve causing it to be open when the flow stopped? If so, repeat the procedure with the brine line disconnected at the top of the brine tank. If water continues to flow from the open brine line for the entire duration of BF, that will then suggest the safety valve within the brine tank is stopping flow.

Yeah, when I watched the cycle, the cam and brine valve looked to be in their appropriate positions, there was no wear on the cam. Good call, when I did this, the water continued to flow for the entire duration of BF. So does this now indicate that I need to change the brine valve assembly, or is there something else I can do?

 

[Bannerman]

So does this now indicate that I need to change the brine valve assembly,

If the Brine Valve is allowing flow from the open brine line for the entire BF duration, assuming the safety float is not actually being lifted during BF, the problem then appears to be with the safety valve/pickup assembly within the brine tank.

Remove the brine pickup assembly from the brine well and post some photos of the entire component. Some softeners are not supplied with a quality Fleck pickup assembly but include a cheap, low quality 3rd party component.

 

[MaplesonD]

Yeah, in the other thread, you were actually the one to point out that I appeared to have a Genesis brine tank safety valve and float assembly, It appeared to have a washer or something that had rusted. Where should I source a new Fleck float assembly, any recommendations and about how much should they cost? $50? Do I need to get an accompanying brine well/chamber?

 

[Bannerman]

PM sent.

 

[MaplesonD]

Ok guys, I installed a new float assembly, and successfully made it through a brine fill. Two things:

• I didn't have the brass tube stay, but never have had it as far as I know, how important is that little piece?
• It didn't seem to fill up the tank as far as it has in the past, I'm not sure if there is a big difference in the flow rate through the Fleck assembly versus the Genesis I previously had -or maybe since there is almost no salt (used it up so it would be easier to empty, used this opportunity to rinse out the tank), that would have an effect on the level. Should I add time to the brine fill portion of the cycle for more volume? The brine fill is set for about 9 minutes, and the water was 5" above the salt grid, so maybe 8" depth total. I'd guesstimate it to be at least 4 gallons based on the fact that it would cover four one-gallon containers which would fit in the bottom of the tank. I'm leaning towards thinking the lower level is just because there's no salt in there, but wanted to get experts' opinions before loading it back up with salt.

Picture of the brine tank: https://imgur.com/a/brL9XMN

 

[Bannerman]

I didn't have the brass tube stay,

Not sure if you mean the insert that fits into the cut end of the tube? If so, the insert offers rigidness to the tube since the connections at the safety valve is a compression fitting so over-tightening could potentially deform or collapse the tube. A brass or plastic insert is often commonly obtained from a local hardware store.

As it seemed brine was not being fully drawn from the brine tank using the original brine pickup assembly, it would not be surprising there is now less fluid in the brine tank.

Un-dissolved salt will displace fluid so with fluid already within the brine tank with no salt, the fluid level will rise as salt is added to the fluid.

Because your Fleck valve utilizes timed fill which is conditional in the BLFC flow rate, the fill volume should remain consistent every cycle, even as the fluid height may vary depending in the quantity of solid salt remaining within the brine tank.

To ensure there is sufficient salt available, the usual recommendation is to fill the brine tank with salt initially, then top-up again when the salt remaining is just below the surface of the fluid.