Water feels hard after regeneration, for a while

[benhanson00]

I installed a new softener less than a year ago. It works well, except for the fact that the first few hundred gallons after regeneration feel hard. Mostly I notice this in the shower. Untreated water is 25-30 gpg. After regen, it will usually measure a bit hard, perhaps 3-5, and after some time it is soft. My best guess is that the auto-bypass is sticking, not quite closed, and seats after a little while. How would I go about testing this hypothesis?

 

[MaxBlack]

That's very odd. Have you kept in mind that (assuming) you have a 40gal or larger Water Heater with obviously stored water of softness X or Y is feeding your showers?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[benhanson00]

Yeah, thanks. Wow, I'm slow to reply.

Here's what I've done to figure out whether I'm interpreting this correctly. The manufacturer recommended a formula for regen, based on number of people in the house and hardness. That put me in the 1800 gallon zone for between regenerations. I bought a titration kit, and it seems like hardness starts really increasing after about 1300, so I've adjusted and am monitoring. But it seems like the behavior I'm describing is there but not every time. I'm thinking next time it happens, I should see that the hardness jumps after the new cycle, and then swing back.

Or I'm crazy, and whole thing is just I was waiting too long between regeneration cycles. We'll see.

 

[MaxBlack]

1,800gal seems an awful lot. At least, my water is 35gpg and my softener gives me HALF THAT between regens.

Mine has 1.5cuft of resin with capacity 40,662 grains @ 12.0 lb dosage. So I should get 10662/35=1162gal less "overhead" which I've set I think at 15% or 174 gallons in "Reserve".

 

[Bannerman]

Mine has 1.5cuft of resin with capacity 40,662 grains @ 12.0 lb dosage.

For 1.5 ft3 resin, 12 lbs salt (8 lbs/ft3) will regenerate 36,000 grains capacity, not 40,662.

 

[Bannerman]

Untreated water is 25-30 gpg. After regen, it will usually measure a bit hard, perhaps 3-5, and after some time it is soft.

You haven't told us much to assist us to offer suggestions.

What is the total capacity for your softener?

What control valve is it equipped with? If unsure, post a few photos showing the front & backside with any covers removed.

Water source, municipal or private well? If private well, how much if any iron and/or manganeses is present in the raw water direct from the well?

What settings are currently programmed for the softeners controller?

 

[MaxBlack]

For 1.5 ft3 resin, 12 lbs salt (8 lbs/ft3) will regenerate 36,000 grains capacity, not 40,662.

Thanks Bannerman, but... Do you think Culligan claiming better performance from their media than "standard" resin might have any basis in fact?

I dunno anything about resin types/chemistry/manufacturing so will appreciate yr input.

 

[Bannerman]

Do you think Culligan claiming better performance from their media than "standard" resin

While there is often some capacity variance between resin brands and types, variance is typically marginal.

SST-60 resin (shallow shell cation) which is specifically marketed and premium priced for possessing greater capacity than standard cation resin, is often programmed with identical settings as standard resin. Any additional capacity benefit that SST-60 does possess, I expect will then further reduce hardness leakage through the resin bed, resulting in marginally higher soft water quality compared to the quality of soft water produced by standard resin regenerated with the identical salt setting.

 

[benhanson00]

I believe MaxBlack's first reply was in the right ballpark. I tracked the hardness and gallons for four or five cycles, and found that suddenly around 1300 gallons it goes from totally soft to showing some hardness, and then very quickly becomes hard. I have adjusted to 1300 gallons and I've gone for a couple cycles now with good results. Might drop it back another 50 gallons just to be on the safe side.

To loosely answer other questions - This was a new Aquasafe 48000 grains. It replaced my 12yr old Whirlpool after it developed leaks and nothing I did to replace parts or seals seemed to be able to stop it.

In any case, all is well, and the whole idea that something was sticking was indeed just that hard water was filling my hot water heater and after regeneration it just takes time to fully replace that water in the tank. I have learned something. Thanks for all the feedback.