Water softener woes

[skelesan]

Hello all

I'd just like to introduce myself and pose a question regarding my water softener.

I have a 5 year old Monarch Solo Ultra water softener. It's a non-electronic type so it regenerates without the aid of a powered timer. A couple of weeks ago I noticed scale building up around our bathroom (just as the wife began to complain about her skin). On doing a water hardness test, I found the water was definately hard.

On investigation, I've checked/found the following....

* Brine solution is being pulled in and then water is replaced i.e. if I manually regenerate, the brine level drops during the rinse phase and, once complete, the water level returns to the correct level during the backwash phase.
* The softener has never run short of salt, and the Salt blocks are being consumed.
* I can't see any build up of a "salt bridge".
* There's no evidence of any leaks.

I'm not entirely sure that automatic regeneration is taking place, but I ran 3 successive manual regenerations to confirm the above.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

 

[SafeGasInstall]

is it been re pressurised correctly and bled correctly after every refill of salt ??? you have to follow the instructions when you represurised it , you must have missed something me think !

 

[SafeGasInstall]

and welcome to the forum

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

welcome to the forums skelesan i know naff all about water softeners where i live its a soft water area,have you tried contacting the manufacturer ? it may be time for a new softener

 

[skelesan]

Thanks for the responses guys.

With regards to the softener being "re-pressurised", it's not something I know about nor know how to do it: my understanding is that the only thing I need to do is ensure the salt is replenished before it runs out, which is what I've done so far. I believe these kinds of softeners last a lot longer than 5 years, and buying a new one is not really option for me right now...but I'm willing to invest some time and effort to get to the route cause of the problem.

 

[SafeGasInstall]

Download manual and take it from there !

 

[skelesan]

Unfortunately, there's no manual online...I'll try Monarch themselves to see if they can help.

 

[steadyon]

Worth checking that the bypass valve is shut. Also, don't forget that you'll have to use most of the hard water in your storage tank before soft water replaces it. Can take quite a while depending on tank size and water usage.

 

[skelesan]

Bypass valve is definately closed...I'll give it a couple of days to see if soft water flows through.

Is there anything else I can check/might have have missed?