brine draw problems


  #1  
Old 05-25-09, 08:51 AM
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brine draw problems

I have a culligan mark 100 that has no brine draw, I have installed an eductor kit and checked the drain for blockage thinking that these are the only things responsible for creating the suction on the brine line.
my question is if there was a problem with the seal pack or a blockage in the valve body itself would this cause my problem.
the unit is about 8 years old and has not used salt for a couple years now....I would hate to replace this thing for a "simple" problem.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Jim
 
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Old 05-27-09, 06:13 AM
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When you place the unit in a draw cycle, does it spit water out, do nothing or gurgle? When you change from the backwash to the brine draw, does the speed of the water to the drain change?
 
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Old 05-27-09, 12:36 PM
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Hi Biermech:
The water to the drain seems steady through all the cycles (wow these things use alot of water)
On the backwash cycle the brine line has nothing comming out or in(seems proper to me).
on the brine draw cycle the brine line trickles water (seems wrong to me).
and on the brine refill cycle there is a good steady stream comming out of the brine line (seems proper to me).

I hope this is what you were looking for.
Thanks
Jim
 
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Old 05-27-09, 01:56 PM
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During the brine draw, the drain water should slow quite a bit (about 1/3 gpm). If it stays running fast (about 2 gpm), the seals or piston or both need to be replaced.
 
  #5  
Old 05-27-09, 03:12 PM
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Biermech
so I am guessing that all these parts will be included with the seal pack assembly?

Thanks for giving me a direction to go in.
Jim
 
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Old 05-27-09, 04:38 PM
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I'm not really sure what comes in the seal pack. But I'm am sure that if the water to the drain during the draw cycle is fast, it won't draw brine. Hope you can figure it out.
 
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Old 05-27-09, 08:19 PM
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Thanks again Biermech:
I will install the parts on friday with any luck....I will keep you posted.

Jim
 
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Old 06-02-09, 09:11 AM
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Unhappy solidified salt mass in bottom of tank

I have a serious problem. We recently noticed that our hot water tank wasn't heating enough hot water, while checking for the cause of this problem my husband removed the lid off of the tank where you place the salt for the water softening system. He noticed that the salt he had added about 4 months before was still sitting at the bottom of the tank. It had solidified. Then he noticed that the plug was unplugged and remembered that he had unplugged a bit back when the electric went out, he didn't want the cicuit to overload when it came back on (we live in the Poconos so the electric goes out often due to storms). Anyway, I called the place where we purchase our k-life salt and they said because the system wasn't able to flush the salt did not dissolve properly. My questions are. 1- could this blockage cause a decress in the hot water tank? 2- How do I get rid of the salt? Is there anyway to dissolve the salt at the bottom of the tank? In one of the posts it recommends placing hot water in the tank. Will this help? And how long will it take for a bag of the salt to dissolve? I am a mother of 5 originally but 1 son passed away in 99 which pushed us to moving up the Poconos for a new start. The move turned out to be not such a god idea so things are pretty shaky financially right now so we are trying to see if there is anything we can do ourselves before we resort to bring in a repair man that is going to cost us money we don't really have at this time. Any help you could give regarding this situation would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Old 06-02-09, 10:51 AM
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There is a way to get rid of the salt (K-Life). Simply pour about 3 gals of water (hot is best) into the salt tank. Regen the unit. If you do this every day, the salt will soon be gone or every 3 days. Check the water level before a regen then after to make sure the water is being draw from the system. What type of unit do you have? Also, the water softener has nothing to do with the water heater not heating properly. Sound to me that one of the elements are bad. Replacing them will be a lot less costly than replacing the heater.
 
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Old 06-02-09, 02:23 PM
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Our system is a MASTER NS 30 T BY. Thank you for all your help. I didn't know what to do... Jst another thing going wrong, you know? Like they say " when it rains it pours" and I have had my luck of downpours... Thanks again I really do appreciate all your help.
Barbara
 
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Old 06-05-09, 06:44 PM
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Biermech
thanks alot for the information I went to Culligan today and got the piston assy and of coarse the seal pack comes with the kit when I got home I installed it all without much trouble and away we go the brine draw is working once again. so the bottom line is for about $140.00 and a little technical skill you can rebuild the controll valve or you can pay $85.00 for a half hour labour plus the parts you need (not all of them) and hopefully nothing else is on the "way out" when the technician leaves.
I will opt for the first choice every time.

Thanks again from my whole family especially my wife.
Jim
 
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Old 06-06-09, 10:47 AM
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Glad is was able to help.
 
 

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