How long for Soft Water

[crunchman]

Hi folks ! , I recently had some trouble with my softner (460i/255- I think). I had some overflow issues, so I replaced both ends of the brine line.

I see no evidence of leaking or air infiltration but when the system runs I clearly hear air in the system (vibration), I started a regen cycle with No

water in the brine tank by mistake. So 1. how can rid the system of air ? also, I notice the brine tank is half filled with water after a cycle, I just

cleaned the screen,injector,etc They were spotless.System is only 2 yrs old.Not sure whats wrong...........Thanks

[Akpsdvan]

Does yours have the little black ball in the clear tube on the valve?
That ball is to seat when there is no longer brine coming out of the brine or salt tank.. if it is not seating then air will get into the media tank.

[crunchman]

Akp, I do not see a ball in the clear tube/container, its full of water right now.There was a little black ball in the backwash compartment.

[Akpsdvan]

There is to be a ball, that is if you have the unit with that site glass or air check kit..
There is away around it, safety float assembly that has a ball in the pick up point of the float assembly.
Looks like the ball for the back wash and the brine draw are different... so they can not be traded..
You should be able to get one from here

http://www.softenerparts.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=1030528

[crunchman]

I have seen that parts diagram.This unit always worked fine for several years, I did not take anything apart.

*** When the above mentioned Ball is seated is it visible to the naked eye ??

[Akpsdvan]

The black ball is not hard to miss, and yes one can see it set down at the bottom of the clear canister that it is in.

I have not heard of a ball just going away... but any thing is possible.

[crunchman]

This softner always worked fine, must be related to something else ?

[Akpsdvan]

You talk about air in the softener am I correct?

To the best of my knowledge there are only 2 ways that air is going to get in if there are no leaks on the valve, either from the well .. or when the unit draws brine and when the brine water has ended the plug that should happen does not.

If there is another I am all ears.

[crunchman]

Yes, if I started with the brine well empty it would introduce air into the system ? So, I need to de-pressurize and restart

with 4 gallons in well ? Thanks

[Akpsdvan]

One of the last things that your unit will do is refill the brine or salt tank with X amount of water.

When the unit goes into a reg cycle it will pull the brine out of the brine or salt tank into the softener resin, there is a ball either in the clear site glass on your valve body or the safety float assembly has a ball down at the bottom, either way when the brine is no more there is a ball to stop air from getting into the resin tank.

Failure to have a ball in either place will let the unit draw air after the brine has been drawn in.

[crunchman]

OK, I have no doubt the parts are there. So, typically when regen is done, How much water should be in the brine tank ?

[Akpsdvan]

One gallon per 3lbs of salt that is to be used the next cleaning.
Also how high the salt table is at the bottom of the tank, and how close to the bottom the float assembly ends.

There could be any where from 3" to 12".......... again depending on salt settings.

And it also depends on the size and shape of the brine tank..
18x33 round
14x14 square
Different size and shapes of brine tanks with the same 4 gallons of water will show different levels.

[pawaterguy]

On that type of unit you will probably see 1/3 to 1/2 the tank full of water. Do you have iron in the water and do you have a filter ahead of the softener? They're unrelated to the air issue...just a curiosity thing. Check the brine line running from the tank to the softener and make sure all connections are tight and there are no breaks in the line anywhere. It doesn't take much of a crack in that tubing to create air issues and make trouble for you.

[crunchman]

Not aware if we have iron here (AZ), I don't think so. I changed both ends of the tubing, no leaks. I may just need to wait a few days for the

softwater to come through. There is no filter prior to the softner.I guess I should just wait and see, I believe it usually takes 2/3 days for fully soft water........Thanks

[pawaterguy]

If you manually cycle it you should test soft on the cold water coming through it immediately after it finishes cycling.