Water softener repair

[SCHAAKATTACK]

Been having issues with our Kenmore water softener. It hasn't been softening the water and had not been regenerating on its own. I would have to manually press the recharge button to get it to run a cycle. Had a Sears tech out and he said it seems to be functioning fine and that it needs to have new resin beads. I opted not to pay $404.00 repair estimate. Being somewhat handy I bought the correct resin beads and did the job myself. It has now been regenerating on its own, but the water is still not soft(after 3 cycles). The settings are set for the level of softening as before. There is no salt bridge as I have completely cleaned it out and added new salt. I am also pretty sure that there are no restrictions in the passages from troubleshooting with the manual.

I know the easy solution is to go out and buy a new unit and be done but I feel I am close to conquering this issue. Feel free to chime in. Thanks.

[delcecchi]

If it is not softening, then it is not regenerating correctly. That is a problem with the controller. Does it suck in the salt water from the tank when it "regenerates"?

I don't quite see why bad beads would have had anything to do with the original problem. They should have caused a gradual reduction in capacity as they degraded.

Look on the bay for replacement controllers to get an idea about availability and price. You can buy a whole new softener for as little as $400

[Tom7227]

http://www.kenmorewater.com/HSOforum/animations/product-animation/ts_index.html

[SCHAAKATTACK]

Thanks for that kenmore link. I do believe it has to do with not sucking in the water like it is bypassing that, as watching it cycle it is not filling the tube with the float like it should. Those animations seem to have some pretty good direction for troubleshooting.

[delcecchi]

Check for an air leak in the hose that goes from the tank to the head. They can get brittle and crack or leak at the fittings. Also there is a float valve in the tank to check.

[3pronghook]

i had a kenmore and it would do the same thing. I had to clean the venturri once a year. i see the posted link will show you how. start there. Good luck