Rainsoft softner will not regenerate, question for H20 Man

PM sent

Ray,

If you are the original purchaser of the equipment you might also try calling your local Rainsoft dealership and ask which model was installed. Most dealerships keep a file on your account and can answer all of your questions regarding your system. Either that or I suppose you could take advice from someone who knows nothing about your system whatsoever. Your choice, but which one makes better sense?

Have fun !

CWR, are you telling us that you know nothing about RainSoft systems?

Quite the opposite as I am sure you are well aware Aquaman. I know my Rainsoft system works, works well and always has. I know that if I ever have an issue with it, my local dealership is just a toll free phone call away, and I can be assured that whoever does resolve my issue is factory trained, licensed, bonded and insured. That is all I really need to know as a consumer isn't it? Hence why I made the suggestion I did to the OP.

Have fun !

OK fine. It's your choice to trust the company with the well deserved, hands down, worst reputation in the H2O industry.
I'm sure you understand why very few will choose to follow you down your chosen path. It's an exercise in common sense.

Good luck and let us know how it works out for you...

OK

I've temp plumbed past my softener so I could get the thing out and spin the head off. What do I look for that is damaged. Do I start disassemby?
Should I rebuild the old control valve or replace with a replacement.
A local installer said he could get a Clack head for $350 that would be a direct replacement. Good, Bad???

I can do better for the Clack WS-1 but... you don't know what is wrong yet and I wouldn't suggest replacing a control until you do.

And now you've disconnected one or both from the water line so you can't operate them to find out what was being done that shouldn't have been done or what wasn't happening that should have.

And one cause of them not working right could be that they are undersized.

If the greensand is bad, you need new. Or a new type of mineral like Birm etc. but... you'd have to convert the control valve to a non regenerated type but first, you need a water analysis to know what and how much of it is in the water. That then tells us what equipment and media could be used.

Thanks for your reply Gary

I've installed couplers on everything so I can jump in any unit now quickly
to hook up and diagnose with a by pass on any portion ( water softener or Iron filter). I want to diagnose water softener first. The manual regeneration just shows the clock ticking on the display but nothing physical happens. No water back flushes and no movement sounds are coming from the Control valve ( Brass rainsoft). From info gathered here it sounds like the internal piston is not moving. I pulled the unit out so I could figure out how to examine the piston to see if it is seized up or pin sheared or whatever. I figured with nothing happing in the valve and no mechanical movement the next logical troubleshooting method was to pull the control valve and look for a physical problem.
Iron filter I am not sure yet. I figured the greensand may be clogged or replaced, or valve not working. I am definitely not opposed to switching out to a different media or method. I'll tackle that after the water softener unless something extremely obvious stands out.

Thanks
Ray

Ray, I have a new supply of factory parts and can refurbish your old RainSoft valve for a few additional years of service.
If you want a modern system that will provide many years of reliable service, I suggest you skip the (FleckClack) valve upgrade and contact your local ECOwater dealer.
In my professional and personal opinion, ECOwater systems are the finest most efficient H2O systems available.

Worst reputation according to who? You an Ecowater Rep, or some woman who started some hubbub on the internet over a local dealership some 5 years ago in Florida?? Again what is your data source to back up your claims (other than some ridiculous google bs)? Where are your test results? What hard facts are you basing your comments on?

Sorry but I fail to see how I should base my buying decisions on nothing more than the few complaints of a few people who live in a part of the country other than my own, or based on the opinions of an after market dealer/repairman like yourself who clearly has an overwhelming bias, and something financially to gain by saying what you do.

I based my decision on the personal recommendations of the many satisfied customers that I spoke with who enjoy both Rainsoft Equipment and their local Dealers service here where I live. After all that is who will be taking care of me, not some dealership in Podunk Georgia or Florida.

Needless to say people don't have the same good things to say about the local Ecowater Dealership. Hell that guy doesn't even take good care of his own Brother-in-law, and I know this because I talked to the brother-in-law as well as many other of their customers, and they all had less than stellar things to say about both Ecowater and the local dealer. So pardon me if I prefer to hear things from the "horse's mouth" rather than base decisions on some anonymous internet rabble. Nuff said.

Have fun !

PS: For the record, my water is 40 grains hard. My dishes are always spotless, I get no soap scum build up, and my skin is never dry, despite the long winters we have here, all the chlorine and volatile chemicals are removed, and I have the best RO water anyone could hope for and tons of it. Oh not to mention I only use about a 3/4 bag of salt a month.

I'm sure you are very proud of your decision to buy RainSoft equipment.
It sounds like you are also selling RainSoft equipment - good luck to you.

However, this does not change the fact that Aquion/RainSoft has a terrible service record that is well known around the world.

Since joining A2K I have assisted many, many unhappy RainSoft customers solve their problems.
I have also helped many, many people avoid making the same mistake you and others have made.

I stand by my recommendation:
Everyone that is considering or will ever consider investing in a POU or
POE H2O system should avoid doing business with Aquion/RainSoft

So you continue to further elaborate my point. Your recommendations are not backed by hard data (or you would have provided such when repeatedly requested), are not based upon the result of reports from neutral parties (or you would have provided such when repeatedly requested for such), and in fact are nothing more than the personal recommendation of a sales person looking to push his particular brand of softener on the uneducated; in this case Ecowater, rather than providing factual information so that people can make their own informed decisions. So there you have it folks, as Aqua-man likes to say himself; "you get what you pay for, you don't get what you don't pay for". Free advice is not necessarily the best just because it comes free. Nuff said.

Have fun !

You continue to slander me in a public forum, yet you refuse to identify yourself.

You are weak and afraid to step up.
You are a troll and not a very good one.
You should be banned from A2K and all of your worthless replies should be deleted.


You are a total waste of time.

Go away.

Ray;
As a past service manager for Rainsoft I know there was a big push to Replace the brass valaves with new Fleck composite valves. Of course younhave a better valve that will never ever wear out, but also needs routine maintainance. Of course ur dealer is in the business of making money and selling service is part of making money. ok now for help, is your unit mechanical (with dials your turn manaually) or Digital (they call it a computer). If the piston is stuck and the motor still turns you have two problems, # 1 the O-rings (3) on the piston are probably swelled up, #2 the shear pin is probably broken. The o rings are no problem to get at any hardware store, The problem is the brass shear pin, The local Rainsoft dealer may sell you the parts if you take them to the dealership but take your paperwork with you to prove its ur unit, some dealers son;t sell the parts unless you can prove ur the original purchaser. Now all the parts have lifetime warranty for replacement, You just need to show the paperwork to the dealer. The only parts that are not lifetime warranty is electrical, They have a set limit of time. Most honest dealers will replace the parts if they are covered. If u decide to do the rebuild your self a couple very important rules, first :"Do not use vaseline on the o-rings" that will cause them to swell, Use a water soluble lubricant. Rainsoft uses DOW 111. The second and more important, when you are done with rebuild, Close the main water valve. I don;t care if you have a bypass valve or not. Open a cold water faucet in a bathtub. COLD WATER ONLY. And only a faucet without an screen in the spout, or remove screen. Then SLOWLY turn the water back on, this is important SLOWLY. if you rush refilling it U can cause an air bubble and blow the mineral back up into the valve and as soon as u regenrate it you;ll break another shear pin. ( buy a couple pins if the dealer will sell them to you)
I've had lots of people use ground off finish nails, If you do it voids the warranty on the motor. Oh by the way the shear pin only goes in one way. Make sure the hole lines up perfect before u hammer that pin in. Also after then pin is in take a file and smooth it down to the shaft. The other important thing to watch when rebuilding the unit is when you put the motor back on with the wheels in place be careful of those two micro switches on the side they break very easily, and you have to depress the switches to slide the motor back on. Very little space for alignment. Once u have cold water running clearly out of the faucet. then shut the faucet off. Now have ur manual ready to follow the manual steps. For mechanical timer u turn the timer knob slowly until the motor kicks in. (very slowly) if u miss a step the unit will be out of cycle. The another problem with doing the work urself is knowing what step the unit is in. As professionals we take a magic marker and draw a line on top of the two white wheels, That way we know that if the lines are on top center the unit is in normal operating mode. If you have the Digital unit. then you have to program the unit into Service or manual step model, Your operators manual should tell you the steps. The purpose if each step is to drain off any air pockets so you don;t blow mineral back up into the valve body and shear a pin. Now you should be in business barring any other problems. The other big problems an cause more service calls then anything else. Is a solid salt build up in the salt tank. Think of it having 4 or 6 inches of concrete in the bottom of the tank, There are tiny little slits in that tube or float chamber and if wet mushy salt is blocking those holes the unit will still regenrate but no salt will be used and your water will be hard. So clean out your saly tank twice a year, put the good salt back in your just cleaning out the mush stuff. The other big problem is the little adapter that the salt tube connects to, On the older units there is a screen inside there that gets plugged. Also on the brass valves on the base of the valve you will see a Slotted Plug, that is the injector. Thats what causes the suction to suck out the water in the salt tank. They are very hard to remove. We normally just punch them through and they live their life inside the tank and we put a new one in. The only other way to get it out unless your very lucky is to unhook the water lines and spin the valve head off. that injector in 10" long so be careful and lift the valve straight up when removing it. then u can take little piece of wood or hammer and knock it out of the hole. UP not down. and then air compressor and blow it clean inside. Take a paperclip and punch through that little hole in the center on the top side of the injector. All your doing is cleaning the hole, there is a little ball inside so don;t go digging around in there. Just clean the little hole.
Ok for the Iron Filter it works the same as the Softner, But the two biggest calls on the iron filter is a clogged injector tube. Or someone overfilled the little Potassium Tank and potassium clogs up the pick up tube inside the Pot tank. If you have a straight filter Iron system not does not have the little puppy tank hooked to it. The mineral inside the tank will probably have to be replaced, The Carbon in there cannot take a long time without regenerating and backwashing the iron buildup down the drain. In that case you'll probably just be better off calling Rainsoft or other softner people to come in to fix it for you. Unless your really mechanically inclined. The basic rule on Iron tanks is, they need upkeep every 12 months. Either the puppy tank needs refilled or the valve is clogged. Which state are you from? One of the dealers I worked for was called H2O . Go figure

This question is for H2O Man or Aboatbum. What could be the cause for *2 - gallons used since last regeneration to stay at 0 (zero) on my Computerized "Q2" Water Treatment System? As a result, regeneration does not start when 2/3 of capacity is used. Thanks