RainSoft Water System Won't Regenerate

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I have a RainSoft Reverse Osmosis water softening system that is about 5 years old. We had a problem with the salt in the tank. It had gone into one big lump and the system wouldn't cycle. We disconnected the hose and took the tank outside to empty it. Then we brought the tank back in, re-attached the hose, and refilled the tank with 2 bags of salt. We were told that we didn't need to add any water to the tank because the water would be added as soon at it regenerated.

Now, it doesn't work at all. We've tried to manually make it start to regenerate, but that doesn't work. We've tried to reset the time of day and the amount of times per week for it to regenerate and that didn't work either.

How can I get it to start working so that it will soften my water? I would appreciate any help that you can give me. I'd like to try to do the repair myself because money is a little tight and I can't afford a repairman.

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Could you post a picture or two of what you have?
I have some ideas but want to see a few things first...

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SoftWater System Won't Regenerate
I tried to get enough pics that would show you as much as possible. I realize there are quite a few, but I don't know what type of info you will need.

The last pics shows that we are low on salt in the tank, but we didn't want to put too much in until we were sure that it was working properly.

During the time that the salt was in a lump and the system wouldn't work, we did have the bypass pushed in. We didn't want to chance ruining the system.

If you need any other pics or info, please let me know.

Thank you so much for all of your help.
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OK - lift the motor cover off of the back side.
Slowly turn the regeneration knob to "backwash"
You will see the two cream colored disc rotate.
When the disc stops water should be running to the drain.
Take a picture of the disc on the right side. (drain line side)

In about 12 minutes the motor will turn the disc
slightly and the water will stop running - wait.

The motor will come on again and move into "brine" and stop.
Take another picture of the disc on the right side.

Note the water level and any movement of the ball
inside the tri-guard located in the rear. (P1010019.JPG)

Carefully remove the line at the very top of the tri-guard.
The water should be sucked out from the bottom in about 5 seconds.

Once the tri-guard is empty reconnect the brine line and let the
system finish it's cycle.

Report what you see with pictures here.

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RainSoft Water System Won't Regenerate
We tried to do as your directed in the first step but when we turned the knob to "Backwash", the 2 cream colored dials wouldn't move. It's like they are stuck there. We tried this first step several times with the same results. What do you think we should try next?

I took a few pics. I hope you can tell something from them.

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If you need more pics from different angles, please let me know.

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I wish I had better news...

detchra wrote:

We tried to do as your directed in the first step but when we turned the knob to "Backwash", the 2 cream colored dials wouldn't move. It's like they are stuck there. We tried this first step several times with the same results. What do you think we should try next?

The valve motor could be shot, you could have a sheared pin and/or the O rings are frozen in the piston - dry rot.

I think at the very least the rubber parts need to be refreshed.

It can be fixed but it will take a RS trained tech to do it.

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RainSoft Water System Won't Regenerate
I was telling my husband what your last reply was when he informed me that when he had filled the tank last, he put in 4 bags of salt and that around half of it was used when the rest went into the lump. I wish he had told me about that before. Embarrassed

Would this make a difference in what could be wrong?

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I don't like to have more than two bags in the tank at any given time.
The lumping together is a symptom of the problem - not the cause.

What city/state are you located in?

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We live in a small town called Leetonia in Ohio. We're about 20 miles south of Youngstown.

If it's at all possible, we'd really like to get this repaired. Our water here is horrid. Not only are the villages wells located in what used to be the village dump, but our water tested at (if I remember correctly) 23+ grains hard. I think that was the term they used.

It's absolutely disgusting. If you use regular village water to make a pot of coffee, it gets this kind of oil slick over the top of it and it sticks to the sides of the cup. I haven't got a clue how this passes EPA standards.

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detchra wrote:

We live in a small town called Leetonia in Ohio. We're about 20 miles south of Youngstown.
...our water tested at (if I remember correctly) 23+ grains hard. I think that was the term they used.

It's absolutely disgusting... it gets this kind of oil slick over the top of it and it sticks to the sides of the cup. I haven't got a clue how this passes EPA standards.

23 gpg is pretty hard.
Softeners must be accepted as a regular appliance in your area.
A whole house carbon (GAC) filter should eliminate your oil slick.

HTH ~

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Isn't that what the tank next to the salt tank is for? We were told when we bought this system that is was a whole house filter. I know that they said this was a reverse osmosis system but, truthfully, we don't understand what a reverse osmosis system is.
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I see a softener and it's salt tank pictured.

An RO would look something like this...

http://www.ecowater.com/images/ecowater_1_1_2_3.jpg

It is normally installed under the Kitchen sink
or in the basement with a line that feeds up
to a dedicated faucet at the sink.

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Oh. OK, we have one of those under the kitchen sink. It's a single canister that is connected to a seperate faucet.

Do you still think that the problem with the softener is the valve motor?

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detchra wrote:

Oh. OK, we have one of those under the kitchen sink. It's a single canister that is connected to a seperate faucet.

Do you still think that the problem with the softener is the valve motor?

Is the single canister bright stainless steel?
Does it say "Hydrefiner" or "P12"?

For starters - the problem could be the valve motor, a sheared pin and/or the O rings are frozen in the piston.

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H2O_MAN wrote:

detchra wrote:
Oh. OK, we have one of those under the kitchen sink. It's a single canister that is connected to a seperate faucet.

Do you still think that the problem with the softener is the valve motor?

Is the single canister bright stainless steel?
Does it say "Hydrefiner" or "P12"?

For starters - the problem could be the valve motor, a sheared pin and/or the O rings are frozen in the piston.

Hi. No, the canister is white plastic. It does say Hydrefiner and has the model number 9865.

When we purchased this system a few years ago, the salesman told us that we would have some type of carbon filter in the basement. It was supposed to be a whole house filter.

We have terrible problems with the water in town as I told you before. Anytime there is a disturbance with the water system like a line break, the water comes in brown. We were assured that with this system we wouldn't have to worry about brown water anymore.

I'm beginning to think the salesman was a little less than honest.

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detchra wrote:

H2O_MAN wrote:
detchra wrote:
Oh. OK, we have one of those under the kitchen sink. It's a single canister that is connected to a seperate faucet.

Do you still think that the problem with the softener is the valve motor?

Is the single canister bright stainless steel?
Does it say "Hydrefiner" or "P12"?

For starters - the problem could be the valve motor, a sheared pin and/or the O rings are frozen in the piston.

Hi. No, the canister is white plastic. It does say Hydrefiner and has the model number 9865.
...

I'm beginning to think the salesman was a little less than honest.

Yeah, you have a (POE) whole house softener and a (POU) P-6 drinking water system.

The P-6 can treat your ice maker plus the dedicated faucet and should be changed every 12 months.
The softener requires high quality salt and a periodic tune-up.

A whole house (POE) auto-backwash carbon filter would be a great add-on ahead of the softener. This should be rebed every 36 months.

Kevin ~

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RainSoft Water System Won't Regenerate

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