Rainsoft Amazon times..and timer.

I googled a question, and it came up here, and after reading several of the threads here, it would seem H2O man is the local Rainsoft Guru, so my question is this :
How long does the regen cycle take? How many steps does it go through, and how can I tell (assuming I dont know how long its supposed to regen for) if the valve is bad or not?
The retailer would like to come and do maintenance, and being in the military I am very familiar with Preventative maintenance, but I am also familiar with the "If it aint broke..."
Another question, What does the readout mean while it is regenerating? it says something like 4 23...is that step 4, 23minutes left? I realised it was counting down, so I assumed it was a timer.
I guess basically I want to know how long the cycle takes so that I can tell if it is just running my water down the drain for no reason.
Thanks!
Dave