What can I maintain as a homeowner on my water softener
Salt:
Check the salt level in your brine tank every couple of weeks initially to determine how much salt you use; this will depend on how much water you use.
Typically, the brine tank can be filled three-fourths full of salt; the brine tank requires a minimum 12” depth of salt.
If your household does not use much water, do not fill your brine tank with salt over half full to prevent salt bridging.
Lancaster recommends using solar salt in the crystal form.
Many solar salt brands contain 99.6 % pure salt, providing very low insoluble content minimizing accumulated brine tank residue thereby reducing periodic brine tank cleaning.
Solar salt is also available in pellet form but may have an added hard coating (to help maintain the distinctive pellet shape) making it more difficult to dissolve in water. Pellets can also get lodged in the brine tank system or form a salt bridge (pellets form together as one solid mass creating a hard crust with an empty space below it preventing salt from dissolving in the water thereby causing ineffective regeneration).
DO NOT use rock salt, a.k.a. “dirty salt” which has high levels of calcium sulfate and other sediments and cannot fully dissolve in water.
DO NOT use block salt, especially with X-Factor softeners programmed for pre-fill brining, because block salt cannot dissolve quickly enough to provide a good regeneration.
Cleaning the brine tank:
Inspect the brine tank at least once a year for buildup of insoluble content.
Lancaster recommends periodically cleaning the brine tank regardless what kind of salt you’re using.
Refer to the Water Softener Installation, Operating and Service Manual for brine tank assembly diagram and instructions.
Brine Tank Cleaning:
- Remove the brine tank cover.
- Scoop out as much old salt as possible.
- Remove the 4-inch top brine well cap.
- Disconnect the brine line polytube from the brine valve assembly.
- Remove the brine valve assembly from the brine well by removing the small nut.
- Place one hand in the brine well to hold the overflow nut and remove 2-piece overflow.
- Remove brine well.
- Remove any remaining salt and/or impurities from brine tank.
- Using clean water and a brush or rag, wipe and rinse inside of brine tank and brine well.
- Put brine tank in place and reassemble as described in manual.
- Follow the instructions in the manual … “Placing Softener into Service”.
- When instructed to add salt, do not use old salt which was removed earlier; use new salt.
- Follow sanitizing instructions.
- Put on the brine tank cover.