Softner Broken?

[Mrjemjr]

The salt bin is full of water....the salt that was there has all melted. There is a brown gunky looking residue floating in the bin although it does not smell. Whats my problem? Do I need a new system?

My system is a spectrum 180 if that helps.....I hope it's something I can fix myself because I don't have the funds at the moment for a service call....

Help:(

[greg-cws]

The Spectrum 180 was manufactured between 1985 and 1995. It has two configurations, mechanical day timer, and digital metered control.

A few questions...

What age is your system ?
Does your system have an electronic control ?
When is the last time that you think it worked properly ?
When is the last time the system was worked on ?

[Mrjemjr]

The Spectrum 180 was manufactured between 1985 and 1995. It has two configurations, mechanical day timer, and digital metered control.

A few questions...

What age is your system ?
Does your system have an electronic control ?
When is the last time that you think it worked properly ?
When is the last time the system was worked on ?


1. Not sure how old the system is, it was there when I bought the home, the home was built in 2001. so I guess about 9 yrs...

2. Yes it has an electronic control with digital read out. 5 (maybe four)buttons...I purged it, cleaned it (the brown gunk) added salt and the water level has filled again.

3. It stopped working properly about two months ago.

4. I last had the service tech come out about a year ago. Paid a lot of money for what seemed like little action. I vowed never to do it again....I felt like I was taken for a ride.....

Thanks.

[greg-cws]

Good information. Please do the following and let me know what happens:

Press buttons 3 and 5 simultaneously to reset the electronic controller
-The system will attempt to clean itself after a 60-second delay

-The first cleaning cycle will last 5 minutes, and should be a high-speed backwash
-After the backwash, the system should initiate a 60 minute brine/rinse cycle where it attempts to suck all the water out of the salt tank. It should suck the tank dry after approx. 30 minutes.
-After the brine/rinse cycle, the system wil backwash itself again for 5 minutes.
-Once the backwash cycle terminate, the system will attempt to refill the salt tank with water (approx 6-12 inches from the bottom of the tank, depending on your specific model)

Let me know if it behaves the way I;m expecting it to, and if not, what it does go

Good Luck !

Greg

[Mrjemjr]

Good information. Please do the following and let me know what happens:

Press buttons 3 and 5 simultaneously to reset the electronic controller
-The system will attempt to clean itself after a 60-second delay

-The first cleaning cycle will last 5 minutes, and should be a high-speed backwash
-After the backwash, the system should initiate a 60 minute brine/rinse cycle where it attempts to suck all the water out of the salt tank. It should suck the tank dry after approx. 30 minutes.
-After the brine/rinse cycle, the system wil backwash itself again for 5 minutes.
-Once the backwash cycle terminate, the system will attempt to refill the salt tank with water (approx 6-12 inches from the bottom of the tank, depending on your specific model)

Let me know if it behaves the way I;m expecting it to, and if not, what it does go

Good Luck !

Greg


Thanks, I'll have to stop and buy more bags of salt after work incase it works... I have a stupid question.....must I keep all faucets in the house off until it completes the cycles?

[greg-cws]

Not a stupid question at all...Your Spectrum 180 has an internal bypass that operates while it is cleaning. This bypass protects the home from salt and other cleaning products as well as the accumulated hardness discharge. Feel free to use water while the system is cleaning.

You won't need any salt for tonight's experiment, but it never hurts to have some extra on hand.

[Mrjemjr]

Ok,

I pressed one 1 and 5 by mistake....it did it's thing...then I did 3 and 5 and it did its thing. The water level was about 6 inches (to include the gunk that stuck to the bin) this morning I went and checked on the water level and to no surprise it filled itself again......I guess I'll have to make a service call huh.

[greg-cws]

Thanks for the update.

If we only have 6 inches in the tank right now, did you notice during the cleaning cycle if it drew all the water down before it filled back up ?

If you only have 6 inches in the tank right now, it doesn't sound too scary.

Let me know...

[Mrjemjr]

No sir, six inches last night...full of water this morning. I did not notice if it completely drained during the cycle....


Thanks for the update.

If we only have 6 inches in the tank right now, did you notice during the cleaning cycle if it drew all the water down before it filled back up ?

If you only have 6 inches in the tank right now, it doesn't sound too scary.

Let me know...

[greg-cws]

What city is your home located in ?

[Mrjemjr]

Layton.....


What city is your home located in ?

[greg-cws]

I'd suggest you give my good friend Jdee Rasmussen a call. His number is (801) 399-5721
He lives in Ogden and can look at your machine to give you the very best advice.

If budget is super tight, we can continue troubleshooting here, but I think JDee's rates are reasonable enough that you'll be quite satisfied.

Let me know how it goes.

Greg

[Mrjemjr]

Just spoke to him, we have a date set for this Friday, I'll let you know how it goes... Thanks!!


I'd suggest you give my good friend Jdee Rasmussen a call. His number is (801) 399-5721
He lives in Ogden and can look at your machine to give you the very best advice.

If budget is super tight, we can continue troubleshooting here, but I think JDee's rates are reasonable enough that you'll be quite satisfied.

Let me know how it goes.

Greg

[Mrjemjr]

OK, there was a faulty gasket. JDee repaied it and it's all good and he didn't charge as much as I thought. Thanks for your time and advice!

[greg-cws]

I'm very glad to hear that. I hope you enjoy your water !

Stop back here anytime if you ever need more help.

Best regards,

Greg