Another DIY tale: Repairing a water softener valve head.

[harringtondav]

Our river place's 8 yr old Omnifilter water softener started back dribbling into the brine well last summer. The brine well float valve kept it under control...with a 1/2" to spare before overflow. I called Omnifilter's tech. "Sorry, the valve body is non-serviceable" Hrmmph. I pulled the assy last fall and took it home and disassembled it recently. Fully disassemble.

I looked at the label inside the cover and saw Pentair Water model #. Called Pentair tech and he gave me the p/n for a replacement flapper valve kit. $30 plus shipping. The flapper valves are two-sided, so I flipped them over, buttoned it up. ..Going back to the river to de-winterize before the kit arrives. ...new kit will go on the shelf to be used in 8 yrs.

I've rebuilt our main home's Fleck-based valve head. Still working great. Also Wife's family's rotary disc valve softener's head.

Obvious story point among DIYers: Don't replace. Fix.

Pentair system in image.

 

[dingbat]

The brine well float valve kept it under control...with a 1/2" to spare before overflow.

Is that normal brine tank height or did it creep up that much over time?

Our brine tank if only 1/2 full, if that.

 

[harringtondav]

Is that normal brine tank height or did it creep up that much over time?

Our brine tank if only 1/2 full, if that.

This is a square cross section tank. ...normally has about 4 gallons refill after regeneration. Enough to cover 40# of salt. Normal brine level is less than 1/3 to the overflow. I knew something was wrong when the brine was at up to the overflow. I pulled the brine tank brine/refill line at the valve body in service mode, and it dribbled. It should have been dry. ...safety float valve in the brine well was doing it's job. But I've had those float valves also fail. So time to fix the root cause.