Salt is Not Going Down. What could cause this problem?
My Valve appears to be operating but the Salt is Not Going Down.
What could cause this problem?
The salt not going down could be due to many different reasons.
1 ) Valve is not regenerating due to a problem with Timer Motor or a bad gear in the
timer assembly ( common in Autotrol Timer Assemblies ).
2 ) Salt may be Bridged ( become solid ) above the water that is at the bottom of the salt tank.
What could cause this problem?
The salt not going down could be due to many different reasons.
1 ) Valve is not regenerating due to a problem with Timer Motor or a bad gear in the
timer assembly ( common in Autotrol Timer Assemblies ).
2 ) Salt may be Bridged ( become solid ) above the water that is at the bottom of the salt tank.
Thus no salt being dissolved.
3 ) If you have been using Pellet salt for many years you could have a lot of undissolvable
residue at the bottom. This residue will not dissolve and also can block water flow in and out
of the salt tank.
4 ) The Valve could be failing to draw the brine solution out and if you have a float shut off in the
brine tank, it would be prevent the salt tank from overflowing ( which it would do if the float shut off was not there ).
5 ) The brine refill control could be clogged, preventing the water from refilling the salt tank.
3 ) If you have been using Pellet salt for many years you could have a lot of undissolvable
residue at the bottom. This residue will not dissolve and also can block water flow in and out
of the salt tank.
4 ) The Valve could be failing to draw the brine solution out and if you have a float shut off in the
brine tank, it would be prevent the salt tank from overflowing ( which it would do if the float shut off was not there ).
5 ) The brine refill control could be clogged, preventing the water from refilling the salt tank.
To "Prevent":
Only "fill" the salt to a level between 30 - 70% full ( never 100% full ).
Also, I've heard ( but never tried ) that you can stick a piece of PVC pipe into the salt tank at a SLANT ( from bottom to top ),
to help the salt to "slide" down, and be less likely to get "bridged" as the salt is slowly used / dissolved by the water added after each regeneration.
And lastly,
If you have a pounds ( lbs. ) of salt adjustment on your valve,
never set it any lower than 8 lbs. ( approximately 3 gallons of water added ) for refill setting.
* VIDEO: https://youtu.be/nkPI7nvS9a4
and
a longer video: https://youtu.be/8e-S8sR-oIc