94 spectrum 360 ? does it really wear out?

[pgavideoguru]

i have a spectrum 360 and it seems to cycle through just fine manually but we do not see or feel any soft water, the salt level does not go down and i am not sure what to look for. i checked the soliniod and they both work nothing seems to be clogged or blocked. the instructions say it will regenerate every 4 days? i reset the program defaults and bumped to to 2000 and 400 reserve but nothing happens. i am thinking the electronic board is not generating commands. any suggestions would be sincerly appreciated, my daughter has a skin condition and i had a service rep out and all he wanted to do was sell me another system. i live in Draper ut, any qualified rep that you know of would be appreciated as well
thank you in advance.

Mark

[greg-cws]

Hi Mark

All water systems will degrade and deteriorate over time, so things will break and wear out eventually requiring replacement. The system you have is designed to be modularly repaired, so I'm sure that we can figure this one out together.

Try the following steps and let me know how it goes:

Programming
Press button 2 on the controller - this will enter programming mode

Pressing button 2 again will advance to the next programming step
Pressing buttons 3 and 4 will allow you to make programming changes

Program your system with the following settings:

Time of day = Current time of day
Time of Regen = 2:00 am
Capacity = 1000 (Very low, just to get things started)
Reserve = 600 (600 gallons, rather high, but again just to kick things off)
Cycle 1 = 10 (Backwash)
Cycle 2 = 60 (Brine/Rinse)
Cycle 3 =10 (Rapid Rinse)
Cycle 4 = 16 (Timed Brine Tank Refill)

Press button 5 to exit programming mode

Salt Bridge Remediation
A salt bridge is a phenomenon where the salt dries into a hard crust and is suspended above the water level in the brine tank, precluding it from coming into contact with the water.

Add 5 gallons of water to the brine tank and then start a manual cleaning cycle (Press button 1 and wait 60 seconds for it to start). The 5 gallons of water will raise the water level by a minimum of 5 inches in the brine tank and help to dissolve any bridging.

After 70 minutes, the softener should have sucked all the water out of the brine tank. - If not, you have a mechanical problem that needs to be addressed.

After an additional 26 minutes, the system will be done cleaning and you should have soft water, unless the system has suffered major resin attrition.
Your system will also have added 8 gallons of water to the tank, which is about 8 inches of vertical height in an 18" diameter tank.

Do you have a soft water test kit ? - If not, please call or email Intermountain's customer service team with your name, address, and system model #, and they'll send you one at no charge

Good luck !

Greg

[pgavideoguru]

Hi Mark

All water systems will degrade and deteriorate over time, so things will break and wear out eventually requiring replacement. The system you have is designed to be modularly repaired, so I'm sure that we can figure this one out together.

Try the following steps and let me know how it goes:

Programming
Press button 2 on the controller - this will enter programming mode

Pressing button 2 again will advance to the next programming step
Pressing buttons 3 and 4 will allow you to make programming changes

Program your system with the following settings:

Time of day = Current time of day
Time of Regen = 2:00 am
Capacity = 1000 (Very low, just to get things started)
Reserve = 600 (600 gallons, rather high, but again just to kick things off)
Cycle 1 = 10 (Backwash)
Cycle 2 = 60 (Brine/Rinse)
Cycle 3 =10 (Rapid Rinse)
Cycle 4 = 16 (Timed Brine Tank Refill)

Press button 5 to exit programming mode

Salt Bridge Remediation
A salt bridge is a phenomenon where the salt dries into a hard crust and is suspended above the water level in the brine tank, precluding it from coming into contact with the water.

Add 5 gallons of water to the brine tank and then start a manual cleaning cycle (Press button 1 and wait 60 seconds for it to start). The 5 gallons of water will raise the water level by a minimum of 5 inches in the brine tank and help to dissolve any bridging.

After 70 minutes, the softener should have sucked all the water out of the brine tank. - If not, you have a mechanical problem that needs to be addressed.

After an additional 26 minutes, the system will be done cleaning and you should have soft water, unless the system has suffered major resin attrition.
Your system will also have added 8 gallons of water to the tank, which is about 8 inches of vertical height in an 18" diameter tank.

Do you have a soft water test kit ? - If not, please call or email Intermountain's customer service team with your name, address, and system model #, and they'll send you one at no charge

Good luck !

Greg

Hi Greg
I am remembering the sequence and maybe this will help. i have programmed the system and it seems to operate through the cycles the salt is now going down but no softwater. when it stopped working the salt holding tank ran dry. no water was cycling into the tank, i looked at the line in the tank and at the bottom of the line there is a special valve with a float, that was stuck up not allowing any water into the salt tank.

the system is going through the cycles now, is it possible for everything to work and something prevents the water from being conditioned?

[greg-cws]

The most common reason I see for softeners that are working fine mechanically but not producing soft water is that the bypass crossover valve is open; sounds silly, but lets check it just to be sure...There are three ball valves above your system. The two lover valve should be open, and the middle one should be closed.

Sometimes the softening resin can be very dirty if it goes for an extended time without being cleaned. I'd give it a few more regenerations to allow it every chance to succeed - If you have Hydroclear or Pur-Gard, add 8 oz. to the brine tank to help clean the resin and the mechanical moving parts to accelerate the healing process.

Of course the cold water will appear soft much sooner than the hot, since the water heater is holding an accumulated volume of dirty water that has to be rinsed/diluted out.

[aluptHopWat]

Hi, I have exactly the same problem as Mark described. The system is cycling - it is set up with the factory defaults, I think - but the salt never moves. Sounds like it is working but the water is hard. We live in Ivins (St George) and would really prefer to have someone come out and take a look who knows about the Spectrum 360. Can you suggest someone in our area?

[greg-cws]

We have three service agents in your area:

Mike Sullivan Plumbing - 435-680-2868
Jack's Plumbing - 435-619-1096
Whitney's Water - 702-398-3671

If you'd like to try reprogramming yourself, let us know and one of our online support reps will able to help you also.

[aluptHopWat]

I decided to empty out all the salt that was in the barrel and found just what you suggested on another post. There was a lot of old salt caked at the bottom! It all looked great on the top but the problem was underneath all the fresh pellets. We emptied it all out and now I'm hoping that was my problem. Saved me a bundle if it works. It is regenerating now. Keeping my fingers crossed. THANKS! :)

[greg-cws]

Great, well done on taking the initiative. It would be a good idea to run through your programming also, pay particular attention to cycle 4.

Let us know if you need any more help at all.