How to: Softener Recharge & how many refill?

Post by **PatRi** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:25 am

I have my S1 for close to three years (approx june/july 2005) and like clockwork every eight months my softener needs to be recharged. I test it with an aquarium test kit, and anyway the sound coming out of the S1 are not the same when the water starts to get 'hard'!!!

So all that said, I have the standard setup from Chris Coffee of 10In softener/filter and have recharged it three times, plus the original charge in the cartrdige for a nice 32 months of no problem and it is time again...

my question is how many recharge can these cartridge take? anyone has feedback on this?

huge thks, Pat

Post by **jmcphail** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:31 am

Hi Pat,

I don't have an answer for your question, instead I have my own question -

The recharge you are doing for your softener, is it a recharge using salt? I'd like to know how to do that! Do you have a link?

Post by **PatRi** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:45 am

Hi,

Yes, in fact it must be here somewhere, it was before the site change structure, I had written all the procedure with drawings. It was after the first recharge I did, so I'd say approx march 06. Tried to find it but cant for some reason

:?

-pat

Post by **jmcphail** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:10 am

Thank you for looking, I didn't mean to send you off on a wild goose chase, I just hoped you had it handy.

MDL · Post by **MDL** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:31 am

I can't answer your question specifically for the cartridges that we all use in the system from Chris. However, I can tell you from experience with ion exchange resins in labs and also water systems in labs that the resin deteriorates through cycles of recharging and does not regenerate 100%. The cartridges are so cheap if you order them generically that I would suggest tossing them after 12 - 24 months just to have a new clean resin bed.

Personally, my intention is to just toss them since my first cartridge is almost 1 year old and the water is fine. If I can pay $8/year for a cartridge it is not worth my time and effort to recharge it. I have posted one vendor that happens to be near me in Southern CA who has very inexpensive cartridges; you will find the specifics if you search for my earlier posts.

Take care,
Mark

Post by **PatRi** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:45 am

No prob, in fact I am a bit dissapointed because I had written two of them, one on the recharge of the softner and the other on the testing of the water hardeness with KH/GH test Kit???

anyway here is what I have left on my pc:

[quote]Recharging the softener (tank is 2 liter total with cartridge is less than 1 litre fluid):
1) Leave 450 g of salt in 1 litre of hot water for a few hours to get

Post by **PatRi** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:55 am

MDL wrote:I can't answer your question specifically for the cartridges that we all use in the system from Chris. However, I can tell you from experience with ion exchange resins in labs and also water systems in labs that the resin deteriorates through cycles of recharging and does not regenerate 100%. The cartridges are so cheap if you order them generically that I would suggest tossing them after 12 - 24 months just to have a new clean resin bed.

Personally, my intention is to just toss them since my first cartridge is almost 1 year old and the water is fine. If I can pay $8/year for a cartridge it is not worth my time and effort to recharge it. I have posted one vendor that happens to be near me in Southern CA who has very inexpensive cartridges; you will find the specifics if you search for my earlier posts.

Take care,
Mark

Huge thanks, exactly what I was looking for.
I was not to familiar with behavior of the resin, but intuitively I felt that running it for too long could be an issue (accumulation ...)

so I will try to find for your other post on where to source these cheaper because Chris is not in the low price range on that.

t.y. again,
Pat

Edit: found your post and agreed at 8 U$ not sure I will recharge either,
wforum/viewtopic.php?p=4125&highlight=#4125

Post by **jmcphail** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 12:52 pm

When I was a kid I remember loading the bags of rock salt into the softener, but I had no idea what the actual process accomplished. I just thought the salt was required to soften the water!

Thanks very much for digging out those recharge instructions.

MDL · Post by **MDL** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 10:28 am

I have a slightly modified installation that I think simplifies upkeep.

I have an extra "T" and valve that allow me to flush cartridges and test the water without disconnecting anything.

Install a "T" fitting between the cartridges and the valve/regulator. The extra valve goes right after the "T". Actually in my system the "extra" valve is shown in the diagram; since I have a relatively long run from the regulator to the Vivaldi I have another valve right before the braided tubing at the Vivaldi.

With my setup if I close the valve after the "T" I can flush water out the bottom of the "T" to test or flush cartridges. This is also valuable if you want to regenerate the cartridge since you can pull the softener out and put it into the carbon housing and then fill the empty softener housing with saturated salt water to regererate.

Take care,
Mark