GE Softener--water level in tank

[SayJay]

Hello,

I am having trouble with my water softener not drawing brine, and filling the tank during the brine stage. I have been running diagnostics over and over after trying a different fix. At first, the water level would remain the same as it did after it filled, but now, water FILLS the tank during the brine cycle! I've thoroughly cleaned out the tank and the brinewell, and the "thing" at the bottom of the brinewell (at the end of the tube that I assume fills and empties the tank). Like I said, at first the only problem was that it didn't draw brine, and now, to add insult to injury, it is filling up. (During the brine stage, I assume, since that's what it did when I ran the manual diagnostics.)

Here's what I've tried:
*Cleaning the nozzle and venturi, multiple times.
*Cleaning, and I mean really cleaning, out the salt and junk in the bottom. There was 5" or so of mushy salt in the bottom of the tank, and some in the brinewell. Near the last 2" or so in the tank, the salt began to have streaks of gray to black stuff in it. The water was also very dirty, especially when I rinsed out the brinewell.
*Taking apart the float assembly, and the two clamps that are stuck on the "thing" on the bottom. Everything was actually pretty clean. (I think for a while the "think" must've been stuck in the mushy salt because of 1) the location of the salt and 2) the fact that early on, the tank wouldn't even fill with water.)
*Before doing most of this, I had to remove from 150-200 pounds of salt from the tank because it wasn't being consumed, and I literally had to get to the bottom of it.

What to do next? If it's the valve assembly, how tough is that to replace? Is there anything else I can try besides the valves and what I've already done? I'd like to examine the injectors, and the entire pathway that the brine should take when it's being used, but I don't even know where to find these last two items. (Maybe they were in the bottom of the float assembly and I didn't even realize it.)

Thank you in advance!

Sarah

[SayJay]

P.S. After I got this cleaned out, I started manual diagnostics when the tank was completely empty. No water, no salt. I did eventually add a bag of salt and a gallon of water. I don't know if that would cause this sort of problem though.

[Speedbump]

I'm not real fond of GE filters and I don't know how they work, because we refuse to work on things we can't get parts for.

I think what your telling me is that your brine tank is filling up more with each backwash cycle. If so, this is because it's not drawing out the brine, so each cycle it adds more water until the tank overflows. This is normally due to the nozzle/venturi being plugged. And you have stated that you have cleaned it, so you obviously know what it is. If that's the case and it's clean right now, your unit should be pulling brine.

Have you checked the backwash line to see if it's kinked or somehow preventing the units discharge of water?

Has anything happened to drop the pressure in your home?

[SayJay]

Hmmm....I think that technically, the tank is filling up during the brining stage. (Ours has a Fill, Brine, Backwash, Fast Rinse, and Service stages, if I recall correctly). I can't be 100% certain though, because I have only observed it when I was doing manual diagnostics. For the last regeneration, I just hit the button and let it do its thing, unobserved, and went to bed. When I got up in the morning, that's when I noticed the tank was filled up to the bottom of the overflow valve.

I have no reason to believe there's been a pressure drop. I did, however, have to move the black tubing around in order to get to the portion of it that was in the brinewell....maybe I messed something up when I was doing that? Come to think of it, the first time it started filling during brining was just after I'd possibly bumped something inside the brinewell. (At the time, I didn't know the brinewell could be removed so I was gently probing the area inside it with a mop handle, and when I was removing it, it snagged slightly on something.)

[mrcaptainbob]

Softener...

Hey Speedbump...is it possible he bumped the float settings in that well while 'probing with a mop handle'? I'm not familiar with a GE, but the last three softeners I had ... well they all had some sort of float control. SayJay's comment about snagging something got me to thinking maybe....

[Speedbump]

It's possible. I'm like you I'm not familiar with GE's either. Not all brine wells are the same. Some keep the level where it should be with a float system, some just have timed refills.

I would check what might have happened with that mop handle though.

[SayJay]

Yes, I did check what happened and ended up taking it all apart. I even took off the two clamps at the bottom of the "thing" (ha ha, still haven't found the technical name for it) and nothing was broken or dirty. In doing so, I had to pull on the tubing that went to the venturi, but I checked that and it wasn't kinked or bent so that it would prohibit flow. (And we know it does *great* filling the tank with that same tube. <--sarcastic, since I feel my machine is betraying me.)

For anyone interested, the model number is GXSF39E. I tried to find a link to the owner's manual but to no avail.

[SayJay]

Oh, and I feel I should be honest and tell you that I am no longer planning to fix this myself. I was when I started this thread, however. I've spent literally hours on it, and under the perfect working conditions (kids occupied, lots of extra time when I'm not tired), I wouldn't hesitate to tear into the valve assemblies at the machine's top....but I can't spend any more time working on this. My husband wants me to call a repairman this week, and that's what I'll do. I will most certainly let you know what he finds out! In the meanwhile, I'm still speculating about what he'll find -- I bet it's in the valve seals at the top of the machine.

Thanks so much to everyone who chimed in to help.

[Speedbump]

There is a big difference between suction and pressure, your water pressure pushes water easily, but the nozzle/venturi is what pulls the salt brine from the brine tank and rinses it down through the bed.

Check the discharge tube for kinks, that is the one I was referring to. It should be at least 1/2" and more llike 5/8".

Be careful who you call. Most people are going to be like me. Not interested in working on a unit they can't get parts for. In a lot of cases, you will end up with a softener salesman disguised as a repair man, trying to sell you a new unit.