Concerned your water softener may not be recharging automatically? Don't worry, we're here to help. Your softener uses the Hardness programming and Water Usage to determine how often it cycles so let's dive into them below.
Before you start:
- Check out our article How Often is my Softener Recharging to see exactly how often your unit has been recharging.
Step 1 - Hardness Programming
When it comes to the hardness number, the higher the number, the more times the unit will cycle. You want to make sure this is set correctly. Below is an example. To calculate your appropriate value, visit our Hardness Calculation worksheet.
Step 2 - Metering
As long as your softener is metering, it's set to run automatically. Let's check if it's metering:
- Hold the Select button until ‘000’ appears on the screen, then let go. If you see a 000h here, skip to our 000h Code article.
- Open a softened water faucet downstream of the unit.
- If the numbers are climbing, your softener has been recharging on its own. Continue to step 3.
- If the numbers do not move, visit our Failure to Meter Water article.
Step 3 - Salt Use
Since your softener is programmed correctly and metering water, we want to make sure the salt use is normal. Head on over to our Little/No Salt Use article to do a few checks and then head on back here for step 4.
Step 4 - Test
After checking all of the above, you’ll want to run a recharge and watch for the salt to drop over the two-hour cycle. Follow our instructions here on how to start a manual recharge.
Once the recharge is complete, test a few cold-water faucets with a hardness test strip – found at most local hardware or pool supply stores. If your water tests hard despite the tips above, we recommend you follow this next article No Soft Water.
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