Skip to main content
Home
The Baheyeldin Dynasty
The journey for wisdom starts with knowledge
  • Home
  • About
  • Site Map
  • Contact

Fixing a Sears Kenmore Water Softener

  1. Home

By Khalid on 2004/12/15 - 21:01, last updated 2005/11/13 - 16:12

I have been struggling with the Water Softener for a few months now. I got it fixed by Sears for about 165$Cdn two years or so ago. A few months ago, it started having problems again. So I decided to try and fix it myself.

What is a water softener?

First a little background.

In North America city water is locally produced from underground water, not from a river like in Egypt. Deep under the ground there are aquifers, and the city taps into it, treats it and make it available to the inhabitants. If the bedrock has a lot of calcium, .e.g limestone, in it, then the water is often said to be "hard water".

Hard water causes a lot of problems: dishes would look cloudy, the tea kettle will have white residue in it, soap will not rinse from your hand (no squeaky clean feeling), your hair will clump if you use soap in the shower instead of shampoo, and the water heater efficiency will decrease as the calcium from the hot water precipitates on its walls. Soap and detergent use is also increased.

How does a water softener work?

So, there is a market for water softeners in places that have hard water.

A water softener works by having a tank that is filled with salt, and a tanks full of a special resin. The resin can remove the hardness from the water, but requires that it be regenerated by washing it with salt brine during regeneration. Water softener are either demand based (after a certain number of gallons have been processed), or time based (e.g. twice week). Regeneration happens in the early hours of the morning, depending on how you set it. It goes through several cycles, which are basically:

  • Fill: Water is passed to the salt tank
  • Brining: Water is left in the tank to form brine
  • Rinse: The brine is used to rinse the resin, remove the calcium that it has removed in the past, and make it able to remove calcium again
  • Back Wash: The resin tank is flushed for residues and iron deposit
  • Fast Rinse: The resin is rinsed from all the above
  • Service: This means that the water softener is serving soft water for the house

There are many brands of water softeners out there in the market. Many are rebranded. For example, Sears Kenmore, Ecoline and General Electric (GE) are the same. Culligan is also similar.

About my handyman's skills

Before I start, I should say that I am not at all handy with maintaining a house. Part of it is due to the fact that in Egypt most people live in concrete apartments, and not woodframe and drywall houses with lawns. Part of it is that I never got the hang of being mechanically adept, whether it is plumbing, carpentry, car maintenance, and such. So, fixing a water softener, which involves mechanical, electrical and plumbing aspects is quite a challenge.

Symptoms

Many things can go wrong with a water softener. The basic complaint is that "there is no soft water". Another is high water level in the salt tank. Yet another is salt level that does not go down as the weeks pass.

Solutions

The manual for a water softener often has some comprehensive diagnostics that can be done to see

Start with cleaning the nozzle and Venturi. This should not require any tools, and can be disassembled and assembled by hand. Take note on how things fit before you remove them. Wash the components in water. Use some vinegar. Make sure there is no deposits, salt, rust, calcium or debris.

Then check the float in the salt well in the tank. The float should be able to move up and down, and the hose should be able to inject water in the tank and suck it again.

Then shut the water supply, drain the house (open the lowest lying faucet in the house), then disassemble the cam gear and rotor from the valve head. Check all the seals and gaskets and that there is no wear on the smooth side of the rotor.

Run the diagnostics as per the manual, and make sure that the cam gear moves well. If the motor is skipping and making a clicking sound and failing to move the cam gear, then replace it.

Replacing all the gaskets, the rotor, the cam gear and the motor should solve most problems, and only cost me 74$ Cdn. That is provided that the nozzle/venturi are clean, and that there is no obstruction to the float assembly.

Check for the formation of a salt bridge, specially in humid environment. Tap the side of the tank and see if there is a hollow sound at some spot under a solid sound. Use a broom stick to break it.

Once every six months, get a water softener cleaner (basically a sulphite powder that removes iron deposit. You can buy it at Canadian Tire or other hardware stores. It is more expensive at Sears, so avoid buying it there.

Every year or 18 months, try to remove all the salt from the tank and wash it. You can use warm water, and a wet/dry vacuum to remove it.

Conclusion

Fixing a water softener is easier than you think. Save your money and do it yourself. Get the manuals online, go buy the parts, and do it.

The morale of the story is: If I could do it, anyone can do it.

Resources and Links

Here are some useful links with more information:

  • Sears Kenmore Water Softener Manuals (PDF)
  • Sears Kenmore Water Softener Interactive Troubleshooting animations (highly recommended!). There are also some animations on how a water softener works.
  • HowStuffWorks.com: How Water Softeners Work - a shot article.
  • Some symptoms and solutions, from people who did that themselves.
Contents: 
Canada
  • Add comment

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

I have a Sears Series 300

Sun, 2011/04/17 - 15:44

I have a Sears Series 300 Water Softener in a cabin at 7k feet. I drain it every Fall. Coming back this April, I am having a significant problem with the plastic bypass valve (stem). Every time I turn on the water from the well (about 60 pounds of pressure), the bypass valve blows out. The bypass valve(stem) still has the four small o-rings on it looks normal. I am not able to turn on the water on to the house as either direction the valve is in still causes a blowout. I looked in the venturi (one small has a small door port and other a propeller)and it looks free of obstruction. Does anyone have any suggestions on what is happening and how to address it? Thanks

  • reply

Jeff (not verified)

Bypass Valve

Fri, 2011/04/22 - 14:50

You need to order a new bypass valve....you can get it here:

www.softenerparts.com

  • reply

Anonymous (not verified)

Water presure

Wed, 2011/05/11 - 13:14

I have a kenmore model# 625-388800 i have lost alot of my water presure, but when i move the by-pass valve to service I have normal water presure. do we have any information on what it could be. Im lost.??

  • reply

Darlie (not verified)

salt disappears in 24 hours

Thu, 2011/05/19 - 09:29

I have a Sears water softener. I put salt in it (it was low) and within 24 hours all the salt had dissolved. Help!

  • reply

Larry Armstrong (not verified)

Constant regeneration

Fri, 2011/05/20 - 22:22

I have a sears model 70 water softener (solid state). The softener works as far as giving soft water but my problem is that for some reason it continually is regenerating. I look at the cam and it is making a complete revolution about every five minutes. It has two micro switches. I thought maybe the top micro switch was bad (since the cam does not stop) so I switched the two micro switches and there is not difference. Is it the main computer board/screen?

  • reply

woofgang (not verified)

sears ultrasoft 100 625.388150

Sun, 2011/08/28 - 14:00

Softner stopped supplying soft water..(tested water with pool water hardness test kit) che cked internet for various solutions, and noteing that the rotor seal has a wear ring, I jumped to the conclusion that it must be the problem. replaced ( Sears parts has a part number 7129716 that includes all seals / O rings between the rotor and valve body including tube of silicone grease) the water was still hard.
I thought it must be the plastic bypass valve, but after filling a one gallon jug and watching the water meter on the control panel (manual page 5-2) one gallon of water read 200 (as it should)on the panel therefore the bypass valve could not have been leaking. Hard water escaping around the valve O rings would have meant that less that 1 gallon of soft water was coming from the softner, therefore the meter would haveread less than 200.
Reading another post stating that the top distributor page 6-1 item 22 could be plugged, and considering that there was no other option , I removed the valve from the tank by placing the valve in bypass, un clipping the byass valve , sliding the tank outward, then removing the clamp securing the valve to the tank. Lo and behold an O ring was found loose.This O ring was deformed and had an indentation on it that appeared as if it had never been seated correctly. Upon investigation this was.the distributor pipe to valve seal( page 6-1 item 23)
I called Sears water line and they did not seem suprised that it was found loose and deformed. I was told to grease the replacement with silicone grease, then place it over the distributor pipeat the top and then install the valve over it, and reinstall the clamp and clips (Note: I was super carefull when removing the above items (page 6-1 items 14, 15,and page 6-4 items 100) if I did this again I would pre order replacements and O rings (page 6-1 items 23 and 24 and 21) prior to removing the tank.

Upon completion I had soft water leaving the sodftner, but after a few days noted that water was building up in the salt tank. I removed the valve cover and reseated all the O rings and seals ,and folloiwing instructions to the letter especially page 5-5 "assembly". Everything appears to be normal.

Cost: Rotor seal/O ring Kit approx $50 including shipping..from sears parts.
O ring for the distributor pipe $0.79 at the local hardware store.
O-rings for the bypass valve to valve connection (page 6-4 item 104 Qty 2) $2.14 Local hardware store.
Had I read and gave the repair process more thought , I most likely did not need the rotor seal/O ring kit and repair cost wold have been less that $5.00

GOOD LUCK

p.s. I have much more respect for the Sears Softner design\. This was the first problem I have had in 7 years of operation. Although I am not sure how long the Softner has been malfunctioning. (It was OK about 5 years ago.

  • reply

woofgang (not verified)

Water kept getting hard short

Thu, 2011/10/06 - 15:53

Water kept getting hard short time after repairs.. Sears water phone line said to use 2 O rings on the distributor pipe..

I did and soft water now is present. i tried to make unit fail again by regenerating, and by opening my deep sink faucet to the max.. Soft water continued to output from the softner. However the flow rate on the softner output had decreased dramatically.;

I figured I either needed a new distributor tube, and or resin.. Since the price of a new unit was less that twice the repair parts(distributor and resin)I bought a new softner from SEARS. After installing ,, soft water flow was normal.

Upon dissasembly of the old tank, the distributor tube was noted to be seated in the head normally. Only conclusion was that Resin had deteriorated. Visualy it appeared that the resin had broken into many small pieces .

Internet Research noted that chlorine can deteriorate resin,i.e.(each 1 ppm chlorine increase can cut resin life in half).. My water city water supply tested 4 ppm chlorine.

Water people stated that during the summer months chlorine levels were high because additional water was used for lawn watering etc , the water company tended to chlorinate for the maxium anticipated useage, and when useage was lower chlorine levels were higher.

P.S. wateretesting was done with Swimming ool test kit

Old Sears softner was almost 8 years old

  • reply

Anonymous (not verified)

brine well salt

Mon, 2011/09/19 - 17:37

I somehow got salt pellets in my brine well. How do I get them out?

  • reply

Anonymous (not verified)

shop vac,

Tue, 2011/09/27 - 20:54

shop vac,

  • reply

Anonymous (not verified)

kenmore water softner

Thu, 2011/09/22 - 10:28

venturi on my sears kenmore dir plus has water coming out of it rather than sucking can anyone tell me what
i need to do to correct this problem.

  • reply

Pages

  • « first
  • ‹ previous
  • …
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • next ›
  • last »

Current

Pandemic

  • COVID-19
  • Coronavirus

Search

Site map

Contents

  • Family
    • Khalid
    • Ancestry
    • Extended
  • Friends
  • Nokat نكت
  • Writings
    • Cooking
    • Culture
    • Science
    • History
    • Linguistics
    • Media
    • Literature
    • Politics
    • Humor
    • Terrorism
    • Business
    • Philosophy
    • Religion
    • Children
  • Technology
    • Linux
    • Arabization
    • Drupal
      • Association
    • Software
    • Internet
    • Technology in Society
    • Digital Archeology
    • NCR History
    • MidEast Internet
    • Programming
    • Saudi ISPs
    • Miscellaneous
  • Places
    • Canada
      • Weather
    • Egypt
      • Cuisine
      • Alexandria
      • E.G.C.
    • USA
    • Saudi Arabia
  • Interests
    • Astronomy
    • Fishing
    • Photography
    • Snorkeling
    • Nature
    • Photomicroscopy
  • Miscellany

In Depth

  • al-Hakim bi Amr Allah: Fatimid Caliph of Egypt الحاكم بأمر الله
  • Alexandria, Egypt
  • Arabic on the Internet
  • Articles on the history of Muslims and Arabs in the Iberian Peninsula تاريخ المسلمين و العرب في الأند
  • DIY GOTO Telescope Controller With Autoguiding and Periodic Error Correction
  • E.G.C. English Girls College in Alexandria, Egypt
  • Egyptian Cuisine, Food and Recipes مأكولات مصرية
  • George Saliba: Seeking the Origins of Modern Science?
  • Internet Scams and Fraud
  • Mistaken for an Arab or Muslim: Absurdities of being a victim in the War on Terror
  • Mistaken Identity: How some people confuse my site for others
  • One People's Terrorist Is Another People's Freedom Fighter
  • Overview of Google's Technologies
  • Photomicroscopy
  • Pseudoscience: Lots of it around ...
  • Resources for using Google Adsense with Drupal
  • Rockwood Conservation Area, Southern Ontario
  • Selected Symbolic Novels And Movies
  • Snorkeling the Red Sea near Jeddah
  • Updates and Thoughts on the Egyptian Revolution of 2011

Recent Content

Most recent articles on the site.

  • Origin Of COVID-19: Natural Spillover, Lab Leak Or Biological Weapon?
  • Kamal Salibi and the "Israel from Yemen" theory
  • How To Upgrade HomeAssistant Core In A Python Venv Using uv
  • Ancestry - Paternal Side
  • Review of Wait Water Saver For Whole House Humidifiers
more

Most Comments

Most commented on articles ...

  • Another scam via Craigslist: offering more than asking price
  • Warning to female tourists thinking of marrying Egyptians
  • Craigslist classified for used car: Cheque fraud scam
  • Winning the lottery scam email: World Cup South African lottery
  • Email Scam: BMW 5 Series car and lottery winning
more

About Khalid

Various little bits of information ...

  • Khalid Baheyeldin: brief biography
  • Presentations and Talks
  • Youtube Videos
  • GitHub Projects
  • Drupal.org Profile
  • Astrophotography @ Flickr

Sponsored Links

Your Link Ad Here

Tags

Android Mobile Ubuntu Sony OnStep OpenWRT Router Ericsson COVID-19 Rogers Coronavirus Arabic Kubuntu Home Assistant GSM Telescope tablet Spectrum Scam Python 419 Laptop Firefox DIY CPU Conspiracy Comet Balkanization backup App
More

© Copyright 1999-2025 The Baheyeldin Dynasty. All rights reserved.
You can use our content under the Terms of Use.
Please read our privacy policy before you post any information on this site.
All posted articles and comments are copyright by their owner, and reflect their own views and opinions, which may not necessarily be consistent with the views and opinions of the owners of The Baheyeldin Dynasty.

Web site developed by 2bits.com Inc.