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Crystal vs Pellets

jfreak53 said:
Wonder if that's what's happening with my automatic one. It cycles weird right now, half the time i have to manually run it. Was waiting to get through the cold weeks of Jan to call my softener guy and have him look.
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Brine tank salt level has nothing to do with "weird cycles".
If manually starting the regeneration works you've got a timer/controller/flow meter issue.
 
Reading threads like this makes me so happy Step Saver is in my area, can't imagine dealing with all those bags.
 
I’ve was buying pallets of salt for 490 off this guy but found someone this year on Facebook marketplace selling pallets for 307. I have another guy doing it for 200. It’s last years salt though and got a little wet.
 
New to the car wash game/ about 10 month in- I know the least amount about the brine tank - I do know the former owner said to keep the tank filled with salt 6 inches from the overflow- I’m guessing that’s not how it’s supposed to be now based on your comment

Also, several months ago I noticed the water overflowing in the tank, it was really low on salt , I filled it up with salt and it was fine

Is that normal?

Thanks!
 
jeoc24 said:
New to the car wash game/ about 10 month in- I know the least amount about the brine tank - I do know the former owner said to keep the tank filled with salt 6 inches from the overflow- I’m guessing that’s not how it’s supposed to be now based on your comment

Also, several months ago I noticed the water overflowing in the tank, it was really low on salt , I filled it up with salt and it was fine

Is that normal?

Thanks!
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Water (brine) flowing out the overflow port of a brine tank is NOT normal. It usually indicates that maintenance on the softener valve is needed.

Softener valves use plumbing pressure to push water into the brine tank. The water contacts the salt and becomes brine. During a regeneration the valve sucks brine out of that tank. The vacuum needed is created by a venturi - the venturi creates suction. The venturi is created by a part called the injector. The injector has a small orifice that needs to be maintained/cleaned periodically. When the little orifice is dirty/clogged, the softener valve IS able to put water into the brine tank, but IS NOT able to suck it back out... viola - you have the makings of an overflowing brine tank.

Russ
 
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cantbreak80 said:
jfreak53,

One gallon of water will be fully saturated with 3 lbs of salt. Regardless of the salt’s form (crystal, solar, pellet) fully saturated brine cannot dissolve additional salt.

For efficiency, 1 CuFt (ft3) of softener media can be easily regenerated to 85% of its maximum capacity with 3 gallons of water and 9 lbs* of salt. That last 15% will easily require twice the volume of brine!

Example: A salt efficient 4ft3 softener would therefore consume 12 gallons of water and 36 lbs of salt per regeneration.

If that 4ft3 softener’s brine refill cycle fills the brine tank with more than 12 gallons of water, it will consume more salt than necessary to efficiently regenerate the media bed. This is one reason why Russ (Buckeye Hydro) and I frown on overfilling the brine tank with salt.

There are several reasons for excessive brine refill levels but frequently it’s due to incorrectly programed Brine Refill timing. Typical brine refill rates are controlled to 1/2 gallon per minute. So, that 4ft3 softener’s brine refill setting would be 24 minutes (12 gallons/.5 GPM)



BTW* The salt efficiency number is closer to 8 lbs per ft3 but that requires Chinese math to calculate the associated water volume requirements. Who’s got time for that?
Well...I do! It’s actually 32 lbs and 10.66667 Gallons per regeneration with 21.33333 minutes of brine refill. Now you know why I used 9 lbs!

Finally, Sam's Club price in my area is currently less than $7.00/44lbs for Morton Pellets. YMMV.
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That’s great information. I need to rebed my resin tanks since you know a lot about softeners do you know where I could get resin at a good price in the San Antonio area. Thanks in advance for any help.
 
From Nelsen Corporation’s website:
We operate as a wholesale distributor, selling exclusively to professional dealers who handle the sale, installation, or servicing of materials from Nelsen Corporation. To access our catalog and set up an account, all potential customers must meet certain qualifications.
As a professional dealer, we trust you appreciate and respect our policy, understanding the importance of qualifying every company seeking information from Nelsen Corporation.

As a water treatment specialist, Buckeye Hydro, LLC is definitely qualified to be a Nelsen Corp professional dealer.
 
I never knew he is a dealer for Nelson Products.
Of course we all know he's a water treatment specialist and that's great.
 
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