Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - How long do resin beds last?

My Kenmore is going on 12yrs. It has gone through 470+ regenerations. It seems not to be softening water very well as it has in the past.

How does one determine if the resin bed is 'worn'? What physically 'wears out' the resin bed? Does it get coated with some crud that can be dissolved by pouring some stuff into the tank?

The valve, venturi valve, etc are still in good, working condition.

I'm wondering if it's worth dumping out the old stuff and replace with new beads...

If your lasted 12 years, then it has been on borrowed time. Good for you because their life expentency is around 5.

Rebedding may actually cost more than you bargain for. Murphy's Law states as soon as you rebed it, the valve will go out.

There are few things that can make resins go bad, including chlorine from city water, exceedingly high iron, poor quality salt, improperly set up and other factors.

Let us know more about your source water conditions, the number of people using water and make note of plumbing fixtures like faucets and showerheads to see if there is any calcium build up.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

Our water comes from the city and is comprised of mostly ground water with a small mix of lake water. pH is supposedly near neutral. Hardness sits anywhere between 14~18. We don't seem to have issues with iron.

I think they changed from chlorine to chloramine some number of years ago.

I use standard Morton salt pellets. I tried some of their System Saver pellets some time ago and it seemed to help a tad until they were used up.

We didn't have any problems with scale or sediment buildup, but we recently do notice a lack of water softness while bathing and washing over the past few months. Increasing the hardness setting on my unit and manual recharges don't seem to help much other than increase my salt consumption.

I opened up and inspected my main valve. I was hoping the gasket inside broke, but it wasn't the case

My dad's old Kenmore unit lasted him some 20yrs until all the parts rusted and broke. I guess they really "don't make them like they used to."

Here's what you can do...pull off your valve and grab a sample of the resin, placing it in a zippered plastic bag. Then take it to a reputable water treatment place and ask them if it's any good. I've been told, and I'm not an expert...just a DIY'er, resin has gone bad when it gets mushy from the chlorine damage. Maybe some of the other "experts" on here can weigh in on this a little more than "have you had your water tested"?

Yes you got more than 2 lives out of that Kenmore. I would not put one thin dime into a 12 year old unit. I would budget for a new model but the Kenmore would not be in my first 5 choices.