Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - Ecowater ESD518 - Brine tank full - hard water - Help please!

Hi there - I have been browsing this forum for a little while and have learned a lot about what might be my problem BUT I have no practical knowledge of fixing water softeners and I suspect that a lot of the members may be able to give me guidance.

This water softener is about 8 or 9 years old (based on the age of the house). I've been in the house 3 years and it worked fine for the first 2 years. During the last year the softening has been sporadic. The meter does seem to be working ok - but the water has gotten hard again before the auto recharge happens.

I have cleaned the valve several times. I have run resin treatment thru a few times.

In the last few days I have been trying to get the unit to regenerate - but the brine level in the tank gets higher each time as if no brine is going thru the resin tank. The brine level is up to the overflow pipe. There is no soft water at all now.

Any suggestions on what to do please? Or is this beyond do-it-yourself tinkering?

Thanks

MORTON SYSTEM SAVER WATER SOFTENER (http://www.systemsaver.com/morton-website/instructions/index.html)

This shows how your units works. The unit is not drawing the brine. Look very carefully at the venturi. Sometimes a piece of resin will lodge in it and it's hard to see. Make sure the venturi gasket in correctly placed. Check the drain to insure it's not clogged.

Thanks - I can see from the instructions that the first problem is that the Venturi assembly gasket is worn - I'll try to get a replacement in today. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Thx for the help - these are great instructions.

I replaced the gasket and venturi disk and checked the suction thru the float assembly - all seemed to work fine.

The brine tank took about 7 hours to get down to a reasonable level, so I hope that it is sucking brine fast enough.

The rest of the cycle completed well - let's hope that all is now well.

Thanks again Biermech for the help.

Sometimes they can be real simple to fix. As long as it draw the brine, you're good. I'm glad I was able to help.

Hi again - so after a couple of days use - I figure all the "unsoftened" water in the hot tank should have been used.

The bad news is that the water is still hard.

Is it likely that the resin is at the end of its life? The unit is 8 or 9 years old (I think) and has been used on chlorinated city water.

Mechanically and electrically the system seems to be functioning ok - maybe the problem is the ionization process?

Any suggestions would be welcomed. Thanks.

Pull the valve off the tank and get a sample of resin. Pinch it in your fingers. If it smaches up, it bad.

Thanks - that sounds like a job for tomorrow.

Well the past month has been a bit frustrating. I didn't pull the valve but instead ran resin cleaner thru a couple of times.

As long as I was manually doing the troubleshoot/recharge and going thru the cycle of check the venturi, check the vacuum, check the float mechanism, let the brine draw thru and then plug the electrics back in - I would get soft water.

But the system didn't recharge by itself - the brine tank would end up with too much water in it. The on-demand mechanism would trigger the night-time recharge but in the morning too much water in the tank.

Each time I would do the troubleshooting thing there was an increasing noise from the system - around the venturi or valve - but I'd complete the recharge and have soft water for a few days.

Yesterday it wouldn't draw brine at all - and today when I started the troubleshooting cycle, - no suction in the BR position - instead water streaming out of the venturi down the brine tube as tho' it is still on the Fill step. Again very noisy from the valve/venturi.

So, is the valve the problem? Do I need to refurbish it? Can Biertech or anyone give a guiding hand on this please? Is it a big job? or am I missing something else?

Any help much appreciated. Thanks

I have a 15 yr old ED518 (not sure what difference the "S" makes..), and had problems like yours 3 yrs ago. I was at the local plumbing house looking over various seals on the diagram with a salesman when a tech walked in .. listened to my problem, reached onto the wall pegboard and slapped a rebuild seal kit down. I took his word for it, and its been perfect ever since.

There was some part that he mentioned that I have to ensure it faces the right way.. I think it was one of the rotor seals. There may have been a indication in the included paperwork too, i forget now though. If you get it wrong, it self destructs, if i recall.. lol

I dont think the cost for this complete rebuild kit was high,, maybe $50 ? Take your time, clean everything well.. use a camera to take pics during disassembly if you're concerned about missing something.. make sure your hands are clean too, this will be your drinking water path, dont forget (some softener manuf recommend dumping a little bleach thru the unit after working on it).. give Ecowater a call, they have good customer service.

Oh, and if you decide to pull the resin tank lid off to check your resin.. dont forget to dump the system pressure from the tank before unscrewing the lid. A cap in the forehead at 60psi wouldnt be fun. Instructions for dumping pressure are in your manual.

Good luck.

There are a number of things that will cause no brine draw. Check the drain line. Make sure it is not restricted. Make sure the venturi gasket is in properly. The side hole in the gasket lines up with the hole in the venturi housing. The figure 8 o ring may be bad. When the valve approaches the draw cycle, the water should be running fast. Once in a draw, it slows down. If it does not slow, the rotor and/or rotor seal is bad. As DaveC72 said, buying a seal kit may be best.

Thanks for the suggestions guys - I'm going to try and source a rebuild kit. I think the insides of this unit are the same as Morton and a number of other units, right? I know this one has a 3/4 inch valve.

DaveC72 - I see you're in Ontario too - any suggestions on a supplier - the outfit that used to sell Ecowater in Barrie seems to have disappeared.

Thanks

518 Model...


This is an easy fix with a rebuild kit, you will get a small round O-ring and a figure 8 O-ring... do not drop the spring located below the round o-ring... it will get slippery. Also, if you haven't gotten the parts yet, be sure you get the teflon impregnanted disc for replacement. It is nessasary to be sure the control motor is in "service" position before you put the valve back together to be sure it is in the correct position.

ckw91977@yahoo.com If you have any other Ecowater/ Lindsey water softener problems. Service Technician since 2000.

Hope all goes well!

I have a 15 yr old ED518 (not sure what difference the "S" makes..), and had problems like yours 3 yrs ago. I was at the local plumbing house looking over various seals on the diagram with a salesman when a tech walked in .. listened to my problem, reached onto the wall pegboard and slapped a rebuild seal kit down. I took his word for it, and its been perfect ever since.

There was some part that he mentioned that I have to ensure it faces the right way.. I think it was one of the rotor seals. There may have been a indication in the included paperwork too, i forget now though. If you get it wrong, it self destructs, if i recall.. lol

I dont think the cost for this complete rebuild kit was high,, maybe $50 ? Take your time, clean everything well.. use a camera to take pics during disassembly if you're concerned about missing something.. make sure your hands are clean too, this will be your drinking water path, dont forget (some softener manuf recommend dumping a little bleach thru the unit after working on it).. give Ecowater a call, they have good customer service.

Oh, and if you decide to pull the resin tank lid off to check your resin.. dont forget to dump the system pressure from the tank before unscrewing the lid. A cap in the forehead at 60psi wouldnt be fun. Instructions for dumping pressure are in your manual.

Good luck.

The "s" means Solidstate, the models are only different by the upgrade of the Disc.