Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - Culligan Gold Series not sucking brine at ALL

3 yr old Culligan Gold system hasn't been working for a couple months. Followed manual troubleshooting suggestions w/ no luck. Thought it was salt bridging, but after completely cleaning tank it didn't help. Finally, after reading posts, studying manuals and watching the softener go thru it's cycles, I think I've identified what's wrong. Just don't know WHY it's wrong.

During the 62 minute brine rinse cycle (it's not called draw on my Culligan, but I believe it should be drawing the brine solution from the brine tank during this phase), the brine line puts a slow flow INTO the brine tank. Then, during the fast rinse cycle, it puts water in even faster. There is NO suction when I remove the brine line from the brine tank or from the control end - no suction at all on either end during this cycle.

Shouldn't there be? So the brine can be drawn out of the tank?

After emptying and refilling, we put 6" of water in brine tank (following manual) then added about 1/2 tank full of potassium. Now, 3 days later, the water level is about 3 inches OVER potassium. This should not be happening I know...the brine is not being pulled from the tank at all.

Took apart as much as we could, following the diagrams on pgs 48 and 49 of:

http://www.weareculligan.com/manuals/Gold%28RevA%2901017062.pdf

We didn't find anything that looked out of the ordinary in the eductor assembly or brine line connectors. It was all very clean, no debris, rust, dirt of any kind visible.

We ran a hose into the drain line and it's clear, so it's not that either.

We do have a couple baseball sized O rings in a bag left by our Culligan dealer when unit was installed; think they go on the adapter assembly - the part that connects the resin/mineral tank to control box, but not sure.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Culligan wants $144 to just take a look. If it's under warranty, the part won't cost anything, but we still have to pay for the $144...and of course, if it's not a warranty issue, the part too. Trying to avoid the expense right now so any help anyone can offer is very much appreciated. Very, very much appreciated!!

Thanks for any help at all!

Vicki

Get the unit into a draw cycle. Put unit on bypass. Let it stop flowing water.Disconnect the brine line from the valve. Put unit back in service and check for a draw. If it starts to draw then stops, an internal seal is bad or there is a blockage in the drain line flow contol (item #7 pg 48).

Thanks biermech, - OK, I did that. Put it on regen then cycled to brine rinse cycle (this is where it should be drawing i believe) then put on bypass, waited for water to stop flowing, disconnected brine line and put back in service. No suction at all. After a few seconds, water begins to slowly come OUT of brine tubing INTO brine tank.

I did it twice, disconnecting brine line from the brine tank one time and from the top by the controls another time; same result.

Also removed the backwash flow restrictor. Seems perfectly fine, no obstruction at all.

What do you think this means?

The only things that will cause it to have a slow drip during the brine draw are: drain line blocked or it is leaking past the seals. You said the drain line was clear so that leaves the seals. You should replace #3 and #4 pg 48.

I would double check that backwash restrictor, pull it out and check behind it. Also, make sure the eductor is clear. If you have a 9" unit you should have a blue nozzle, if you have a 10" unit it should be tan. Also check the brine float assembly. If it is one of the newer assembly, it has a check ball in the bottom that sometimes gets stuck and stops brine draw.

My culligan is doing the same thing. medallion series. Where do you buy the o rings and parts? Will they sell them at the local culligan dealer? also should the ball in the brine float assembly be up or down when sucking brine?