Cleaning out a water softener

Maz1963

Hi,

Have read the thread about softener recommendatons, but can't see anything about cleaning them, hope I'm not repeating anything here.

I have an Aquadial softener and have noticed that when the salt levels are low, there is a lot of dark granular deposit in with the salt, and the inside of the salt reservoir is a bit grubby also. The problem is, it's hard to reach all round the cylinder to clean. I was planning to disconnect the inlet and outlet pipes and the waste(?) pipe, pull the whole thing out of the cupboard, lift the cylinder etc (if that's possible) then give it a good clean.

Is that the right thing to do? I just don't see any other way I can get access to the interior of the salt box to give it a good clean, but don't want to mess anything up by removing it from the cupboard. Also, if I remove the old salt and dirt, there will obvously still be some water in the container - do I need to make sure I refit it with the same water level, or will it fill and adjust this level automatically?

I've checked all the paperwork and on line, but can't find any specific instructions on how to clean out the salt reservoir. Maybe one is supposed to get the professionals in to do this?

Thank you.

moonrakerz

That is what I have done with various ones over the years. I am always amazed by the amount of muck that comes in that nice clean white salt.

When you put it back in place put some water in the tank and start a manual regeneration, it will refill to the correct level at the end.

(Of course, don't forget that the gunge is on top of the brine/salt and that the brine is actually taken from the bottom of the tank - so the stuff on top won't get into the resin tank anyway)