Do Kinetico Water Softeners Need Maintenance?

One of the essential features of Kinetico water softeners is their exceptional engineering. They are designed to give you pure, high-quality water without requiring lengthy or expensive maintenance. So, it makes you wonder if you really need to keep up with the maintenance of your Kinetico softener. However, it is essential to note that every system requires some level of maintenance to operate properly – even the well-made Kinetico.

While Kinetico water softeners are known for their durability, they require regular maintenance to operate effectively and remove hardness from your water. Basic maintenance includes adding salt, cleaning the brine tank and resin once a year, and keeping up with repairs. Generally, a quick check-up on a bi-weekly basis is recommended.

This article will discuss the problems in a Kinetico water softener that arise over time and how you can maintain your softener to keep it working properly.

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Problems That Can Arise in a Kinetico Water Softener

You might experience several problems that can affect the performance of your Kinetico water softener. Fortunately, your Kinetico unit can be repaired with some simple maintenance because of their straightforward designs and the absence of electric components.

For your convenience, we have listed the top 5 problems that can happen with a Kinetico water softener.

1. Clogging from salt bridges

Since salt is a necessary component of water softeners, businesses that produce salt for them use specially formulated salt that doesn’t cause issues. In the tank, the salt dissolves fast and prevents clogging.

However, after some time, the salt scales from the pipes to the fixtures and clogs the water path. As a result, the tank’s foundation is filled with salt pallets, which might hinder water softening.

2. Overflowing or low water in brine tank

When the water softener regenerates, the brine tank fills up to half as brine goes into the resin tank to clean the resin beads. However, if either the water softener does not draw all of the brine, the brine valve does not close the water supply correctly, or there is water leakage along the brine line from the control valve, the brine tank will overflow.

Moreover, there can be brine-level control issues when the safety float in the brine tank that confines the incoming water into the tank is too high. The water is likely to be fluid as the safety float prevented it from flowing. Vice versa, if it is clogged, it could cause low water in the tanks.

3. No regeneration

There are many reasons why your Kinetico water softener stops regenerating. It is important to note that it has no regeneration timer and only regenerates on demand. So it is common to mistake it for a malfunction in the system when no one in the house is using the water because the softener will regenerate less frequently.

If you are away for some time, you should manually regenerate the softener to set up the system.

Another problem is when you do not sanitize the water softener regularly, which results in a buildup of bacteria, dust, and other particles on the resin beads, making them work less efficiently and unable to regenerate.

4. Water pressure fluctuations

There can be disruption in the system if the water flow is either too high or too low of a pressure. If your municipal water supply is coming in at excessive pressure, it causes the water to run past the water seals.

When water enters at high pressure and the seals cannot remain watertight, they will fail, and water will continue to flow down the drain.

Vice versa, when the system pipe is too tiny, the water flow may be reduced as hard substances from the water begins to build up in the line.

If there is a blockage in the pipes, it also causes less water pressure. It keeps the system stuck in the regeneration cycle.

5. Motor failure

In every system, the mechanical parts manage and operate most of the work where dirt, dust, and buildups are more common. Hence, they malfunction more often than other parts.

It is a necessary part of the water softener, so if they decay over time as they are made of metal, the water softener system could fail.

Hence you should keep a regular check on the motors. Although you have to be vigilant not to mistake it for the wire connections, as the wire becomes removed from the system quite often, interrupting the energy flow.

How Should You Maintain Your Kinetico Water Softeners?

Now that we have established that maintenance is an essential part of any system, including Kinetico Water Softeners, let’s look at how you can keep it working at its best.

Before we start, you can also refer to the following video to thoroughly understand the functions of Kinetico Water Softeners:

1. Do not let your water softener run out of salt

To remove the dirt, manufacturers rinse the salt crystals before packing them for sale, but some debris will stay in the crystals and make its way into the water softener’s brine tank; if the system runs out of salt, problems develop as there is only dirt left behind, which usually sinks to the bottom of the tank and stays there.

If more salt is added when the tank is completely empty of salt, the dirt could make its way to the shut-off float and clog it. Hence, we should always keep refilling it with salt, so this situation doesn’t occur.

2. Regularly clean the brine tank

It is important to clean the walls of the brine tank, especially before the salt refill. If the previous floating dirt continues in the tank, it eventually settles to the bottom. The system may then suck it into the water softener control valve or shut down the brine float. This could cause the brine float shut-off to fail or fully shut down the water softener.

3. Check your softener’s bypass valve several times a year

Every system includes a bypass valve or manifold. The Kinetico system includes a special bypass that aids in keeping the utility room neat and tidy. Other water softener systems may include numerous pipelines and fittings. You should always check it to ensure maintenance.

4. Consider a water leak detector

A water leak detector helps the owner notice any issues with plumbing malfunctions.

5. Change the pre-filter routinely

The pre-filter, which helps prevent the debris from blocking the control valve, should be changed regularly for efficiency.

6. Use resin cleaner

To ensure the resin work properly, pour water softener resin cleaner into the salt tank regularly.

Conclusion

All systems with mechanical parts need maintenance, and a Kinetico water softener is one of them. However, it is less of a worry since it has long longevity and efficiency. A Kinetico water softener can usually last 20-30 years, especially if maintained properly, compared to most other systems, which run for 2-12 years.