Water Softener Brine Tank Salt Bridge

Now the water softener cannot make brine because the salt cannot reach the water to dissolve.

Water softener brine tank salt bridge. The salt just sits there and your water is no longer softened. A salt bridge has occurred causing the salt to bond together in a surface layer rather than settle down into the brine tank as it is supposed to. A salt bridge is simply a hard crust that has developed over the water in your brine tank causing improper regeneration. Instead of forming a crusty layer the salt recrystallizes on the bottom of the brine tank creating a salty sludge.

Sometimes a hard crust or salt bridge forms in the brine tank. Remove a salt bridge in 7 steps. A good rule of thumb to follow is to. The brine tank is the part of your water softener that holds the salt.

1 a salt bridge usually doesn. How to fix it. Follow the steps below to rid your water softener of salt bridges or mushing. A salt bridge is caused when pieces of salt are bonded together to create a hard crusty surface on the top of the water in the brine tank.

It may not be the water softener it could be the salt. Luckily if you do have a salt bridge causing the problem it is something fairly easy that you can fix on your own without the help of an expert. This build up can sometimes form salt bridges at the base of the tank that can prevent your system from softening the water. The hard crusty surface will block and prevent new salt from falling.

Similarly salt mushing can also cause issues with your water softener s performance. 2 water softener problems salt bridges. Turn off the. When there s no brine the resin bed cannot regenerate effectively.

A salt bridge occurs when a hard crust forms in the brine tank and creates an empty space between the water and the salt preventing the salt from dissolving into the water to make brine that rinses the resin inside your water softener. Without the brine the resin beads that soften your water can t do their job. So here s how to remove a water softener salt bridge. Without brine the resin bed does not regenerate and you will have hard water and no salt usage.

How to identify if you have a salt. Both salt bridges and salt mushing are diy fixes. Check out gary s explanation of a sa. It is possible to have both too much and too little salt in your brine tank.

Although any one of these causes can be to blame for causing the water softener to fail to enter its regeneration cycle the most common reason is a salt bridge. It is usually caused by high humidity or too much salt in the softener. Then salt will not dissolve in the water to make brine. If you ve noticed your water has suddenly become hard or brine isn t being produced and your water softener has stopped using salt your tank may have developed a salt bridge.

Common causes of bridging. Salt is a necessary part of the ion exchange. Water softeners are designed to prevent minerals from scaling on your pipes and fixtures but funnily enough they are subject to salt which is still a mineral scaling inside the tank and within the system s lines.