The Softcell softener has basically
two parts, the Pre-Filter housing and the larger Resin tank. The resin tank
contains small resin beads the attract Calcium and Magnesium minerals as water
passes over them. The tank contains enough resin to attract approximately
15,000 grains of these minerals. The hardness of water is rated by grains per
gallon (gpg). If, for example, your water was rated at 10 gpg, you would be
able to use 1,500 gallons of water (15,000 divided by 10) before you would
have to regenerate the resin in the resin tank. Regenerating is another term
for washing the deposits off the resin beads to allow them to attract more
minerals. Salt water (brine) is used to wash off the minerals.
To regenerate the resin in the
Softcell, we use the Pre-Filter housing as a brine-generating tank. To
regenerate the SoftCell do the following:
-
Remove the filter cartridge from the Pre-Filter housing.
-
Remove the hose from the in side of the Pre-Filter cap and
connect it to the out side of the resin tank.
-
Run water full force for 5 to 10 minutes. This is called
backwashing and it rinses out any particles such as rust that may have
gotten into the system.
-
Remove and re-attach the hose to the in side of the
Pre-Filter cap.
-
Fill the clear housing with salt pellets, such as Morton
softener salt pellets, and install back on the Pre-Filter cap.
-
Pivot the Pre-Filter housing upside down. (Reason: with the
filter cartridge removed, the water would pass over the top of the salt
pellets and not allow the salt to dissolve)
-
Turn on the water at a slow rate (approximately ½ gallon per
minute) and run until the salt pellets have completely dissolved and the
water does not taste of salt.
-
The resin is now regenerated and ready to soften more water.
-
Pivot the Pre-Filter back down, remove the clear housing,
insert a new 10 or 20-Micron
filter cartridge and re-attach (run
water full force for 5 minutes to final rinse resin before using water.
The misconception of water
softening is that salt is used to soften the water; salt is only used to
re-generate the resin that attracts the hardness minerals.
