Absolutely nailed it, thank you! At the 14:45 mark where you demonstrate the suction on the brine line, ours didn't so this, and our salt level stopped dropping. When I opened it up I found a very small piece of plastic (from the salt pellet bag possibly) was blocking the small orifice (5:30 mark). Pulled it out, put everything back together again, and- Voila! We have soft water again! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Jim
Thank you so much for this clear and helpful video. As someone who likes to tackle home repairs instead of calling in a service tech this video was invaluable. You saved me from a $300 service call and repair. Please keep making them!
After flowing your step by step troubleshooting instructions I found a tiny piece of sediment in my backwash control valve which caused my unit not to have suction in the brine rinse cycle. I removed the sediment and I now have suction. Thanks for the video it was so helpful!
My softener is 32 years old. After replacing our well pressure tank I noticed the water was getting hard. Called our plumber and he got us going but after a couple of cycles the water turned hard again. I viewed your videos and found I had no vacuum. I took the head apart and found some gunk (?) on the entry to the venturi. Now I have great vacuum and it sucked the brine tank dry. Thanks so much for the great videos, made me feel like a pro.
I have a no brine issue. This video saved me. I have owned 3 Kinetico units since 1987. Latest one is 8 years old. Was just about to go to Home Depot and buy a Rheem unit. Thank you for explaining
A huge thank you for this video. My Model 50 was not using salt, so I did the first thing which was to clean the brine tank and make sure the brine tank float valve was clean, functioning, and properly adjusted. Brought the softener back on line and still no joy! Something else going on, which brought me to this video. I pulled the head and all the little ports and venture etc were clear, BUT there was one huge problem! One of the four main valves in level 4 was broken. Just snapped right off. Luckily I found one online (just a valve not a complete level ) so I was able to fix that. While I was at it, I learned there was a newer version of the little control valve that's in the middle of level 4. I found one of the newer (better designed) valves online and went ahead and replaced that also sine mine was slightly damaged. While I was at it, I decided, since my softener is over 15 years old, I might as well change the resin. I found a good video on how to do that (it wasn't hard, but it was messy). Now I have everything back together. I checked the suction in both of the brine/ rinse cycles and that seems to be perfect. So now, I'm just letting her run and after a day or two I will see if it's using salt and then check the hardness to see if it's working and softening the water. Fingers crossed. I spent about $250 in parts, including the new resin. If it's fixed I will have save a huge amount of money and I will be a very happy camper. Wish me luck. (Thanks again for the tip about resetting the seal in that top screw adjustment).
@@denniswise7077 Unfortunately I ended up buying used parts. After I put it back together it was using salt, but now it was using too much salt. I found a guy who rebuilds these heads (on Ebay) and had him put in new seals, etc. Not it works like new!
Thank you for the video. I almost didn’t want to diy this going in blind, but after this video my Venturi is unplugged and back up and running thanks to you.
Followed your instructions and I am so thankful I did , watersoftener is working great , thank you for giving me the confidence to do this , much appreciated, I even put on the same slides you had on your feet to make sure I was doing this correct
Great video easy to follow and very straightforward explanations. Watch the video a couple of times and I was able to clean and assemble the head of my water softener and get back to business of making water in about an hour. Really appreciate your efforts. Thank you.
Thank you Kasey for sharing your knowledge on thses Kinetico systems. I have 11 or 17 liter unit its is constanly draining under pressure. I am watching yourclips hoping i will be able to trouble shoot and fix it Thanks again.
That's got me up and running again with my 35 year old Kinetico - thanks so much. In case it helps anyone else, when I removed the head assembly I had 2 small blue beads floating in the water rather than the yellow floats as in the vid - there are a couple of recesses that they sit in if you bale a drop of water.
Thank you for this! I found a small piece of black plastic in the suction chamber left over from the manufacturing process. This has caused me issues from the day it was installed. Great Job Kasey!!
Thanks a million for this video! I just successfully disassembled my Model 50! I found that one of the four valves on level 4 was actually broken off at the top of the stem. Luckily I found one of the stems (used) for sale on Bay! One word of caution - if you have an older model, you might have little plastic check balls instead of the yellow check "sticks" you had in your video. I ended up pulling off the level 5 from the base and lost one of those little balls.
Awesome! I just followed the video and fixed mine. Well, at least it is getting suction now whereas before it was spitting water out of the brine side. Not exactly sure what the problem was though. The venturi and screen were clear, all small holes were clear, no debris, but there was a lot of rust deposits in and around things like the pistons, the piston seals and valve seats on one side and the edges where the gaskets seal. Cleaned those off, put it back together and it's now got suction. It's running a brine cycle as I type. However, I think it needs the seals replaced or the entire head replaced. The pistons move in and out, but not loosely like in the video. I have a well and the ground water here in PA is horrible, it's so full of iron it's not funny. Had the resin tanks replaced last summer, but there is so much gunk. I have seen advertisements for seal kits that claim Kinetico won't sell you, so I may try that if/when it fails again. I'll also, once winter is gone, pull it all apart again and dunk everything in some Iron Out solution and let it soak, put on the new seals and see how that goes. I do need to take apart the Level 1 as there's a ton of gunk up in the dials as well.
Thank you so much. I had no brine vacuum and the tank just kept filling and overflowing. Kinetico didn't want to help at all and there is no installer nearby, I live in a remote area. My tank wasn't serviced for 5 years and the float area got full of crud and deposits and I guess a piece got inside and blocked the venturi or something around that. One question, I turned the blue gears inside level 1 to test that everything was working fine, with the discs and the gears. I noticed that this turns the white cams so there is some sort of timing on both white cams. So if both were turned, is there a way or need to zero the cams to restart the unit, or it will do it by itself when restarting? My understanding is that one cam turn is just one tooth click so basically it will reset every click. I'm just not sure about why there are 2 impellers that are different and control 2 cams(why, one for each tank? why aren't they the same design of impeller?), and how they should be timed together or not. So, do I have to worry about the white cam/blue gear timing with the discs or not? Thanks :)
Kasey - First, thank you so much for this video! 100% super helpful. I found a huge piece of sediment in my venturi. Second, this saved me $150 in foregoing an unnecessary service call for something so simple. Next, I totally agree that Kinetico should make this information more available for folks, but such is life. Last, at 14:27 where you say to check the vacuum in the "backwash" cycle, did you really mean the "brine-rinse" cycle? I assume so, because you then say to put the unit in "backwash" so rinse and ensure no saltwater goes into the house. Then you say check the vacuum in the other "brine-rinse" cycle. Additionally, you mention in your troubleshooting video, checking the vacuum in the brine-rinse cycle. Reason I ask, is that there is water coming out of the line in the backwash cycle. So want to make sure that is normal.
I found this part confusing as well. I think he meant to say "brine-rinse" cycle. That is when mine has suction. It spits water during the backwash cycle.
Kasey - This is SO helpful! Thank you! Now we have vacuum and fingers crossed the unit will, once again work. This was VERY helpful as I'm out on the farm and can follow your direct directions along with the great visuals. You are a gem!
Great video Kasey!! Many thanks for the detailed descriptions as well. Definite confidence builder for tackling a Model 30 we have. Removed Levels 2,3 and 4 in one piece but couldn't separate Level 2 from Level 3 for some reason. Any advise is appreciated. Left 2-4 together and got everything cleaned up and reassembled. System seems to be working! Again, great video Kasey!!
Great video! Much thanks for clear explanations and disassemble/re-assemble instructions. I have water coming out of the head at the brine uptake when the unit is put in brine mode. No suction.
Thanks so much Kasey! This video was amazingly informative. It helped me fix a clogged venturi (no vacuum was occuring). So far things seem much better!
Thanks for your video, it helps dispel the fear of diving into the kinetico. I have disassembled my unit twice now and can find nothing wrong however I still have pressure instead of vacuum during the brine rinse so I am at a loss. Or maybe third time's a charm, I'll do it again very slowly and meticulously...
Thanks Nice video!...very good description of how to check, disassemble, re assemble..... I have an issue with my unit not using salt - so I will follow your procedure.
This is brilliant, thank you. Mine isn't working it's just constantly draining it, it's 16 years old and I think I may just need to take it apart and clean it. Update: I took it all apart per your video - and the pistons where pretty dirty with iron, so I cleaned it all up as best as I could and made sure everything was moving freely and it seems to be working now. I guess time will tell. Thanks again for this video.
Hi there Kasey, I have had a Kinetico forover ten years now and always seem to have the problem of no softwater. Changed the float valve as i thought it was this and it worked for a while and now it has stopped using any salt, so i watched your video and decided to give it a go. I was nervous at first as i thought all of this would be quite tricky and the parts may break easily but your video was clear and concise. I found a lot of dirt in the unit as here in Cyprus we have a lot of earth in the mains water even though I have prefilters as well. I opened the head unit up and took it all apart and found a lot of gink and also the nipple for the intake was blocked like you said. I have cleaned everything and put it back together and have checked it and it is now sucking in air which is great. I am running a backwash to check it but i assume that in the next week or so if the salt goes down all is well. I have noticed previously that the water was not soft at all so hopefully this does not the trick. Much appreciated for all your effort on this.
Great information thanks! Plan to do this, but I found my unit isn’t even metering. Appears to not have been running correctly for some time and I wasn’t aware and looks to have possible sediment? I’m on a well and my unit is older than user as my pre filter is not part of the unit.
Great video Kasey. I purchased a house built in 1989. The Kinetico was installed then. It has three PVC ball valves and a hose bib. Instead of the single gate valve you have. My question is how do you replace the medium inside of the tanks? I’m sure its over due. I watched three of your videos . Great information. Thank you.
Great video! Any idea why my 2030 will not go into regeneration on its own? I am able to advance it to start the regeneration cycle and it does fine from there on out. Also would you recommend ironout as a way to cleanup the media? Many thanks for your sharing of information!
Hey man…. Just want to say thank you for your advise. I was able to find some lint/fabric stuck in a valve causing no vacuum coming out of the brine tank. I really appreciate you.
First of all, thank you for taking the time to thoroughly explain and demonstrate this! Thumbs up and sub’d ! I followed to a T after checking and cleaning my salt bin , float , fittings and lines. Unfortunately I’m still not getting vacuum from the salt line. Everything is actually in great shape , nothing was clogged but I did clean some build up at the screen and that fitting near the salt line fitting, all is squeaky clean and clear but still not getting vacuum. Also just to confirm that there’s no blockage from the small tank line I checked and was easily able to pull salt water out of the line so my issue has to be at the head somewhere. Everything in your video looks great and is clear, What else could my issue be??
I'm wondering about this as well. The brine refill control, seems like the screen is pretty clogged inside, not sure how to clean it out. I tried brushing it outside, giving a vinegar soak, blowing on either end, poking at the hole a bit. I'm hoping this was enough, but it definitely isn't as clear as the one in the video.
Thanks for the detailed video. It helped a lot through diassemble and assembly. Vacuum is now fixed. Main issue was the rubber with strainer on level 2 colgged. I opened it up with paper clip. Also the venturi was dirty.
Hello Kasey, great videos and thank you for them. I believe my softener isn't using salt. Watching your video gives me the confidence to at least review the system and take the mystery out of the device. So I'm looking at the brine tank first as I see water dripping from the quick connect from the brine tank to the siphon (sucking) hose of the head unit. I noticed in your example that the siphon is much stronger than the siphon on my unit. But there is sucking in the brine tank. When I pulled the brine tank float mechanism I noticed crystallization around the bottom of the mechanism. With a lack of a better word, the bottom of the float device looks like a shoe with a heal where the ball valve and float mechanics attaches and the toe portion of the shoe where the hose connects into. My question is simple; does the toe portion of the shoe have an opening in it other than the hose bulkhead? I took the bulkhead where the hose connects into the shoe and saw a nipple into the main plastic and if you look at the front of the shoe, it appears thee is an inlet with a cross filter to which the brine could enter into the float mechanism. The hole in front had crystalized salt in it but after placing in warm water and releasing the crystalized salt, there isn't an opening to that toe area. Is there a hole or not in the toe?
Thank you for this video! My system is now drawing again, but now it seems to run constantly. Do you have any suggestions as to what I may have done incorrectly? Thanks.
Thanks for the video. How do I depressurize the system if I don't have that side valve and pre-filter? I just have a bypass valve and then the two tanks. After I turn the main valve to bypass, how do I get the pressure out of the system?
Oh I am subscribed to you now. Because if I don't plasma torch this system out of my basement I will need these videos later. Can you tell me what the part is that threads into the tank on the bottom of the valve? I had to replace the resin and full sent it just a little too hard putting it back on and I think I sheared some threads trying to tighten it back down. I can't find hardly anything from Kinetico and it is frustrating. Great video though!
You can find replacement resin tanks online all you have to do is measure the diameter and the height of the tank. For example the tanks in the video are 9” x 35” tanks. So if you just google 9”x35” resin tank you will find bunch of tanks in all different colors.
That was awesome, but question… if one does not feel they can do this on their own, what would this cost to have someone come out to do it? Just curious if the cost. Thanks.
Thanks Kasey. I followed your advise and confirmed we were pulling a vacuum from both tanks however, not as strong as your system pulled. I tested the water for hardness before and after maintenance and the water went from super hard to soft just like that...so Im thinking this is okay with a lesser vacuum pull. Thoughts! Should I clean anyway? Second question, we have the Kinetico RO set up for drinking water and ice. I'm told the RO filter for our VX Deluxe system is bad and the part has been discontinued. Kinetico's service tech (didn't charge me) thought the best solution was to us a new system....$4,600.00. I'll add, they never checked for vacuum, just said it sounded like one of the resin tanks was not working. Will the RO filters on the newer Kinetico system fit ours? I haven't asked Kinetico or visually compared the filters and probably will. Thanks for any advice.
Thank you for the video. Very helpful. Is it normal for a small amount of water to be leaving from the head via the brine hose? My brine tank valve assembly went bad, filled the tank, and kept on flowing. I was told the issue was only my brine tank valve assembly. Shouldn't the four valves inside shut flow off to the brine tank too? I do have vacuum at the proper time, otherwise there's water flowing out. My water softener is an older unit. It's about 28 years old and it has never needed work. How often do the O-ring style gaskets around the four valves fail or need replacing? Thank you.
Thank you for this valuable video. Hi my house both drain hoses going from the filter housing go into an in ground drain. Shouldn’t one be shorter hose that I can put in a bucket get get water out of the housing when changing filter? (I saw in your other video). I opened both valves but the filter housing remained full of water.
Thank you Kasey for the nice videos on the Kinetico softener. I have Model 30, and I checked the entire control head, everything is in order, nothing is plugged up and it is clean. But it is still not using any salt water, there is no suction. It looks like the air coming out instead of going in. Can you advise what could be an issue and what shall I check further?
Thanx for the informative video. I have a 2030 unit w/brine tank that quit providing soft water. I broke down the unit and the rubber parts are showing wear. the drain flow control has visable cracks. I noticed there are silicone seals as well as rubber. Is the silicone interchangeable with the rubber? I'm thinking of doing a rebuild. Thanx, --dave
@@kaseysirak Does one type of seal hold up or function better than the other, he Blue silicone better than the Black rubber? Thanx, I really appreciate your input.
I love your instruction. My unit is 30 years old and didn't have the yellow check stems. A blue ball was floating in the water when I separated it. Help.
Those blue checkballs go in the same location as the yellow check stems. They are just more of a pain in the but to get to stay still while putting the unit back together.
Hi Kasey. Thank you for doing these videos, they are terrific. We've had hard water for a few months. I went through your troubleshooting video and everything seems fine, including the light suction during brine rinse. I've done the regeneration several times. The water is still hard, and I observed that the brine tank water level does not drop during the brine rinse phase. Should I proceed with these steps even though I confirmed the suction is occurring, or is there something else I should try? Update: I checked it again and now I can tell that the brine water is being pulled from the tank. The water level in the tank drops about 1/4 inch during a Brine Wash cycle. Our water is soft again!
Thank you for making this video. My 2030 system was sucking in very little brine water. I took the head apart and cleaned levels 1-5 and the backwash flow control was clogged with calcium. The salt in the brine tank was too full and really sludgy which was just clogging up the line. I cleaned it all out and not it is working great. Thank You
Struggling with a lot of rust. I hope your videos will help and I appreciate the time you spent be making them. Quick question can I take the amber cover of to clean out as it is hard to see through?
You can remove the amber cap but be cautious there are many small parts and some are spring loaded. I may be able to make a video going over that area if there is enough demand for it
I have a Kinetico whole house RO system. It has the salt softener and carbon tanks. Both salt and carbon tanks look identical. Problem is, my carbon tanks are "stuck" in the flushing out cycle and uses up all the water in my 600gal reserve tank. Do you think I can take the unit apart and clean it out, like you did? Do you think that will help?
Kasey, you said at 14:45 that if water is spraying from the brine elbow something is still wrong. What could be wrong? Also, to get the suction the unit has to be in "brine-rinse: or "backwash" setting? Thanks
Typically speaking as long as you were very thorough with inspecting and cleaning everything I pointed out the only other real issue it could be would be the entire level 4. And it should be in brine-rinse to pull a vacuum
Could be a couple of things. Typically speaking salty water scenario is caused by low water presssure during the backwash cycle. I would check the drain line to make sure it isnt kinked, Check any prefilters to make sure they are not clogged, and the last most common cause is the softening resin itself. If you have alot of chlorine in your water it can cause the softening resin in the tank to degrade and turn into a mush that will cause low water pressure.
I kept falling asleep and waking up hours later only to have to restart again, thanks to the spa music you have in the background. Next time I recommend Alice in Chains. Otherwise, great video!
Absolutely nailed it, thank you! At the 14:45 mark where you demonstrate the suction on the brine line, ours didn't so this, and our salt level stopped dropping. When I opened it up I found a very small piece of plastic (from the salt pellet bag possibly) was blocking the small orifice (5:30 mark). Pulled it out, put everything back together again, and- Voila! We have soft water again! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Jim
Thank you so much for this clear and helpful video. As someone who likes to tackle home repairs instead of calling in a service tech this video was invaluable. You saved me from a $300 service call and repair. Please keep making them!
After flowing your step by step troubleshooting instructions I found a tiny piece of sediment in my backwash control valve which caused my unit not to have suction in the brine rinse cycle. I removed the sediment and I now have suction. Thanks for the video it was so helpful!
My softener is 32 years old.
After replacing our well pressure tank I noticed the water was getting hard.
Called our plumber and he got us going but after a couple of cycles the water turned hard again.
I viewed your videos and found I had no vacuum. I took the head apart and found some gunk (?) on the entry to the venturi. Now I have great vacuum and it sucked the brine tank dry.
Thanks so much for the great videos, made me feel like a pro.
I have a no brine issue. This video saved me. I have owned 3 Kinetico units since 1987. Latest one is 8 years old. Was just about to go to Home Depot and buy a Rheem unit. Thank you for explaining
Why would you replace an 8 year old kinetico when it comes with a 10 year warranty?
A huge thank you for this video. My Model 50 was not using salt, so I did the first thing which was to clean the brine tank and make sure the brine tank float valve was clean, functioning, and properly adjusted. Brought the softener back on line and still no joy! Something else going on, which brought me to this video. I pulled the head and all the little ports and venture etc were clear, BUT there was one huge problem! One of the four main valves in level 4 was broken. Just snapped right off. Luckily I found one online (just a valve not a complete level ) so I was able to fix that. While I was at it, I learned there was a newer version of the little control valve that's in the middle of level 4. I found one of the newer (better designed) valves online and went ahead and replaced that also sine mine was slightly damaged. While I was at it, I decided, since my softener is over 15 years old, I might as well change the resin. I found a good video on how to do that (it wasn't hard, but it was messy). Now I have everything back together. I checked the suction in both of the brine/ rinse cycles and that seems to be perfect. So now, I'm just letting her run and after a day or two I will see if it's using salt and then check the hardness to see if it's working and softening the water. Fingers crossed. I spent about $250 in parts, including the new resin. If it's fixed I will have save a huge amount of money and I will be a very happy camper. Wish me luck. (Thanks again for the tip about resetting the seal in that top screw adjustment).
Do you have a link where you got the parts? Most of the stuff on Ebay is used.
@@denniswise7077 Unfortunately I ended up buying used parts. After I put it back together it was using salt, but now it was using too much salt. I found a guy who rebuilds these heads (on Ebay) and had him put in new seals, etc. Not it works like new!
Thank you so much Kasey for sharing the teardown best practices as well as the weak points in the product cross-section. Much appreciated!!
Excellent video - thank you! I would not have trusted myself to take my unit apart and clean without your help.
Thank you for the video. I almost didn’t want to diy this going in blind, but after this video my Venturi is unplugged and back up and running thanks to you.
Great video well explained and easy to understand. We were quoted 4,500.00 for a new unit, not anymore!
Followed your instructions and I am so thankful I did , watersoftener is working great , thank you for giving me the confidence to do this , much appreciated, I even put on the same slides you had on your feet to make sure I was doing this correct
Hey man glad to hear it!
About to put mine on right now so I can channel your powers lol
Thanks again Kasey! Awesome video to educate those of us who have not yet torn apart the head unit.
Great video easy to follow and very straightforward explanations. Watch the video a couple of times and I was able to clean and assemble the head of my water softener and get back to business of making water in about an hour.
Really appreciate your efforts.
Thank you.
Thank you Kasey for sharing your knowledge on thses Kinetico systems. I have 11 or 17 liter unit its is constanly draining under pressure. I am watching yourclips hoping i will be able to trouble shoot and fix it Thanks again.
That's got me up and running again with my 35 year old Kinetico - thanks so much. In case it helps anyone else, when I removed the head assembly I had 2 small blue beads floating in the water rather than the yellow floats as in the vid - there are a couple of recesses that they sit in if you bale a drop of water.
Awesome video! Thanks so much for sharing. I would have never thought serving a Kinetico would be so easy.
Success! I did not have the brine control valve on my unit and some other small diffs but my unit is back on line. Thank you.
Thank you for this! I found a small piece of black plastic in the suction chamber left over from the manufacturing process. This has caused me issues from the day it was installed. Great Job Kasey!!
Thanks a million for this video! I just successfully disassembled my Model 50! I found that one of the four valves on level 4 was actually broken off at the top of the stem. Luckily I found one of the stems (used) for sale on Bay! One word of caution - if you have an older model, you might have little plastic check balls instead of the yellow check "sticks" you had in your video. I ended up pulling off the level 5 from the base and lost one of those little balls.
Awesome! I just followed the video and fixed mine. Well, at least it is getting suction now whereas before it was spitting water out of the brine side. Not exactly sure what the problem was though. The venturi and screen were clear, all small holes were clear, no debris, but there was a lot of rust deposits in and around things like the pistons, the piston seals and valve seats on one side and the edges where the gaskets seal. Cleaned those off, put it back together and it's now got suction. It's running a brine cycle as I type. However, I think it needs the seals replaced or the entire head replaced. The pistons move in and out, but not loosely like in the video.
I have a well and the ground water here in PA is horrible, it's so full of iron it's not funny. Had the resin tanks replaced last summer, but there is so much gunk. I have seen advertisements for seal kits that claim Kinetico won't sell you, so I may try that if/when it fails again. I'll also, once winter is gone, pull it all apart again and dunk everything in some Iron Out solution and let it soak, put on the new seals and see how that goes.
I do need to take apart the Level 1 as there's a ton of gunk up in the dials as well.
Thank you so much. I had no brine vacuum and the tank just kept filling and overflowing. Kinetico didn't want to help at all and there is no installer nearby, I live in a remote area. My tank wasn't serviced for 5 years and the float area got full of crud and deposits and I guess a piece got inside and blocked the venturi or something around that.
One question, I turned the blue gears inside level 1 to test that everything was working fine, with the discs and the gears. I noticed that this turns the white cams so there is some sort of timing on both white cams. So if both were turned, is there a way or need to zero the cams to restart the unit, or it will do it by itself when restarting? My understanding is that one cam turn is just one tooth click so basically it will reset every click. I'm just not sure about why there are 2 impellers that are different and control 2 cams(why, one for each tank? why aren't they the same design of impeller?), and how they should be timed together or not.
So, do I have to worry about the white cam/blue gear timing with the discs or not?
Thanks :)
Thank you! This helped so much! Gentleman and a scholar!!
Kasey - First, thank you so much for this video! 100% super helpful. I found a huge piece of sediment in my venturi. Second, this saved me $150 in foregoing an unnecessary service call for something so simple. Next, I totally agree that Kinetico should make this information more available for folks, but such is life. Last, at 14:27 where you say to check the vacuum in the "backwash" cycle, did you really mean the "brine-rinse" cycle? I assume so, because you then say to put the unit in "backwash" so rinse and ensure no saltwater goes into the house. Then you say check the vacuum in the other "brine-rinse" cycle. Additionally, you mention in your troubleshooting video, checking the vacuum in the brine-rinse cycle. Reason I ask, is that there is water coming out of the line in the backwash cycle. So want to make sure that is normal.
I found this part confusing as well. I think he meant to say "brine-rinse" cycle. That is when mine has suction. It spits water during the backwash cycle.
Kasey - This is SO helpful! Thank you! Now we have vacuum and fingers crossed the unit will, once again work. This was VERY helpful as I'm out on the farm and can follow your direct directions along with the great visuals. You are a gem!
Great video Kasey!! Many thanks for the detailed descriptions as well. Definite confidence builder for tackling a Model 30 we have. Removed Levels 2,3 and 4 in one piece but couldn't separate Level 2 from Level 3 for some reason. Any advise is appreciated. Left 2-4 together and got everything cleaned up and reassembled. System seems to be working! Again, great video Kasey!!
Great video! Much thanks for clear explanations and disassemble/re-assemble instructions. I have water coming out of the head at the brine uptake when the unit is put in brine mode. No suction.
Thank you very much! I had no vacuum and your video was spot on for fixing my problem. Thank you again!
Thanks so much Kasey! This video was amazingly informative. It helped me fix a clogged venturi (no vacuum was occuring). So far things seem much better!
Thanks for your video, it helps dispel the fear of diving into the kinetico. I have disassembled my unit twice now and can find nothing wrong however I still have pressure instead of vacuum during the brine rinse so I am at a loss. Or maybe third time's a charm, I'll do it again very slowly and meticulously...
Did you ever solve your problem? I'm having the same issue.
@@cmag8102 No, I gave up on it and bought a different softener from Home Depot, an Aquasure Harmony series 64,000 model which is working very well
Thanks Nice video!...very good description of how to check, disassemble, re assemble..... I have an issue with my unit not using salt - so I will follow your procedure.
This is brilliant, thank you. Mine isn't working it's just constantly draining it, it's 16 years old and I think I may just need to take it apart and clean it. Update: I took it all apart per your video - and the pistons where pretty dirty with iron, so I cleaned it all up as best as I could and made sure everything was moving freely and it seems to be working now. I guess time will tell. Thanks again for this video.
Great information. You talked through everything and easily understood. Thank you
Thanks men for this information, I did it and it worked as you explained in this video, so helpful again thanks!!!!!!
Thank you So Much!! Awesome instruction, precise, went back together…..clean as a whistle and Working!!
God Bless
Hi there Kasey, I have had a Kinetico forover ten years now and always seem to have the problem of no softwater. Changed the float valve as i thought it was this and it worked for a while and now it has stopped using any salt, so i watched your video and decided to give it a go. I was nervous at first as i thought all of this would be quite tricky and the parts may break easily but your video was clear and concise. I found a lot of dirt in the unit as here in Cyprus we have a lot of earth in the mains water even though I have prefilters as well. I opened the head unit up and took it all apart and found a lot of gink and also the nipple for the intake was blocked like you said. I have cleaned everything and put it back together and have checked it and it is now sucking in air which is great. I am running a backwash to check it but i assume that in the next week or so if the salt goes down all is well. I have noticed previously that the water was not soft at all so hopefully this does not the trick.
Much appreciated for all your effort on this.
Amazing! Having the exact issue he describing! Thank you got the step by steps
This is wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing this video.
Kasey, I F'ing love you. Did exactly what you said, and sure enough there was a little piece clogging the system. Thank you so much.
Well done. I've understood it and got very helpful information. Thank you.
Great information thanks! Plan to do this, but I found my unit isn’t even metering. Appears to not have been running correctly for some time and I wasn’t aware and looks to have possible sediment? I’m on a well and my unit is older than user as my pre filter is not part of the unit.
Great video Kasey. I purchased a house built in 1989. The Kinetico was installed then. It has three PVC ball valves and a hose bib. Instead of the single gate valve you have. My question is how do you replace the medium inside of the tanks? I’m sure its over due. I watched three of your videos . Great information. Thank you.
Great video! Any idea why my 2030 will not go into regeneration on its own? I am able to advance it to start the regeneration cycle and it does fine from there on out. Also would you recommend ironout as a way to cleanup the media? Many thanks for your sharing of information!
Hey man…. Just want to say thank you for your advise. I was able to find some lint/fabric stuck in a valve causing no vacuum coming out of the brine tank.
I really appreciate you.
First of all, thank you for taking the time to thoroughly explain and demonstrate this! Thumbs up and sub’d ! I followed to a T after checking and cleaning my salt bin , float , fittings and lines. Unfortunately I’m still not getting vacuum from the salt line.
Everything is actually in great shape , nothing was clogged but I did clean some build up at the screen and that fitting near the salt line fitting, all is squeaky clean and clear but still not getting vacuum. Also just to confirm that there’s no blockage from the small tank line I checked and was easily able to pull salt water out of the line so my issue has to be at the head somewhere.
Everything in your video looks great and is clear, What else could my issue be??
Any links for brine refill filter replacement. Mines completely clogged
I'm wondering about this as well. The brine refill control, seems like the screen is pretty clogged inside, not sure how to clean it out. I tried brushing it outside, giving a vinegar soak, blowing on either end, poking at the hole a bit. I'm hoping this was enough, but it definitely isn't as clear as the one in the video.
Thanks for the detailed video. It helped a lot through diassemble and assembly. Vacuum is now fixed. Main issue was the rubber with strainer on level 2 colgged. I opened it up with paper clip. Also the venturi was dirty.
Major help. Appreciate you.
Great job, it fixed it. Thank you
Great video - can those pistons be replaced? One piston broke off the diaphram in my Kinetico Quad 50.
thanks for the video! Can you also do one with replacing resin? I think mine has gone bad because of low water pressure throughout the house
Great job ! Thank you.
Hello Kasey, great videos and thank you for them. I believe my softener isn't using salt. Watching your video gives me the confidence to at least review the system and take the mystery out of the device. So I'm looking at the brine tank first as I see water dripping from the quick connect from the brine tank to the siphon (sucking) hose of the head unit. I noticed in your example that the siphon is much stronger than the siphon on my unit. But there is sucking in the brine tank. When I pulled the brine tank float mechanism I noticed crystallization around the bottom of the mechanism. With a lack of a better word, the bottom of the float device looks like a shoe with a heal where the ball valve and float mechanics attaches and the toe portion of the shoe where the hose connects into. My question is simple; does the toe portion of the shoe have an opening in it other than the hose bulkhead? I took the bulkhead where the hose connects into the shoe and saw a nipple into the main plastic and if you look at the front of the shoe, it appears thee is an inlet with a cross filter to which the brine could enter into the float mechanism. The hole in front had crystalized salt in it but after placing in warm water and releasing the crystalized salt, there isn't an opening to that toe area. Is there a hole or not in the toe?
Thank you, Kasey. Well done. Very helpful.
Fabulous video! Saved me service call!!
Thank you for this video! My system is now drawing again, but now it seems to run constantly. Do you have any suggestions as to what I may have done incorrectly? Thanks.
Great video thanks!!
Bashwash flow control was blocked with fragments of lead pipe, working good as new now - Thanks for the detailed explanation!
Glad it helped!
Thank you so much, super easy to follow and fixed my problem!
Thanks Kasey, very helpful.
Great video. Thanks.
Thanks for the video. How do I depressurize the system if I don't have that side valve and pre-filter? I just have a bypass valve and then the two tanks. After I turn the main valve to bypass, how do I get the pressure out of the system?
You could start a regeneration and it will spit the water pressure left in the tanks down the drain
And if you still don’t have vacuum? Any suggestions?
Hi Kasey, Great video. I followed your instructions to a T. Unfortunately I still don't have vacuum on the brine valve. Any suggestions?
Any advice on how to repair stripped recessed Phillips screw in the cap?
May I ask can we use Iron out to clean brine tank ?
THANK YOU!
Oh I am subscribed to you now. Because if I don't plasma torch this system out of my basement I will need these videos later. Can you tell me what the part is that threads into the tank on the bottom of the valve? I had to replace the resin and full sent it just a little too hard putting it back on and I think I sheared some threads trying to tighten it back down. I can't find hardly anything from Kinetico and it is frustrating. Great video though!
You can find replacement resin tanks online all you have to do is measure the diameter and the height of the tank. For example the tanks in the video are 9” x 35” tanks. So if you just google 9”x35” resin tank you will find bunch of tanks in all different colors.
That was awesome, but question… if one does not feel they can do this on their own, what would this cost to have someone come out to do it? Just curious if the cost. Thanks.
Thanks Kasey. I followed your advise and confirmed we were pulling a vacuum from both tanks however, not as strong as your system pulled. I tested the water for hardness before and after maintenance and the water went from super hard to soft just like that...so Im thinking this is okay with a lesser vacuum pull. Thoughts! Should I clean anyway? Second question, we have the Kinetico RO set up for drinking water and ice. I'm told the RO filter for our VX Deluxe system is bad and the part has been discontinued. Kinetico's service tech (didn't charge me) thought the best solution was to us a new system....$4,600.00. I'll add, they never checked for vacuum, just said it sounded like one of the resin tanks was not working. Will the RO filters on the newer Kinetico system fit ours? I haven't asked Kinetico or visually compared the filters and probably will. Thanks for any advice.
Thank you for the video. Very helpful.
Is it normal for a small amount of water to be leaving from the head via the brine hose? My brine tank valve assembly went bad, filled the tank, and kept on flowing. I was told the issue was only my brine tank valve assembly. Shouldn't the four valves inside shut flow off to the brine tank too? I do have vacuum at the proper time, otherwise there's water flowing out.
My water softener is an older unit. It's about 28 years old and it has never needed work. How often do the O-ring style gaskets around the four valves fail or need replacing?
Thank you.
Thank you for this valuable video. Hi my house both drain hoses going from the filter housing go into an in ground drain. Shouldn’t one be shorter hose that I can put in a bucket get get water out of the housing when changing filter? (I saw in your other video). I opened both valves but the filter housing remained full of water.
SUPER JOB THANKS
Thank you Kasey for the nice videos on the Kinetico softener. I have Model 30, and I checked the entire control head, everything is in order, nothing is plugged up and it is clean. But it is still not using any salt water, there is no suction. It looks like the air coming out instead of going in. Can you advise what could be an issue and what shall I check further?
Hi Kasey, thanks for the videos. Just curious if you could speak about the tank next to your softener tanks. Is that an iron filter?
Great video! Thanks for the tips!
Nice vid... very helpful.
Thanx for the informative video. I have a 2030 unit w/brine tank that quit providing soft water. I broke down the unit and the rubber parts are showing wear. the drain flow control has visable cracks. I noticed there are silicone seals as well as rubber. Is the silicone interchangeable with the rubber? I'm thinking of doing a rebuild.
Thanx,
--dave
That is correct the seals are typically color coated. Blue is chemical resistant and black is standard
@@kaseysirak Does one type of seal hold up or function better than the other, he Blue silicone better than the Black rubber?
Thanx, I really appreciate your input.
@@gilbd If you have chlorine in your water supply go with the blue if not the black is just fine.
@@kaseysirak Thank You.
@@gilbd No problem! Thanks for watching
When you put the gasket on the level 1 (around 9:20), it appears that there might have been a section of gasket missing? (right near your left thumb).
I love your instruction.
My unit is 30 years old and didn't have the yellow check stems.
A blue ball was floating in the water when I separated it.
Help.
Those blue checkballs go in the same location as the yellow check stems. They are just more of a pain in the but to get to stay still while putting the unit back together.
@@kaseysirak so I should have 2 and there was only one?
@@keithlassitersr8341 Yes there should be two in there. They sometimes stick to the level above them. But most of the time they end up on the floor.
Any idea where to get a new unit? The screw that allows you to bypass the brine is stripped. It corroded. I think that’s the level one section.
What would cause the clear window where the disc is to be full of rusty water? Thank you for the video.
Hi Kasey. Thank you for doing these videos, they are terrific. We've had hard water for a few months. I went through your troubleshooting video and everything seems fine, including the light suction during brine rinse. I've done the regeneration several times. The water is still hard, and I observed that the brine tank water level does not drop during the brine rinse phase. Should I proceed with these steps even though I confirmed the suction is occurring, or is there something else I should try?
Update: I checked it again and now I can tell that the brine water is being pulled from the tank. The water level in the tank drops about 1/4 inch during a Brine Wash cycle. Our water is soft again!
Hi Kasey. Do you have any tips on replacing the brine? How do I get the plastic clips off to disconnect the units from the main water line?
Thank you for making this video. My 2030 system was sucking in very little brine water. I took the head apart and cleaned levels 1-5 and the backwash flow control was clogged with calcium. The salt in the brine tank was too full and really sludgy which was just clogging up the line. I cleaned it all out and not it is working great. Thank You
Hi. Can you do a vid about the brine tank? Float assembly, water level, what and when water should be going in and out. Etc etc. thanks
Mine is sticking, and does not move freely at all, thought maybe that was my problem, but thinking the head needs cleaned rebuilt.
Thanks for your TH-cams, my system is using to much salt. I can taste salt in the morning when brushing my teeth. How do I adjust it.
Struggling with a lot of rust. I hope your videos will help and I appreciate the time you spent be making them.
Quick question can I take the amber cover of to clean out as it is hard to see through?
You can remove the amber cap but be cautious there are many small parts and some are spring loaded. I may be able to make a video going over that area if there is enough demand for it
@@kaseysirak Yess...please! and many thanks. u probably have done it already. I'm looking at them all. Thanks again!
Thank you
Good info here, thanks!
how does the brine take get filled up . and how much water should be in the brine tank before unit starts sucking
Thank you man.
Does this work for salty taste and continually running unit? Was told it might be the drain tube. I didn't see any issues with the drain tube.
So what do we do if the brine elbow doesn’t have vacuum?
My brine side doesn't have any suction what to do
Any follow up info on fixes for instances where you complete all of this but still have no vacuum?
I have a Kinetico whole house RO system. It has the salt softener and carbon tanks. Both salt and carbon tanks look identical. Problem is, my carbon tanks are "stuck" in the flushing out cycle and uses up all the water in my 600gal reserve tank. Do you think I can take the unit apart and clean it out, like you did? Do you think that will help?
Awesome!!! Thank you!!
Kasey, you said at 14:45 that if water is spraying from the brine elbow something is still wrong. What could be wrong? Also, to get the suction the unit has to be in "brine-rinse: or "backwash" setting? Thanks
Typically speaking as long as you were very thorough with inspecting and cleaning everything I pointed out the only other real issue it could be would be the entire level 4. And it should be in brine-rinse to pull a vacuum
So what should I look at if I’m not getting water falling out nor suction?
@@nicknewton1987 I would still treat it as a no vaccum scenario. Your unit just may not be as dirty as other units.
Great video - but what would be the problem of heaving really salty water from tap/fuecet? Which part will be broken or blocked ?
Tia
Could be a couple of things. Typically speaking salty water scenario is caused by low water presssure during the backwash cycle. I would check the drain line to make sure it isnt kinked, Check any prefilters to make sure they are not clogged, and the last most common cause is the softening resin itself. If you have alot of chlorine in your water it can cause the softening resin in the tank to degrade and turn into a mush that will cause low water pressure.
Thank you for the reply - the problem still here ,
Pressure it’s great 4 bar, drain it’s Clear ,no chlorine in water at all . Head scratcher
Thx
I kept falling asleep and waking up hours later only to have to restart again, thanks to the spa music you have in the background. Next time I recommend Alice in Chains. Otherwise, great video!