Breaking A Salt Bridge - Whirlpool WHES40 Installation And Operation Manual

NOTE: In humid areas, it is best to keep the salt storage level lower, and to refill more often to avoid salt
"bridging".
Recommended Salt: Nugget, pellet or coarse solar salts with less than 1% impurities.
Salt Not Recommended: Rock salt, high in impurities, block, granulated, table, ice melting, ice cream
making salts, etc.

BREAKING A SALT BRIDGE

Sometimes, a hard crust or salt "bridge" forms in the brine tank. It is usually caused by high humidity or
the wrong kind of salt. When the salt "bridges," an empty space forms between the water and the salt.
Then, salt will not dissolve in the water to make brine. Without brine, the resin bed is not recharged and
hard water will result.
If the storage tank is full of salt, it is difficult to tell if you have a salt bridge. A bridge may be underneath
loose salt. Take a broom handle, or like tool, and hold it next to the water softener. Measure the
distance from the floor to the rim of the water softener. Then, gently push the broom handle straight
down into the salt If a hard object is felt before the pencil mark is even with the top, it is most likely a
salt bridge. Gently push into the bridge in several places to break it. Do not use any sharp or pointed
objects as you may puncture the brine tank. Do not try to break the salt bridge by pounding on the
outside of the salt tank. You may damage the tank.
Words in the picture: Push Tool into; Salt Bridge to; Break; Pencil Mark; Broom Handle
CLEANING THE NOZZLE & VENTURI
A clean nozzle & venturi (See Figure 33) is a necessity for the water softener to work properly. This small
component creates the suction to move brine from the brine tank, into the resin tank. If it should
become plugged with sand, silt, dirt, etc., the water softener will not work, and hard water will result.