How Your Water Softener Works; Soft Water Service And Regeneration - Kenmore ULTRASOFT 425 Owner's Manual

[i!i !! :;:_!! :;:_!i SECTION 2
HOW YOUR WATER SOFTENER WORKS
KENMORE'S ULTRA CLEANSING FEATURE
(UltraSoft 480 only)
The ultra cleansing feature keeps larger particles of
sediment from entering the home's plumbing sys-
tem. As water passes through the softener, the larg-
er sediment particles are collected in the integrated
basket and then rinsed to the drain before each re-
generation. The ultra cleansing feature provides
added protection for water-using appliances by re-
ducing the chance of larger particles entering the
various product's valves and screens.
An extra backwash will be pre-programmed into
the electronics by the factory (see "Clean Feature" in
Section 2 "Faceplate Timer Features" in this manu-
al). This extra backwash will help keep the ultra
cleansing feature screen clean.
hnportant: The ultra cleansing feature is not in-
tended to replace pretreatment filtration. For prob-
lem water applications, additional sediment filtra-
tion is recommended.
Sears offers a full-line of dedicated sediment filtra-
tion products including the Whole Home Filter and
Automatic Clarifying Filter.
ultra cleansing screen
/
top distributor
B. SOFT WATER SERVICE and REGENERATION
SERVICE
When the softener is giving you soft water, it is
called "Service". During service, hard water comes
from the house main water pipe into the softener.
Inside the softener resin tank is a bed made up of
thousands of tiny, plastic resin beads (FIG. 5). As
hard water passes through the bed, each bead at-
tracts and holds the hardness minerals. This is
called ion-exchanging. It is much like a magnet at-
tracting and holding metals. Water without the
hardness minerals (soft water) flows out of the soft-
ener and into the house soft water pipes.After a pe-
riod of time, the resin beads hold all of the hardness
minerals they can, and cleaning with salt brine is
needed. This cleaning is called regeneration or re-
charge. Regeneration is started at 2:00 a.m. by the
electronic timer. It takes place in 5 stages or cycles.
These are:
Note:
If the Clean feature is set to ON, additional back-
wash and fast rinse cycles occur before the fill cycle.
Water Flow Through
the Softener in Service
soft water hard water
OUT IN
salt storage
tank (salt
not shown)
brine valve
resin tank
resin bed
[] FILL [] BACKWASH
[] BRINING [] FAST RINSE
[] BRINE RINSE
2-4
Problems, Questions? Call 1- 800- 426- 9345 Kenmore Water Line