Sears KENMORE 625.34845 - Manual (Page 13)

HOW YOUR WATER SOFTENER WORKS
SECTION 2
13
2B. SOFT WATER SERVICE AND REGENERATION
AUTOMATIC BYPASS
During the brining, brine rinse and backwash
cycles of regeneration, HARD water goes through
the softener valve and to the house pipes. If a
faucet is opened, hard water is there for your
needs. However, you should not use HOT water, if
possible, because the water heater will refill with
hard water. The softener regenerates from 2:00
AM to about 4:00 AM, (you can change this time...
see page 7), a time when not much water is used.
If you get up early in the morning and you can
hear the softener regenerating, change the time
setting. Set the recharge time to 12:00 AM or 1:00
AM (page 7). Then regeneration will start and end
that much earlier and your water heater will not
refill with hard water if a hot faucet is opened.
ELECTRONICS
Two main parts of the softener's electronics are
a WATER METER, and a COMPUTER.
WATER METER Ċ The water meter is in the
softener valve outlet. As water flows through the
meter, it sends electric pulses to the computer. The
computer changes the pulses to a measure in
gallons of water.
COMPUTER Ċ The computer is part of the
circuit board. It is programmed to know the
softener's capacity (how many grains of hardness
minerals it will take out of the water before a
regeneration is needed). When starting the
softener, page 7, you set it for the grains per gallon
(gpg) hardness of the water.
To find a regeneration pattern best for your needs,
the computer uses: (1) water usage from the
meter, (2) hardness setting, (3) softener capacity,
and (4) time since the last regeneration. The
computer always adjusts this pattern to your water
using habits. It works to provide you with soft
water for the longest time, at the most efficient salt
usage.
Softening capacity is used as hard water goes
through the softener and hardness minerals are
removed. When the computer determines that
only enough capacity remains to provide soft
water up to the next regeneration starting time
(2:00 AM, or as otherwise set), it will schedule a
regeneration. RECHARGE TONIGHT displays until
the regeneration begins. When the regeneration
begins, TONIGHT goes off and RECHARGE NOW
flashes during the 2 hour regeneration.