"WRONG, water should NEVER come out of the overflow on the brine tank... never ever. Something is wrong! " justalurker, I agree with you that there is a problem with the softener! I was referring to the immediate problem being resolved - namely, the almost ankle depth water in the utility room that we had to deal with when we first discovered this issue. As I mentioned, we have switched the softener to bypass mode now so atleast we dont have to deal with overflowing water in the utility room, but like you said we still need to fix the root cause with the softener. The documents and links you provided gave pretty good overview of how the softener works and how it can be serviced. I also talked to the softener dealer I had purchased the softener from and they advised me to try some things: 1) Confirm that the PE brine tube connecting the control valve and brine tank is connected securely to the control valve. (verified this is true) 2) Remove the air check valve from the brine tank (BTW, is the "air check valve" the same as the "safety float" you keep referring to in your posts?). Clean out the air check valve to remove anything that might prevent it from sucking the brine from the brine tank back into the control valve. I tried to pull out the PE tube from the white plastic elbow (see photo of this in the link below) so that I can lift out the air check valve from the white cylinder in the brine tank and clean it, but it seemed quite tight (maybe its supposed to be this tight) and I didnt want to yank on it too hard and cause further damage (just playing safe due to my inexperience dealing with softeners). Will it be easier to remove the PE tubing from the white plastic elbow if I turn the control valve to "Backwash" position manually and remove some water from the PE tubing first? If so, when control valve is in "backwash" position, would the water from the PE tubing flow out the "bypass outlet" (and hence require me to turn off the bypass) OR would it flow out the "drain line"? Basically, I am trying to figure out the right way to remove and clean the "air check valve". 3) If cleaning the "air check valve" does not help, the dealer advised to remove the control valve and bring it in because it would probably still be covered under warranty. Per the dealer, since the softener was purchased and installed in late summer of 2006, most of the repair costs should still be covered under manufacturer's warranty. As I understand they would send the control valve to the manufacturer (Water Right) and get it back within 7-10 days and I would be responsible for 25% of the cost. So if it comes to this, I will need to figure out the right way to remove the control valve - I understand it should not be too hard and the control valve can be "twisted off" from the top of the resin tank (how do i disconnect control valve from the bypass or the water meter before twisting it off the resin tank)? As you quoted Clint Eastwood, I can and prefer doing the "basic" troubleshooting (i.e. cleaning air check valve and, if needed, remove the control valve) but since its under warranty, it might be best to have it fixed by the pros (in the case the manufacturer themselves). Would appreciate help with these "basic" tasks. Thanks again, -Topper Here is a link that might be useful: PE tubing connected to white plastic elbow

Once the softener is installed, add 2.5 gallons cold water to the brine tank. Add a couple of bags of salt. Enter the master programming mode on the valve controller and set as follows: 1. DF - GAL 2. VT - St1b 3. CT - Fd 4. NT - 1 5. TS - U1 6. C - 26 7. H - 19 8. RS - SF 9. SF - 20 RC - 0 DO - 8 RT - 2:00 (or other time when you are unlikely to use water for a couple of hours) BD - 60 BW - 10 RR - 10 BF - Find your BLFC sticker (look at the attached pic - the sticker is inside the red circle) If it is 0.25 GPM then set BF at 10. If 0.5 GPM set at 5, if 1.0 gpm, set at 3. Ensure all days are ON, unless you have a specific day of the week when you need the softener to NOT regen. CD doesn't matter unless you set a day to OFF in step 14 FM - t0.7 should not be available Once the valve is programmed, step out of master programming mode and set the clock to the correct time. Manually place the softener in regen. Allow the backwash to finish, then manually step through the other steps. Leave each one on just long enough to verify it is working. Allow the fast rinse to run for about 5 minutes - you will have added just a bit of brine during the brief time it was in the brine draw step and you will want to flush that out. Step into service mode and enjoy your soft water.

A 1.5 cu ft softener would regenerate about every 3 days at it's maximum hardness removal capability and the least efficient salt dose. That would cost you a lot in wasted water (60 gallons) and 22 lbs of salt every regen. That's 220 lbs, that's 5.5 bags, every month and 600 gallons of water when it should be around 40 lbs a week or 160 lbs (4 bags) and 240 gallons of water a month. What does the web site selling Fleck softeners recommend as far as size? It's most probably a single resin tank softener not a twin resin tank model. Your private guy is an independent water treatment company and could sell Fleck but he's shown he knows little about correctly sizing a softener regardless of the control valve. You can buy a softener online but by definition there is no service and the warranty is parts only. Parts, if needed, will always be FedEx or UPS away, and you'll be responsible for assembling, installing, and setting up the softener. Get the Kinetico dealer in there to give you a quote and we'll look at your options.

"Is just putting it in the open drain at the floor and tying it down considered and air gap?" Short answer... NO Longer answer... "The key characteristics for an air gap is protection from back flow and back siphonage. Back flow occurs when there is a clog or blockage downstream in the drain line which with more water entering causes the nonpotable water to back up fully engulfing the air gap unit or at least reach in the back siphonage critical level (C/L) of the air gap unit. Back siphonage happens when there is suction on the potable water line and air gap inlet that sucks non-potable water port back into the potable (drinking) water line. The ideal air gap would provide protection from back flow and back siphonage."