Problem
I notice my water softener running at night occasionally, and the next day I have nice soft water. But, within a few days, it seems to run out -- soap barely lathers, and my skin feels very dry after showering. I've double-checked that the salt tank is at the right level, and that there is no salt bridge.
My system and situation
- Autotrol 460i controller (manual here)
- 0.75 ft3 resin tank
- Two adults in the house, average 3,300 gallons of soft water usage per month / 55 gallons per person per day.
- Incoming supply hardness is 12 grains per gallon (~200 ppm / 17.1), based on home test (image below).
Settings on my water softener
- Hardness setting: 26. Range: 1 to 99 grains per gallon. According to the manual, this should correspond to the "hardness of the incoming water supply."
- Capacity setting: 26. Range: 1 to 99 kilograins. Manual says "refer to the suggested salt dial settings table," reproduced below.
- Salt dial adjustment: 12. Range: 3 to 19 pounds of salt. Manual says: "controls the amount of salt used per regeneration."
Suggested salt dial settings table, for my system:
Capacity setting Salt setting
(kilograins) (lbs)
------------------------------------
16 5.5
20 8.5
24 14.0
Question
How should adjust my settings to get to get the salt water supply correct? I understand that hardness is a function of my water supply and should be lowered, and it seems the salt setting is a function of capacity. But how do I determine which capacity setting is correct? Current setting does not match my salt setting. Should I raise the salt? Lower the capacity?