Replacing Your Water Softener Control Valve

The one major and most expensive component of any water softener system is the control valve. It not only controls the regeneration process which exchanges chloride ions for the calcium, and often times iron, in your water to produce clean, refreshing water for your whole house, but it also directs the flow of water through the resin tank and bed. In the case of some of the newer models of Fleck and Autotrol control valves, they can even keep track of your usage and adjust themselves for more efficient use of water and chloride. The Autotrol and Fleck control valves are designed to last decades without any trouble. Continuous service from these conrollers of 25+ years is not uncommon.

But softeners and automatic backwashing filters do break down and it's usually due to the failure of the control valve. So if your tanks are fine, you can save a good deal of money by simply replacing the controller. So here is a simplified overview of what to expect when changing it.

The first thing you'll need to determine is whether or not your softener or auto-filter media is still working. Standard softener resin will usually out live the life of some of the lesser quality control valves. The best way to check this is to test the treated water or product water. If your control valve is still backwashing or you can coax it into a manual regeneration then test the water for hardness. If your resin media is still working properly then the results of your hardness test will be zero (0) grains of hardness. If you are replacing the control valve on an auto-backwashing filter system and you can get the control valve to backwash then test for the element you are removing with your media filter eg. chlorine for activated carbon media and iron for Birm media, etc.

If you are unable to get your control valve to regenerate or backwash automatically, then there is no practical way to test the effectiveness of your media. You may want to consider replacing it as well. Otherwise test your media after replacing the new controller and backwashing.

Now it's time to select the replacement controller. Unless you have had specific quality issues with your original valve it's best to replace it with the same make/model. This way there's a good chance that your water pipes will line up and you will not need to perform any pipe modifications. On the other hand, if your controller lasted only 5 years or less before needing replacement, then it's best to replace it with a model that's a step up. The Fleck and Autotrol control valves we have available online will last much longer than that.

The dimension (height / diameter) of your present media tank will need to be recorded. This allows the control valve supplier to configure your new valve for your tank's volume of media. There is also a difference between softener valves, iron filter valves and standard filter valves. If you are replacing a softener valve then it will require a brine injector, meter assembly with labels and drain line control. All the supplier needs to know is your media tank's dimensions to set all of this up for you. If you are replacing a manganese/greensand iron filter control valve, it will require special PVC injectors to stand up to the high iron water environment. Again, your supplier will know what to do when they are made aware of your needs. And last, the media filter does not require injection of chloride or oxidizer so those control valves are generally less expensive and require less pre-configuration by the supplier.

Now that you have your new control valve, it's time to remove the old one. Your softener should have a bypass valve or system available to it either on the back side of the softener or by way of a 3-valve system in the plumbing. If not, then the main water to the plumbing system will need to be shut down while you work. Unplug the electrical power cord from the outlet. You should be able to manually advance your control valve to the initial backwash/regeneration position. This will release extra water pressure from the media tank and control valve.

Remove the water pipes. There are countless methods of connecting water pipes to control valves, yokes, manifolds or bypass valves. You should refer to your softener's owner's manual for this step. There will also be a drain line running from the softener. This will not be under pressure and is generally held in place with a clip, clamp or compression fitting.

Once the plumbing and wire are disconnected you will be able to remove the old control valve. Remember that the media tank is still full of water so it's quite heavy and should prove to be stable as you unscrew the valve in a counter-clockwise direction by hand. If the softener/filter is very old, the valve might be difficult to remove. Because a steel tool will likely damage the outside of the valve making it even more difficult to twist off, a strap wrench is recommended.

Just as soon as you unscrew the old valve and are ready to lift it off the top of the tank, check to be sure that the distributor tube, which runs down the center of the tank to the bottom, does not come with the controller. It is held inside the controller by a set of rubber o-rings and they may be sticky after all these years. Slip a hand under the control valve to hold the distributor tube in place inside the tank.

If you are replacing your media as well, now is the time to pour it out, rinse the inside of the tank and replace the distributor. If there are any particles of media on the top neck or threads of the tank, be sure to wipe them off as they will certainly cause a water leak later if not dealt with now.

Your new control valve should already be pre-lubed with silicon grease so you are now ready to attach the replacement controller. Again, making certain that the top of the tank and its threads are free of media particles and debris, line the distributor tube up with the center of the bottom of the control valve and press it in place. Screw the new control valve into the tank. While the threads are quite large, it is still possible to cross-thread them so take care not to. A firm hand tightening will do the job so no wrenches should be required.

Do not plug in the electrical cord yet. Position the softener where it will be connected to the water pipes. If you bought the same control valve as you are replacing, everything should line up. Simply reconnect and skip to the bottom. Chances are you are not replacing the same valve and you will need to re-route some of your plumbing. You may be using PVC or copper which are two of the most common materials for water pipes. In any case, it is not the scope of this article to explain basic plumbing. The most important concept to consider here is the flow direction of your water pipes to your new control valve. There is a 50/50 chance that your water pipes will need to be reversed. In other words, check the flow direction in your new controller's owner's manual or simply examine the back of the valve. There should be arrows which indicate the direction of water flow. That is how you'll need to connect the pipes to your new control valve. If the water flow is connected backwards from the controller's required flow direction, media from your tank will be washed out into your faucets, toilets and even water heater.

Once the water pipes are connected correctly, you can introduce water pressure to your softener. Do this slowly so that the pressure equalization does not disturb the media too much. With the water pressure equalized, check the owner's manual for start up proceedures on your new control valve. You can find the owner's manuals to all of the control valves we sell on this web site in our Documentation area.

By replacing the control valve alone, you have saved several hundreds of dollars, and if your media is still good, you have basically a brand new softener system.