Yesterday a time bomb went off in my basement

"RacinBob" (racinbob) 10/01/2020 at 09:39 • Filed to: None

1

10

I don’t trust water softeners. They are a tool of the devil designed to fill your basement with water. Yesterday mine attacked again. It was 6:20 and I was about to get up when I heard a rattle in the pipes and also the sound of the softener like it was in regen cycle. So maybe about 5 minutes later I got up and went down stairs and I hear both my basement water alarms so I head down and see water half way across the floor. I shut the main off and I found the bypass valve had blown apart. The stem had broken and I was dropping 2 gpm I figure on the floor.

I vacuumed up 15 gallons. It’s going to take a week or so to replace the valve so I got my handy harbor freight safety wire and did the below repair. Its a reminder that for tying stuff together in a strong way, nothing beats safety wire and a safety wire pliers.

The stem is slightly cocked so the oring wasn’t sealing properly so I hung a gallon of vinegar off of it to seal it up. Fixed for now. PS - this is the reason I shut the water off when we will be gone for a day....

Nom De Plume > RacinBob 10/01/2020 at 10:05

0

Oh, that vinegar will add to the bouquet when the time bomb goes off.

vondon302 > RacinBob 10/01/2020 at 10:11

0

I’m over due on replacing mine. It’s had a slow leak that I fixed earlier this year but it’s coming up on 20 years old and the water isn’t as good as it was just a few years ago. Nice fix.

Thank god mines in the crawl tho.

Jb boin > RacinBob 10/01/2020 at 10:41

12

RacinBob > Jb boin 10/01/2020 at 10:45

0

Post of the year! Laughing so hard I am crying! 

HoustonRunner > RacinBob 10/01/2020 at 10:58

0

You are burying the lead - you still get a newspaper?

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Jb boin 10/01/2020 at 11:19

0

Th is is what I subscribe to Jalopnik Gold for!

RacinBob > HoustonRunner 10/01/2020 at 12:00

2

Old hab its die hard. You know what the call the obits?... The subscription cancellation page....

MM54 > RacinBob 10/01/2020 at 12:59

0

Mine’s from the late 70's. It looks like it’s having an exorcism when it regens and in doing so does mist a little water in its proximity. That said it still works, and doesn’t leak in normal operation. I pay an equally old business $10/mo for it (it came with the house, on the original contract pricing ). I’m torn between just telling them I’m done paying for it and hoping they say “just keep it” or just buying a decent new one that actually regens based on water use and not a timer.

RacinBob > MM54 10/01/2020 at 13:15

1

We have a 2 person household and went from maybe a dozen bags of salt a year to 1 to 2. I would say the sa lt reduction for a smart controller is like 90%...

MM54 > RacinBob 10/01/2020 at 13:20

0

That’s my big draw, I live alone and the longest timer (it’s mechanical, you put pins in the wheel to set it) is 13 (maybe 12?) days. I’ve tried taking it out to run longer then putting it back in, but I forget until the water is very hard (thanks, well). It consumes maybe 10 -12 bags a year, I’m sure a ‘smart’ head would cut that considerably.