Kinetico Water Softener Full Rebuild - Part 3 of 8 (Analyze Head Unit, Remove Level 4 Seals)

[@mikebroom1866]

YES! I had my model 60 tanks rebuilt when I moved in 10 years ago and was FURIOUS with the local dealer BS. Got a second one for free because it was broken and the guy didn't want to deal with them anymore. Getting around to tearing it down, pinched level 2 gasket. Once I source that hopefully that will fix it. Thanks for the thorough video!

[@stephaniesantucci4317]

Loon, thank you so much for this video. I pulled my Kinetico 30 (older model) apart and noticed how the valves were stuck in place. I didn't find your video until after I put it back together and didn't have suction...wah wah wah. I emailed the UK company you mentioned on another post. Stephen from Aquastream mentioned it would one of the following: 1 Kinetico Level 4 Seal Kit 1 Pair Drain Valves and Cone Seals 1 Updated Control Valve and Cone Seal BUT he asked me to confirm where I lived. I'm hoping that doesn't prevent him from shipping the seal kits....FINGERS CROSSED. You have taken out the guess work!!!! Thank you so much! UPDATE, Aqua Stream did respond with the part numbers and price of each item listed above BUT I decided to call my local dealer who was more than happy to help me out. He had no issues talking me through everything I had done and let me know he would be more than happy to supply me with any of the parts I needed. My unit was installed in 1993. The older model has two little blue balls which have been replaced by the check stems in the newer models. The two little balls are placed in level six. If they are not there, you will not get suction. As soon as I put them back, everything worked perfectly. So if you have the older model with the check balls (blue or white and blue) instead of the check stems make sure they are placed back in level six.

[@loonhunt]

Great- you're very lucky to have the cooperative dealer nearby. My local dealer turned me down, as did every one within a 100 mile radius. I believe they can lose their Kinetico Authorization if Kinetico HQ finds out they did this..... it's a disgustingly ridiculous company policy. Keep your contact close :)

[@briansvik3002]

Thank you for this series. I'm in the same boat. We inherited a Kenetico with our house three years ago. Wasn't working when we moved in so we had it serviced. It cost over $600, but the dealer said it was the "Cadillac of water softeners". We have had to have it service a couple more times since then. In total we've probably spent a little over $1K on it in 3 years. Now I'm not getting any vacuum with it. Like you, I'd rather work on it myself. I'm not giving Kenetico any more money. I'm going to tear into mine to see if I can get it working. If not, then it's gone and I'll buy a different brand.

[@loonhunt]

Good luck, it's actually incredibly easy to work on. I honestly don't see any reason why these machines can't last for decades with just regular cleaning, replacing gaskets, and replacing the resin. Be careful not to get ripped off if you buy parts - there is one company in particular I found that charges over $200 for a Level 4 Seal kit! You should be able to find it for $40-50

[@CruisingEntertainment]

Great videos! very informative, thank you for also sharing the PDFs.. great stuff in there!

[@rodneywilson6396]

Your Video instruction is Excellent. I have a Kinetico Q850 OD Water Softener purchased in 2013 that is now having trouble with one of the tanks not performing the Brine/Backwash during a regeneration cycle. I actually have Quad Tanks, two stacked on each side atop one another. The other side tank(s) work fine; this working tank actually works much better after performing the cleaning procedure you provided. After cleaning the Backwash really has water flowing out the drain port on the working tank side. I've taken the unit apart twice now. However, the one tank side still will not Brine or Backwash during a regeneration cycle. A small flow of water does exit the drain port for approximately 12 minutes; 6 minutes for the Brine cycle and another 6 minutes for Backwash cycle. When the unit was apart, two of the plungers on what you show to be Level-4 in this video did not operate as freely as the other two plungers. All 4 plungers do move. As you indicated a gasket (o-ring) exists for each plunger shaft within the housing itself. I tried to unscrew two of the four plungers using an Allen wrench in the hole on the one side and pliers on the other. Could not get them to turn, so I stopped. Are these left-handed threads or right-handed threads? How much force (effort) needs to be applied to unscrew the plunger? Upon initial inspection of the unit, deposits did originally exist in several areas within the various levels. All areas have now been cleaned twice. Any ideas what to check next? Can the second side tank(s) themselves be the issue? How do I tell? It would seem (to me) that if Level-1 can control a regeneration cycle for one side of tanks, then Level-1 must be working well enough to also perform the regeneration cycle on the other side tanks. Correct? Appreciate your response.

[@rodneywilson6396]

What are the dimensions of the gaskets the plungers ride on (internal on Level-4)?

[@loonhunt]

The plungers are regular threads- righty-tighty (clockwise), lefty-loosey (counterclockwise). I don't remember them needing excessive force, though the inside of my unit was pretty clean when I initially opened it. Yours could be jammed up with sediment. It might be worth it to soak the entire level-4 in CLR cleaner overnight to eat away at some of the hidden grime. As for what to check next- have you read the Troubleshooting Guide in the video description? This PDF is straight from Kinetico and has a list of common issues and possible solutions. It should be noted that I also cleaned my unit a couple of times and it didn't fix my problem, that's why I purchased the seal kit which ultimately did the trick. I did not, however, remove the pistons or any of its gaskets with my initial cleaning... but those were the gaskets that appeared to have the most wear, which makes sense to me since those pistons have a good amount of up/down movement

[@loonhunt]

​@@rodneywilson6396 The little ones appear to be 9/16" diameter and almost 1/8" thick. They're not round though, they're more of a flat design. Perhaps these images will help i.imgur.com/hYnK2uP.jpg i.imgur.com/uFiJrt7.jpg

[@rodneywilson6396]

@@loonhunt Thanks! Read the pdf's. Not getting suction on one tank during Brine cycle. Instead, water is exiting the head. The other working tank does pull a suction during Brine and then completes the backwash..

[@rodneywilson6396]

Replaced 18 rings and seals. All now working. Thanks for all your help!

[@JSMCPN]

I'd love to join a class-action Right To Repair suit against this terrible company.

[@jan101092]

Brilliant video -thx What can be the issue heaving salty water ? Exactly same softener as in your video Thx again

[@loonhunt]

I've not had this issue personally, so I'm not sure. But check the troubleshooting guide for a nice list of possible causes and solutions: www.dropbox.com/s/f0tduhur61lq6kg/Kinetico-Water-Softener-Troubleshooting-Guide.pdf The top of Page 6 in the guide shows the following for troubleshooting Salty Water: ---------- Problem: 1. Overdosing of salt. Possible Causes: A. Brine valve set incorrectly B. Brine valve not seating properly C. Rubber band not removed D. Leak in brine valve Solution: A. Set the brine valve correctly B. Replace brine valve C. Remove rubber band from float cup D. Repair leak/replace brine valve ---------- Problem: 2. Restricted drain flow. Possible Causes: A. Drain line kinked or clogged B. Backwash flow control restricted C. Long drain tubing run D. Drain tubing rises higher than 8 feet. Solution: A. Clear obstructions; ensure drain flows smoothly and clearly B. Clean/replace backwash flow control C. Shorten length of tubing or increase size of drain tubing D. Reduce rise to less than 8 feet ---------- Problem: 3. Low water pressure. Possible Causes: A. Plugged prefilter B. Pressure setting too low C. Fouled/damaged resin bed Solution: A. Change prefilter B. Increase feed pressure C. Replace resin ---------- Problem: 4. Upper distributors partially blinded (downflow units). Possible Cause: Foreign material or fines lodged into theslots. Solution: Clean or replace upper distributors

[@carthick1000]

So, it has been 2 years now. Did you manage to find another softener with DIY parts available to customers?

[@loonhunt]

I haven't had the need. Since this repair, my softener has been functioning properly. We'll see how long the new parts last though.... I do plan to give it a good servicing (cleaning) soon to hopefully help extend its life even more

[@tonyspeka7964]

Great video - i have the Quad 50 and one of the pistons broke off. Do you know if the individual piston can be replaced or do I need to replace the whole Level 3-5?

[@loonhunt]

Yes, you can get just the pistons. Send an email to [e-mail] and see if they can help. You might get lucky on ebay too, but parts can be overpriced there. For reference, the aquastream website currently shows you can get all 4 "Kinetico Piston and Seat" new for just £6 (~$7.50). Kinetico Piston & Seat Part No2465 & 2464

[@MargaretGraham-tm8gh]

Ever heard of resin coming through faucets

[@loonhunt]

Nothing I've experienced. If you look at the parts guide PDFs in the video description (See Page 9 here: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/j8w3tnr2a5smvwhk871zy/Kinetico-4040-4060-Parts-Guide.pdf?rlkey=xmdo0prijnr7zuq3albtxaosw&e=1 ), you'll see that the resin tanks have screens/pipes that go in the tanks and are supposed to keep the resin in the tank while allowing water through. My guess is that you have a damaged part or seal there. Should be a fairly easy fix if you can get the tank open (as shown in the video series)

[@relsoc]

This is exactly what I’m doing but where did you find the seal kit to rebuild the head? I have a model 30 and my kinetico dealer is like yours, they won’t help or sell me parts. They said I need a new 43500 unit. Lol thanks for making this video!

[@loonhunt]

Of course they said you need a new unit! Ridiculous. Send an email to [e-mail] and see if they can help get you basic parts. You might get lucky on ebay too, but parts can be overpriced there. For reference, the aquastream website currently shows Kinetico Level 4 Seal Kit for just £39 (~$50). If you find another source, please share it for others in their quest as well. Thanks

[@Texacate]

@@loonhunt I tried to order parts directly off the aquastream website, but at cart checkout, shipping to any country (other than the UK) was disabled. Guessing there's a RightToRepair law in the UK that at least protects its UK citizens. Also guessing Kenetico threatened to de-authorize them as a dealer if they allowed international parts orders. Sad.

[@Ashutt92]

Hey I tried to order a level 4 seal kit from aqua steam but they will not let me place a new order from the USA. Is there any other site that will let me order it??

[@loonhunt]

Send an email to [e-mail] and see if they can help... don't try to order through their website. If you browse their website via a UK proxy, you can see it currently shows Kinetico Level 4 Seal Kit for just £39 (~$50). If you find another source, please share it as well for others in their quest. Thanks

[@tonyspeka7964]

I forgot to ask - were you able to fix it and if not, which unit did you replace the Kinetico with?

[@loonhunt]

Yes, my unit is still working great after 1.5 years since making this repair. You can see it working in the last video in this series.

[@dalethornton1113]

Did you ever mention where you located these parts? EBay? Amazon?

[@loonhunt]

Try to send an email to [e-mail] and see if they can help.

[@ChadLeTourneau]

Do you have a link to where you found replacement parts? My local dealer informed me that they no longer have parts for these units but would be happy to send a sales guy by to sell me a new one....

[@loonhunt]

Of course they say that they "no longer have parts." Try to send an email to [e-mail] and see if they can help.

[@ChadLeTourneau]

@@loonhunt I'll do that. Thank you.

[@carriersignal]

It's nonsense that you just can't go and buy parts for these units at a Kinetico dealer. I just had to have two different technicians come out twice for the same job because the first failed to do his job correctly. Problem turned out to be a level 4 seal. They only replaced the one that had failed in this 15 year old unit. There is a high chance the others are soon to fail also as the person I spoke with stated they fail from chlorine damage over the years. After calling them and asking why it would not have made sense to replace all 4 to help avoid another service call in the near future, I only got silence. On your vehicle, if you have your timing belt replaced they will frequently ask you if you want to have your water pump replaced also since they already have it exposed. The whole service call process is clearly a big money making deal that makes me irate. Its evident that every man is for himself out there. Getting people to do the job correctly and what makes sense is next to impossible.

[@Texacate]

Our best hope in the US is a federal Right To Repair legislation. Today, existing USA Rt2Rp laws are either very product specific and/or state specific.