Kenmore 625.348420 - Manual (Page 13)

HOW YOUR WATER SOFTENER WORKS
SECTION 2
13
2B. SOFT WATER SERVICE AND REGENERATION
AUTOMATIC BYPASS
During the brining, brine rinse and backwash cycles
of regeneration, hard water goes through the
softener valve and to the house pipes. If a faucet is
opened, hard water is there for your needs.
However, you should not use HOT water, if possible,
because the water heater will refill with hard water.
The softener regenerates from 2:00 AM to about 4:00
AM, (you can change this time... see page 7). In most
homes, 2-4 AM is a time when not much water is
used, if any.
If you get up early in the morning and you can hear
the softener regenerating, change the time setting.
Set the recharge start time to 12:00 AM or 1:00 AM
(page 7). Then regeneration will start and end that
much earlier and your water heater will not refill with
hard water if a hot faucet is opened.
ELECTRONICS
Two main parts of the softener's electronics are
a
WATER METER, and  a COMPUTER.

WATER METER Ċ The water meter is in the
softener valve outlet. As water flows through the
meter, it sends electric pulses to the computer. The
computer changes the pulses to a measure in gallons
of water.
 COMPUTER Ċ The computer is part of the timer
circuit board. It is programmed to know the
softener's capacity (how many grains of hardness
minerals it will take out of the water before a
regeneration is needed). When starting the softener,
page 7, you set it for the grains per gallon (gpg)
hardness of the water.
To find a regeneration pattern best for your needs,
the computer uses: (1) water usage from the meter,
(2) hardness setting, (3) softener capacity, and (4)
time since the last regeneration. The computer
always adjusts this pattern to your water using habits.
It works to provide you with soft water for the
longest time, at the most efficient salt usage.
Softening capacity is used as hard water goes
through the softener and hardness minerals are
removed. When the computer determines that only
enough capacity remains to provide soft water up to
the next regeneration starting time (2:00 AM, or as
otherwise set), it will schedule a regeneration.
RECHARGE TONIGHT displays until the regeneraĆ
tion begins. When the regeneration begins, TOĆ
NIGHT goes off and RECHARGE NOW flashes
during the 2 hour regeneration.