Okay, this one is weird. You think: “Hey, I just filled the salt tank!” But if your salt has bridged—forming a hard crust above the water level—the system can’t draw brine. So it just runs and runs, trying to scrape together a solution that isn’t there.
Water Softener Keeps Running: Troubleshoot and Fix Now!
Break up the salt crust with a broom handle (seriously, it works). If you break into a salt cave, congrats—you’ve discovered the problem. Don’t wear your nicest shoes for this job.
Power Surges and Ghost Electricity
We forget that water softeners are digital creatures living in a wet, dark basement. A power surge—even a tiny one from a nearby thunderstorm—can mess up the brain of the system. It might get stuck on “regenerate” and never receive the “stop” signal.
You can add a surge protector. Or just unplug it for a full minute, plug it back in, and hope it needed a nap. This fixes maybe 20% of issues, but it’s free and you feel like a tech wizard.
