The former owners of our home left us their water softener a Culligan Mark 89. We unplugged it and never used it. The unit fills up with water. It is not plugged in, yet the water somehow fills up in the unit. We will need a plumber to disconnect the darn thing and that will cost money for something we don't even want. The connection is very complicated and we fear its been filling up for a long time now unbeknown to us?? So how can we disconnect the darn thing. It is at least 25 yrs old.

Maybe yuou can post a picture because most hook ups are not complicated. Many have a bypass valve so you can stop using the unit. GE WS15X10012 Valve By-Pass Assembly - AppliancePartsPros.com (http://www.appliancepartspros.com/ge-valve-by-pass-ws15x10012-ap2077343.html)

OK, I will take a photo. Yes I see the by pass knob blue, and the red one. I unscrewed the red one and I screw the blue one in. Still, the water is filling up the tank and the hose is leaking at the end. The unit is making a hissing sound. I emailed a culligan man for my area, and will wait for his reply. I was hoping he could disconnect it for me.

Should be a supply line somewhere with a shut off. What material is the piping? Copper? CPVC?

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Should be a supply line somewhere with a shut off. What material is the piping? Copper? CPVC?


Yes pvc I think there is a red handle that looks like the shut off valve only its so old it won't budge. I am downloading pics now, thank you kindly.

The right pvc pipe is IN, and the left pvc pipe is OUT. The unit is making a hissing sound, this is not good. And the first pic is the hose that the leads to the sewer elbow pipe

That RED button should be a by-pass valve. It should says "Push In for By-Pass" on one or the other side of the valve. Push it in - and you can disconnect the Culligans unit at the point of connection...

Hope that helps

Milo

You do not screw those caps in, it is a push pull knob. The blue is most likely sticking out a bit further than the red. Push the red all the way into the valve, that should shut it down. IF is is hard to move pull out on the blue while pushing in on the red. MA mentions a bypass but ,most frequently, there is no shut off valve in addition to this by pass

Btw:... and that Thermal Expansion Tank is installed wrong ...

Good catch Milo, its on the cold side. Also, unless that receptacle is connected to a GFCI it is not safe and not code

I believe the expansion tank is installed properly. Expansion tanks go on the supply(cold) side. Picture I see is on the blue(cold) side. Watts website shows it on the cold side.

You guys saved my life. I did not know I could push the bypass all the way in. I pushed it in and water gushed out, but I had a bucket below... and the hissing stopped, the dripping stopped. The unit is finally turned off!! Bravo. Now I just have to get Culligan man to take out the entire unit. I don't ever want to see it again. Not a fan of this sort of thing. The hook up is very scarey. I sure hope it was to code.

Does anyone know what tools they will use to uninstall this unit, and is there a proper way of uninstalling it? Will the Culligan man charge me lots of money or should I get a plumber to do it? Its going to cost me, just so not fair that the owners left this for us to get rid of. And should I believe everyone who tells me , oh that unit is old and doesn't work good. I never used it, ever. It has never been shut off, I wonder if it would have effected my water bill or cause damage to the unit now. We have been here 11 years!!

My whole house does not have water now. My water meter is not running so there cant be a busted pipe. Is this a co incidence. I sure hope so. I sure hope this gush of water didn't break my water meter. I just cant believe all this is happening. How can all this be happening?

Milo is correct, the expansion tank is not installed as per the manufacturers installation instructions. Tanks should ALWAYS be installed vertically... ..........

OK, I see your point.

We had to press the blue button to get the water back onoes this mean a pipe is broken when the RED arrow on the water meter is moving??? . Now the unit is hissing again and water continues to drip through the hose that empties into the sewer elbow. Thus making the water meter RED arrow to move more. This will cost me money! I don't know weather to call a lawyer or the water Company? Someone has to make Cullilgan pay for all this. I feel like no one is going to help me. Couldn't sleep last night just woke up 45 minutes ago. Im just recovering from the flu. Thank God I didn't die... although I feel like my world is closing in on me today. This isn't the first time a plumber installed a unit incorrectly. Bogan in Md. Installed a sump pump directly to our overflow sewer line which cost us hundreds of dollars. Then last Christmas another plumber over charged us to have it fixed. We made him reduce the charge. But now this! I think we need to get a lawyer. What should we do?

I think you did not push the red knob far enough in towards the valve. The red button should pretty much bottom out against the valve body.

I think you did not push the red knob far enough in towards the valve. The red button should pretty much bottom out against the valve body.

I did that last night and it shut the whole house main waterine. YES I pushed it in all the way. Yes, it stopped the water softener unit, but it seems like its connected to our main water line!

It is entirely possible that valve is defective. Red and blue knobs both sticking partially our should be the only way to shut down all water. If you have absolutely no hot and no cold I would also think this softener was not install in the correct section of uour homes piping. Softness have nothing to do with the cold water, you normally only soften hot water. BTW please tell me if you have water coming out from your outside spigot when the rest of the house is down

I did that last night and it shut the whole house main waterine. YES I pushed it in all the way. Yes, it stopped the water softener unit, but it seems like its connected to our main water line!

I tried it again, as you said, and water came gushing out so badly that the whole cylinder burst out and I lost the blue knob. I managed to reinsert the cylinder to stop the gush. I had to also shut the whole 2 water main handles down. Now we don't have water. If I turn the water main back on, the softener unit starts hissing again and water keeps flowing out of the black tubes and hoses, filling up the small tank again. This is sick.


Btw:... and that Thermal Expansion Tank is installed wrong ...

What thermal expansion tank? Which unit are you talking about?


I think you did not push the red knob far enough in towards the valve. The red button should pretty much bottom out against the valve body.

I tried it again, as you said, and water came gushing out so badly , even brown water that the whole cylinder burst out and I lost the blue knob. I managed to reinsert the cylinder to stop the gush. I had to also shut the whole 2 water main handles down. Now we don't have water. If I turn the water main back on, the softener unit starts hissing again and water keeps flowing out of the black tubes and hoses, filling up the small tank again. This is sick.

How to Turn Off a Water Softener | eHow (http://www.ehow.com/how_5876730_turn-off-water-softener.html)

I found this page, I did what it said. Im pretty much done for today. I think I will be OK for now.