hi,

is there a way to recharge softener cartridge instead of replacement every 3-6 months?
I'd like to find a way to extend life of cartridge like AF-10-3000.
Is it a good idea? Does it make economical sense?
Any one have done recharge?

thanks.

I believe you just run a brine solution through it, just like recharging a home water softener. No idea how much salt or how long though.

Ira

I used to use to use a water softener cartridge and tried recharging it with potassium chloride with a pump to recirculate through the filter with a spare filter housing. A TDS meter is not helpful with water softening since you're doing ion exchange so it can be hard to tell if the cartridge is working, but I did notice scale starting to appear in my kettle so I've since switched over to using the reverse osmosis water from my water cooler and treating that with epsom salts and baking soda to make the water better for coffee extractions.

Think you'd need to know what the mechanism of action and subsyrate of this specific exchanger is before you can see if you can recharge it yourself and how.

That cartridge is not intended to be regenerated. As mentioned, there are different chemistry formulations in various softening cartridges (four major ones actually). So, it is not a given that one just back-washes with saline. Some regeneration has to be done with highly caustic or acidic solutions and are not practical or safe to do at home. Also, water softening cartridges can become fouled with metals such as Iron, biologic matter and other contaminants that back-washing may not remove, and which may build up to toxic levels. I'd either switch to a user serviceable technology or find less expensive throw-away cartridges.

They cost $10-$12 each if you shop around & should last 6-9 months if just feeding a machine. Why would you bother to try to recharge them?

thank you for all your replies
I started from $20 softener cartridge that is under sink that provides softened water for espresso machine and tea kettle and that last for about 4 months based on my tests, so I have to replace it.
This is why I started looking for more economical solution.

Based on your replies it looks like the recharge of this cartridge type isn't appropriate option.
Yes, I already got some replies about where to get softener for less - AF-10-3000 or AF-10-3003 around $13.

another option is to buy "Pure Water" from local water store $0.25/Gal, which is distillate; this is a bit inconvenient for me

There are two types of softening media as I understand it. One type (acid) is regenerated using an alkali solution (sodium hydroxide maybe... can't remember). The other type (cation) is regenerated using a salt solution (sodium chloride or potassium chloride usually). Some cartridges have a mixed media using both types of beads. For that you would open the cartridge, pour beans into water. One type sinks (the acid type I think) and the other floats. Skim off floaters and treat those separately.

So, yes, it is important to know what type you are using.

mikek753 wrote:another option is to buy "Pure Water" from local water store $0.25/Gal, which is distillate; this is a bit inconvenient for me

I thought the same thing, but since I'm a renter I didn't want to put in a RO system for my espresso. Looking at the maintenance and issues of descaling an espresso machine I decided to go with bottled water as it's cheaper and easier than my alternatives. 2-3 gallons per week is my max going through the machine, so it's easy to stock that up on a shelf under the coffee bench.

At first I thought it was a pain, but once I got used to it I rather like having bottles of water at hand where the machine is. Having up to 10 gallons of it on hand at times also serves as water for a disaster, and since I'm in an earthquake zone that's a good reserve to have.

What you use to regenerate the resin depends on the type of resin, anion or cation, and the form they are in. Cation is either the mentioned salts or sulfuric acid at 2% and 4%. There are some resins that are somewhat difficult to regenerate and could be considered single use. To run the regen properly you must know the capacity in grains of the resin bed you are attempting to regenerate and some way to actually measure bed outlet conductivity continuously during regen and rinse..