How do I manually regenerate a Culligan softener?

High Efficiency 1.25. Culligan's guide describes two quick methods from the HOME screen, which is the main screen that shows SOFTENING and the date and time.

• Regen Tonite (delayed). Press and hold the check mark button for at least three seconds, then release. The first line of the display shows REGEN TONITE, and the system regenerates at its scheduled time. Culligan's Manual Mode menu says tonight's cycle runs at 2:00 a.m., or at the preset regeneration time.
• Regen Now (immediate). Press and hold the check mark button for at least ten seconds. The display shows REGEN NOW, and then REGENERATING on the first line, which means the softener has started the cycle.

The guide says you can do either one at the control valve or on the wireless remote display, if you have one.

To cancel a delayed regeneration, press and hold the check mark button again. The display then shows REGEN OFF. Culligan's procedure gives three seconds for this step. A separate paragraph in the guide gives five seconds, so if the first try does not take, hold a little longer and watch the status line.

Medallist Series. The Medallist guide uses a four-button timer, and one of the buttons is the REGEN key. Culligan lists these results:

• Press REGEN once, and the regeneration happens at the preset time. The REG light comes on.
• Press REGEN for five seconds, and the regeneration starts immediately. The REG light comes on and blinks.

On that control, the REG light flashes while the control is in regeneration, according to the guide.

Yes, on the High Efficiency 1.25. The guide calls this the standard manual regeneration:

1. 1From the HOME screen, press the down arrow button to view the main menu.
2. 2Press the down arrow and then the check mark to select 2) MANUAL MODE.
3. 3The manual regeneration menu opens with REGEN NOW as the default. Use the check mark, up arrow or down arrow to move to the setting you want, then press the check mark to change it.
4. 4Press the X (cancel) button twice to return to the home screen.

The choices are:

• Regen Now. Starts a regeneration right away.
• Regen Tonite. Regenerates that night at 2:00 a.m., or at the preset regeneration time. The screen then shows two status messages, SOFTENING and REGEN TONITE.
• Regen Off. Specifies that the softener will not regenerate.
• Bypass. Puts the softener in bypass for a set time. Our page on how to bypass a Culligan softener explains that choice.

The menu is a good choice when you want to see exactly what you selected. The button method is faster.

Culligan describes the cycle in three positions: service, regeneration and brine refill. In regeneration, water first flows up through the resin to flush out sediment. Then brine drawn from the bottom of the salt tank flows down through the resin and restores its ability to remove hardness minerals. A brine refill follows, in which a measured amount of water goes to the salt tank so more salt can dissolve for the next cycle.

Your softener uses water and salt each time it does this. The EPA's WaterSense guide says a typical softener uses 20 to 70 gallons of water per regeneration cycle, although some larger systems can use up to 200 gallons.

One timing rule matters if you just added salt. Culligan's Medallist guide says to refill the salt if necessary and then wait approximately four hours for the salt to dissolve before initiating a recharge cycle.

During a manually started regeneration, the High Efficiency 1.25 information screen treats the unit as having zero percent remaining capacity, per Culligan's note on that screen.

Culligan's guide says that if certain problems are found and corrected, the softener should be manually regenerated afterward. The problems on its pre-service checklist include:

• A power cord that was not plugged in, or an outlet controlled by a wall switch that was off.
• A blown fuse or open circuit breaker.
• A bypass valve in the wrong position.
• An interruption in power, which the guide says can disrupt the regeneration schedule by causing the timer to run off schedule.

Other good times to start one yourself:

• After breaking a salt bridge. The EPA says to initiate a regeneration cycle after you successfully break up a salt bridge. It gives the same advice after clearing a salt clog in the brine well.
• After a jump in water use. Culligan's checklist includes increased usage, such as guests, family additions and new water-using appliances, which need more capacity from the softener. The guide says you can reprogram your regeneration schedule or call your Culligan dealer for advice.

If you have to start a cycle by hand every week to keep your water soft, something else is wrong. A softener that needs constant manual help may have a salt bridge, no salt, a stuck bypass or a control problem. Our pages on what to do when a water softener is not working and on why a softener's brine tank overflows cover the common causes.

Regenerating more often than you need also has a cost. The EPA says you probably do not need to schedule regeneration every day, and that "regenerating too frequently will waste both salt and water." Penn State Extension adds that timed softeners regenerate whether the resin needs it or not, while demand-control models usually regenerate after so many gallons of water have been softened.

A manual cycle also cannot help in these cases:

• The softener is in bypass. Return the blue knob to service first.
• The salt tank is empty. Without salt, there is no brine, so adding a cycle only wastes water. Check the salt before you start a cycle, as our page on how to check the salt level on a Culligan softener explains.
• An error message is showing. Read it first. See what Culligan softener error messages mean.

If the display will not respond, the REGEN button does nothing or the cycle never starts, call your Culligan dealer or a licensed plumber. Culligan's own guide says its service and maintenance should be done by a trained technician and that its manual is written for them, so do not open the control valve yourself.