If the softener is an all-in-one cabinet design with the resin tank in the salt (brine) area you can use hot tap water to dissolve the hardened salt.

If your softener is a seperate resin tank and a seperate salt tank you can lug (or hand truck) the salt tank outside. If you can hook up a hose from your water heater drain that's the EZ way to dissolve the solidified salt

thank you for the reply.i was trying to use just plain water from the hose and didnt seem to work. i'll try your suggestion.

I had an all in one Kenmore with the same problem. I tried the hot water method and thought I busted everything up. The sucker still did not work so I replaced it. After lugging the old unit up my walk out basement steps and down to the curb, the sucker tipped over and out came a rather large 3 inch thick block of salt, pretty much in the shape of the bottom. I doubt I ever would have been able to disolve that. Of course the owner I had bought the house from likely had not run the unit in a while as it was unplugged when we moved in. Good Luck.

Part of the problem with salt recrystallizing is that the quality of salt is poor and the softener uses HARD water to regenerate. IOW, it is cleaning itself with the very water it is designed to correct.

The not only does the brine water become dirty causing some salts to solidify, but the resins have a shorter life as they either crack and are decimated or become encrusted (calcified) and pearl-like. This causes hardness to bleed through or requires higher salt dosage or more frequent regenerations...that is, if the owner is ever aware of what is happening.

You CAN switch to a better salt but you are stuck with a design shortcoming.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II