If by saying "where my softener meets with the washer" you mean the drain line running from the control valve to the drain then is sounds like you have water running to drain with the softener in the service position.

Most likely an internal control valve problem with the piston, stack, or o-rings/seals or maybe a motor/drive gear problem correctly positioning the piston at end of regeneration.

You didn't mention the model, how long the softener has been in service, or your water conditions and if well or water system.

There's little you can do without the parts, knowledge, and the tools. For some of the Culligans there are retro fit upgrade kits available to improve their performance or correct problems.

Three words... "hey Culligan Man"

I recently "inherited" a six year old mark 89 system. It was installed as well as all new plumbing. The softener worked wonderful for about two weeks and then it just stopped so we took the brine tank out and cleaned it, we made sure it was regenerating often enough and double and triple checked the timer. Then we noticed through manual regeneration that the brine is not being used. What could be causing this???? We are trying desperately to avoid a service call. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

By "then we noticed through manual regeneration that the brine is not being used" do you mean there's water in the brine tank that never leaves? Just stays at that level all through the manual regeneration?

If the answer is yes then you might not have properly reconnected the brine line when you moved the brine tank for cleaning or you damaged the brine pickup.

Disconnect the brine line at the softener control and suck on it to see if you get salt water. If no then check the line connection at the brine pickup.float assembly. Make sure the float moves up and down and isn't stuck in the "up" position shutting off the water flow.

Post what you find and we'll go from there.

After the regen does water stay in the tank?

I have a 14mo old medalist which uses well water. The warrantee ran out 2 mo ago and the unit stopped regenerating. After about one month, as I couldn't understand the instructions, I unplugged the power for about one minute, then arbitrarily punched the three operative buttons. The timer changed times and the "reg" light came on. After about two hours the reg light started to blink and it regenerated. Now, it regens once every three days. This is a private residence with two people living in it. With the regen averaging three days, would you think this a good turnaround time to regen?

You need a new seal pack. That is the main piston and seals as one assembly. Replace the brine piston at the same time. System is running to the drain.
RJ

Gerald you need to know the water chemistry to reset hardness settings on control. How often it regenerates depends on the programming. It reset to factory settings when it was unplugged. There is one year labor but the valve parts should be covered for 3 years. Here is the link for the Medallist manual.
http://www.eculligan.com/support/manuals.asp
RJ

I also have a Culligan water softener it is about 8 years old and was installed new. If I do not turn off the bypass it will continually hiss as if it were trying to run and water will continually drain out of the drain hose at what I believe is a generous rate of flow. Any suggestions as what could be wrong with this softener?

The valve is stuck or the controller is not working properly.

We replaced the brine salt as well as the resin beads. Now won’t regen. I hear gears turning once put in manual regen but after that no noise such as water flowing.