A Hague Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener will function great for many years without a hitch in most cases. But even a Hague Waterboss that only has to treat slightly hard water can run into a little problem now and again. One of the more common and “fixable” errors that can happen on a Hague Waterboss is when the display says “Home Not Found”.
A Hague WaterMax/Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener will display “Home Not Found”, “Can’t Find Home” or “Going Home” when the computer does not detect that it has completed its regeneration process. This is due to a misaligned computer, seized piston, or an ineffective detector magnet.
Because the “Home Not Found” error on a Hague Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith is caused by the computer not being able to detect when a sensor magnet is in the correct position, there are several things that you check and fix yourself to correct the problem.
Why Hague Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith says Home Not Found, and how to fix it?
On a Hague Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith “Home” is the position where the water softener is “In service”.
In other words, “Home” is when the water softener is softening your water and not regenerating the water softener resin.
This is when your water is flowing through the water softener resin and the piston of the water softener is in its ready to regenerate or “Home” position like when a Baseball player starts at home plate before running around the bases and returning to home plate.
When a Hague Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener says “Home Not Found”, “Can’t Find Home” or “Going Home”, it is attempting to put the water softener into service or into the “Home” position.
If the computer does not recognize that the piston of the water softener has returned to the “Home” position, the computer will not know that the regeneration cycle is complete.
This means that the water softener will no longer regenerate its water softener resin because as far as it knows, the system has not finished the current regeneration.
There are several reasons why the simple computer of a Hague Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener may not register that it has completed the current regeneration and it will continue to display “Home Not Found“.
Is your Hague computer board secure and on straight?
The computer of your Hague Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith needs to be in the correct position in order for it to detect the “Home” indicating magnet that is on the light grey cycle wheel that turns right underneath it.
If the computer is not mounted correctly or even just slightly off-center, it may not be able to detect the “Home ” indicator magnet especially on an older Hague Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener where the magnet has weakened over time.
You must make sure that the computer board is mounted properly on the mounting clips of the water softener so that the magnet detector is in the correct position to detect when the “Home” magnet passes by it.
If the computer board is off-center or if it is only clipped in properly on one of the mounting clips, the computer will not detect the “Home” magnet and therefore the computer of the system will show the error “Home Not Found“, “Can’t Find Home” or “Going Home“.
The computer board on a Hague WaterMax/Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener can easily be removed and re-mounted by sliding it away from the water softener valve and then making sure that it makes a solid connection with the mounting tabs when you push it back into place.
Does the magnet on your cycle wheel look dirty or rusty?
Although a magnet does not have to be clean to work and the magnet on a Hague WaterMax/Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener will not normally get dirty or rusty very easily, rust or a layer of dirt build-up can make the “Home” detector magnet just weak enough for it not to register when passing the magnet detector on the computer board.
In many cases, you can clean the surface of the magnet with some fine sandpaper or nail file.
Usually, the corrosion or build-up on the detector magnet is a rather thin layer that can be easily removed to expose the magnet. By using some sandpaper, a nail file, or even just a butter knife, you can sand or scrape off the top of the magnet and make it like new again.
Once the magnet has been cleaned, make sure that the computer board is securely and correctly fastened to the water softener and see if the computer recognizes the “Home” position when the magnet reaches the computer sensor.
At some point, the magnet may no longer be able to be cleaned and will no longer be able to be sensed by the computer.
Unfortunately, the cycle wheel is very easy to replace and is not very expensive but they are normally only available through an authorized Hague WaterMax/Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener dealer.
If your Hague WaterMax/Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener is more than 10 years old, it may not be worth a repair bill of several hundred dollars and a new water softener may be a better option.
Your Hague WaterMax/Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith piston might be seized?
“Home” on a Hague WaterMax/Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener refers to the position of the systems’ piston when the water softener is in between regenerations and softening your water.
When the piston returns to the start “Home” position, the magnet on the cycle wheel is detected by the water softeners computer and tells the computer that the regeneration process is complete and the piston is back in the “Home” position.
As the piston ages, it can become harder and harder for it to move through the seals that keep the water flowing through the correct openings inside of the valve to perform the different cycles of the regeneration process.
At some point, the piston may no longer be able to move back and forth through its chamber and it can simply become stuck in the chamber which means that it will not be able to return to the “Home” position.
The piston on a Hague WaterMax/Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener is connected to a part called the drive-end cap. This piece can be replaced so that the new piston will be able to move freely and return to the “Home” position.
An extra benefit of having the drive-end cap replaced is that it comes with a new brine valve which can leak after many years of operation.
Check out this short video on changing a Hague Drive Piston
Is a seized brine valve stopping the cycle wheel from advancing?
The brine valve of a Hague WaterMax/Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener opens and closes many times over the years and hardness from your water can build-up on the valve and cause it to seize.
When a Hague WaterMax/Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith brine valve seizes, the cycle wheel which is supposed to press the valve in can jam against the seized piston valve.
If the brine valve stops the cycle wheel from moving, the magnet on the cycle wheel can’t continue to move to the “Home” position so the computer will read “Home Not Found“, “Can’t Find Home” or “Going Home“.
Often you can clean the brine valve to get it moving again, but I highly recommend replacing the brine valve because they have a tendency to leak after several years of service.
When your Hague WaterMax/Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith water softener is saying “Home Not Found“, “Can’t Find Home” or “Going Home“, it can be as simple to fix as making sure that the computer board is mounted properly to the water softener.
In other cases, there can be a little more involved to repair the problem. When your water softener is saying “Home Not Found”, “Can’t Find Home” or “Going Home”, it is saying that it can’t regenerate because it doesn’t know what position the water softener piston is in.
If you are a pretty handy person, you could repair this problem yourself, but because the parts are usually only available to an authorized Hague WaterMax/Waterboss/PuraTech/AO Smith dealer and they can be a little tricky to replace, calling your trained water softener service professional might be the best way to go.
on hague watermax , the control board is locked in displaying,”home latched”. the motor wheel is turning as is the gear it touches. Magnetic wheel does not seem to move.
Hello Richard and thank you for the question.
I would recommend removing the computer and then remounting it making sure that it is correct on the mounting tabs then unplugging the computer and plugging it back in to reset the computer.
If the error continues, the computer may not be registering that the water softener is regenerating and you may need to replace the computer but I would recommend contacting your Hague dealership for service before ordering a new computer since they will be able to contact Hague directly for more detailed assistance.
I hope this was helpful.
Paul