Typically the water in the salt tank should be drawn out during the recharge cycle. If its staying in the brine tank, then its not removing the calcium from the resin beads. It doesn't sound like its cycling. This could either be an electronic, mechanical or timer softener. Unless you know the type, its pretty hard to determine the problem. In a mechanical softener, it measures the amount of water passing through the control and recharges when a certain number of gallons have passed through. In an electronic, it tests the water and determines when to recharge (according to a pre-determined time frame). With a timer, it simply recharges at a pre-determined time. Each mechanism has a different fix.

Good Luck

Raymond VinZant Plumbing Prof.