Sears Kenmore, NorthStar, and GE Smartwater softeners use the same clamp to tank valve for the past 15 plus years. On occasion the distributor oring that fits on the outside of the riser pipe will slip up and off the center pipe in the resin tank.
Here is the way one customer solved this problem ( problem caused by the pipe being just a little too short ).
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I pulled the central tube out completely with the bottom distributor ( # 10 and # 11 ) and cleaned it. Since I needed approximately 1/8" extension to prevent the O-ring ( # 7 ) from slipping out at the top, I cut the tube at two places, about 10" central piece, keeping at least 6" at the top piece in order to be able to slip the top distributor ( # 9 ) on top without hitting the inserted coupler. I used two 3/4" PVC couplers to glue the three pieces together. This extended the length by 1/8" (each coupler has a central shoulder of 1/16"). Waited till the joint dried and lowered the tube into the tank. While lowering, some resins oozed out of the tank, may be couple of handfuls. Carefully assembled the rest of the parts and then started the recharge. Glad to say it is working fine so far. I waited till it recharged and soft water is flowing once again before writing this E-mail.
I would say this may also be possible to extend by using only one 3/4" PVC coupler, but you will need to carefully judge the amount of "extension" you need to add to prevent the oring from slipping off the top.
This problem is most common on city water because of the higher water pressure and the chlorine causing the resins to swell, but can occur on any type water, since the primary issue is the pipe being a little bit short.
Figure "B" with the O-ring over the outside of the pipe is CORRECTLY installed.
Figure "A", with O-ring on top is WRONG.
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