My GE Water softener displayed a code of ERR 1

I initially thought is was the control board, so I ordered one. After installing the board, I still had the problem - $225.00 down the drain. I then watched the gears closely, and realized that the gear on the motor was skipping teeth on the main gear. I removed the motor, the main gear, and the switch, and noticed that the teeth on the main gear were worn, and not meshing well with the motor gears. I ordered the main gear, the motor (the original one was rusted, I didn't want to take any chances), the switch (the actuator was worn) and the plastic bearing for the main gear. Replacing all of the above parts took about 15 minutes. The main thing is to install the main gear in the same orientation as the original - otherwise the timing will be off. Once everything was reassembled, I turned the water on, and kicked off the recharge cycle. The "ERR 1" code was gone, and the water softener has been running for a week. My advice is to watch the gears closely, and start there. It would have been much cheaper to replace the mechanical parts first.