I’m on a well so I have big blue filters plus water softener. I removed an old culligan and went with a model from amazon. Most are based on the 5600 sxt head. Great softener. No regrets and easy to install. Saved a ton of money and came with a test kit to help set it up correctly and phone support. Would definitely do it again.
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Hey guys, help me with water softners.
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I bought a Kinetico Model 60 some 22 years ago, and it ran trouble-free until a year or two ago, when the resin wore out. The Model 60 uses a control head with an impellor meter and a system of gears and valves, and it runs on the water flow and uses no electricity. I found a re-build kit online with new O-rings and seals for the control head, and my plan is to re-build the control head, change out the resin, and see if I can get another 20 years out of it.
Just an update.
I talked with a Culligan rep just to get an idea of what they would cost me. If I buy a system for city water it would cost me $1,900.00 + tax for the medalist system installed, no extra options included like custom hookup but 6 bags of salt.
To rent the same system would be $9.95 for the first three months and then $32.95 a month for as long as I had it. $$$$$$$$$.
Now the one I like is the G.E. GXSV40 for $447.00 at Home Depot, it is a smaller single unit softner with full features for a family of up to 5, BUT!
My close friend and plumber extrodinair has recommended a WS-SOFTNER SYSTEMS model C48G2PM two tank system for $647.00.
He has installed many of them and has had no call back problems with any of them.
So with all of the good suggestions you guys have given, I guess it's time for me to chose, it's going to be a hard choice. Tic-tock tic-tock tic-tock.
I talked with a Culligan rep just to get an idea of what they would cost me. If I buy a system for city water it would cost me $1,900.00 + tax for the medalist system installed, no extra options included like custom hookup but 6 bags of salt.
To rent the same system would be $9.95 for the first three months and then $32.95 a month for as long as I had it. $$$$$$$$$.
Now the one I like is the G.E. GXSV40 for $447.00 at Home Depot, it is a smaller single unit softner with full features for a family of up to 5, BUT!
My close friend and plumber extrodinair has recommended a WS-SOFTNER SYSTEMS model C48G2PM two tank system for $647.00.
He has installed many of them and has had no call back problems with any of them.
So with all of the good suggestions you guys have given, I guess it's time for me to chose, it's going to be a hard choice. Tic-tock tic-tock tic-tock.
I wish I could say I have 1st hand experience with this system, I don't. But I've done the same thing Butch did - researched the hell out of it and it gets great reviews when installed correctly. I have a well that will need a filter and softener, this is the way I plan to go.
https://www.aquasana.com/salt-free-water-softeners/whole-house-simplysoft
https://www.aquasana.com/salt-free-water-softeners/whole-house-simplysoft
TLDR: Put a filter housing on first and see if that helps. If not, buy a Kinetico.
Since you're on city water, this and only this is what I would try first. Just install a $50 filter/housing with a micron rated filter of your choice and try it out for 6 months. The next time you drain your water heater if there is still a ton of stuff in it, THEN look to a softener. You're going to want a filter in front of a softener anyhow.
I have installed this unit, twice, and it's completely fine for the job. I had 10 years on the oldest one of the two when I sold my house. The only trouble it gave me was a torn o-ring, once, which was probably my fault, and I serviced the filter EVERY MONTH. My well had that stinky bacteria in it that makes water smell like sulfer so I would dose the filter and water heater with a housing full of peroxide, monthly, to knock the smell out of it. So... I opened it, and used the valve on the top and all of that, about 120 times. No problems.
https://www.amazon.com/Culligan-HF-...water+filter&qid=1555020367&s=gateway&sr=8-10
If you choose to continue down the road of water softening...
I'm not aware of the lifetime warranty, but I'm a BIG Kinnetico fan. My Dad has had 3 model 60s in commercial service since 1988 at his carwash and they've never needed any unreasonable repairs. In a commercial environment, using tens of thousands of gallons of water annuallys, every few years one of them would act up and require service. In the 3 I've personally known in residential use, only one has ever had a problem, also since the late '80s. More on that in a second...
When I bought my house it had a softener of unknown brand that was leaking all over the place. At the same time a guy I worked with had a Kinetico that he was positive had bad resin and was just "worn out" and "not working right" anymore. He replaced it with a top of the line Fleck, and with installation, paid about $7,000. I told him I'd love to have his old Kinetico as it was the same model as all of the other ones in the family and we could use it for parts if nothing else. He thanked me for saving him the trouble of paying to have it hauled away. I even tried to pay him for it and he refused.
I took it straight from work down to the Kinetico dealer along with a sample of my water. They pulled the serial number and found when my co-worker had bought it new, oddly enough, also in 1988 (this was in 2010, btw), and said they'd call me with an estimate for repairs. Called back the next day and said some do-widget inside it was broken and the part would be somewhere around $20. That was all that was wrong with it. They thought I'd already had it re-bedded because the resin inside it was so clean... Then they told me that an elbow that was formed into the softener's head had been broken off (this happened when my coworker loaded it in his truck) and they could maybe tap it for a brass elbow or just replace the head for $140. I opted for replacement. All said and done, with a seal kit and all of that jazz, I was in it for right around $250-$300, ready to roll and calibrated for my water. They said if it needed rebed, it would be another $200-$250.
Had my coworker called them out to his house to fix it, even if it needed new resin, he would have paid a $99 service call and $20 for the bad part, plus another $10 or whatever for a seal kit, and $250 for resin, after 22 years of perfect service. Instead he dropped 7g's... He was visibly upset when I told him all of this and if ever the topic of water or softeners came up he would get annoyed. Many, many, many more times I offered to pay him for it and he refused...
It was still working just fine when I sold the house last summer. That's the only Kinetico I've ever seen that has had any problem of any kind in residential service and we have had 6 of them in our family for decades (including the 3 in commercial service). And if you DID happen to have problems with it, lifetime warranty be damned, they're very reasonable to have repaired.
SOOO... I'd try the $50 option first and then check C/L for old Kineticos. FWIW, I worked at Home Depot for 4 years when I was in college and about 1/3 of the softeners we sold got returned. It's fair to assume that half of those were installation issues, but half probably weren't. Not a great track record.
Good luck!
P.S. I'll also toss it out there that water heaters really aren't that expensive... If you're getting 10 or 12 years out of one, it may not even be worth the bother or cost to deal with a softener at all. The last one I put in (and I did my Kinetico this way too as if it ever did break I could drive it to them rather than pay the $99 service fee. They were like 5 miles away), I soft-plumbed with braided stainless hoses so installation and removal is about a 20 minute job in the future. Anyhow, food for thought.
Since you're on city water, this and only this is what I would try first. Just install a $50 filter/housing with a micron rated filter of your choice and try it out for 6 months. The next time you drain your water heater if there is still a ton of stuff in it, THEN look to a softener. You're going to want a filter in front of a softener anyhow.
I have installed this unit, twice, and it's completely fine for the job. I had 10 years on the oldest one of the two when I sold my house. The only trouble it gave me was a torn o-ring, once, which was probably my fault, and I serviced the filter EVERY MONTH. My well had that stinky bacteria in it that makes water smell like sulfer so I would dose the filter and water heater with a housing full of peroxide, monthly, to knock the smell out of it. So... I opened it, and used the valve on the top and all of that, about 120 times. No problems.
https://www.amazon.com/Culligan-HF-...water+filter&qid=1555020367&s=gateway&sr=8-10
If you choose to continue down the road of water softening...
I'm not aware of the lifetime warranty, but I'm a BIG Kinnetico fan. My Dad has had 3 model 60s in commercial service since 1988 at his carwash and they've never needed any unreasonable repairs. In a commercial environment, using tens of thousands of gallons of water annuallys, every few years one of them would act up and require service. In the 3 I've personally known in residential use, only one has ever had a problem, also since the late '80s. More on that in a second...
When I bought my house it had a softener of unknown brand that was leaking all over the place. At the same time a guy I worked with had a Kinetico that he was positive had bad resin and was just "worn out" and "not working right" anymore. He replaced it with a top of the line Fleck, and with installation, paid about $7,000. I told him I'd love to have his old Kinetico as it was the same model as all of the other ones in the family and we could use it for parts if nothing else. He thanked me for saving him the trouble of paying to have it hauled away. I even tried to pay him for it and he refused.
I took it straight from work down to the Kinetico dealer along with a sample of my water. They pulled the serial number and found when my co-worker had bought it new, oddly enough, also in 1988 (this was in 2010, btw), and said they'd call me with an estimate for repairs. Called back the next day and said some do-widget inside it was broken and the part would be somewhere around $20. That was all that was wrong with it. They thought I'd already had it re-bedded because the resin inside it was so clean... Then they told me that an elbow that was formed into the softener's head had been broken off (this happened when my coworker loaded it in his truck) and they could maybe tap it for a brass elbow or just replace the head for $140. I opted for replacement. All said and done, with a seal kit and all of that jazz, I was in it for right around $250-$300, ready to roll and calibrated for my water. They said if it needed rebed, it would be another $200-$250.
Had my coworker called them out to his house to fix it, even if it needed new resin, he would have paid a $99 service call and $20 for the bad part, plus another $10 or whatever for a seal kit, and $250 for resin, after 22 years of perfect service. Instead he dropped 7g's... He was visibly upset when I told him all of this and if ever the topic of water or softeners came up he would get annoyed. Many, many, many more times I offered to pay him for it and he refused...
It was still working just fine when I sold the house last summer. That's the only Kinetico I've ever seen that has had any problem of any kind in residential service and we have had 6 of them in our family for decades (including the 3 in commercial service). And if you DID happen to have problems with it, lifetime warranty be damned, they're very reasonable to have repaired.
SOOO... I'd try the $50 option first and then check C/L for old Kineticos. FWIW, I worked at Home Depot for 4 years when I was in college and about 1/3 of the softeners we sold got returned. It's fair to assume that half of those were installation issues, but half probably weren't. Not a great track record.
Good luck!
P.S. I'll also toss it out there that water heaters really aren't that expensive... If you're getting 10 or 12 years out of one, it may not even be worth the bother or cost to deal with a softener at all. The last one I put in (and I did my Kinetico this way too as if it ever did break I could drive it to them rather than pay the $99 service fee. They were like 5 miles away), I soft-plumbed with braided stainless hoses so installation and removal is about a 20 minute job in the future. Anyhow, food for thought.
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I have replaced water heaters before, and that is the devil's own job. They are always jammed into a corner where it's impossible to get them out, they never drain all the way and weigh 200 lbs. They will invariably leak at some point and ruin your floor as well.
I am a BIG fan of tankless heaters. They cost more up front, but you'll only ever have to install one.
I am a BIG fan of tankless heaters. They cost more up front, but you'll only ever have to install one.
No kidding. I helped my BIL change out his water heater a few months ago. I had to completely remove the furnace and plenum to get to the water heater. I tried to talk him into a tankless, but he didn't want to spend the money.
A new development, a friend of mine has a water softner that has not been used since he hooked up to city water and he said I could have it so I called the company to have them come out and evaluate it and see if it is still usable.
To be continued.
To be continued.
Hi again; We'll the water treatment company came out and evaluated my friends system and said it could be rebuilt but a newer, updated system was just a few dollars more so it wouldn't be worth it in the long run.
So I had my other friend who is a master plumber install a new softner from Plumbers Supply, which he says is the best for my needs. So it's now in and working, so now to see how the family likes it.
So I had my other friend who is a master plumber install a new softner from Plumbers Supply, which he says is the best for my needs. So it's now in and working, so now to see how the family likes it.
As an update, I had the water tested a few days after installation and the hard water took 14 drops to turn the red dye blue but the soft water only took 1 or 2 drops. So it has definitely made a big difference.
Thanks everyone for your assistance.
Thanks everyone for your assistance.
One last question, I think.
I have noticed that there is quite a bit of calcium? sediment in our water since installing the new water softner, is it by chance cleaning out the 53 year old pipes?
I'm considering installing a water filter if that would help stop it.
Anyone experience this in there system?
I have noticed that there is quite a bit of calcium? sediment in our water since installing the new water softner, is it by chance cleaning out the 53 year old pipes?
I'm considering installing a water filter if that would help stop it.
Anyone experience this in there system?
After consulting with the manufacture and the master plumber who installed it, they indicated that it would indeed desolve some of the old lime and calcium in the pipes and a water filter would be no help because it is in solution and would pass right through the filter, but of course it might make you feel better about it.
