Water softner

[Charley]

Mine is 20 yrs. old and starting to act up. What would a good one to buy? And how hard are they to install myself?

[jltimm]

Go to Sears. They sell a great water softener and it's fairly simple to install.

[Charley]

jltimm-- Do they last long?

[18 inch Crappie]

Go to FF and get one with a Fleck control. They only sell 2 one is timed and one is based on useage. They are blue with a black head.

[echotrail]

I got 21 years out of my first softener and my current one is a Sears Kenmore (Circa 1997/ single resin tank) and I'm happy with it. I had it repaired last week and I hope to get another 6 to 8 years out of it. Kenmore has an online diognostics program to help you determine the cause of a problem and instructions to do some repairs yourself. If you have a by-pass valve it's easy to put the softner in. If you don't have a by-pass put one in first. The two tank systems are the best but can run over $800 installed.

[the squirrel]

I have one that is only 4 yrs old and no more soft water. It is eating the salt pellets up but have noticed a bit of a mold build up in the tank?

[Huskie]

I also need to replace a culligan softener and iron filter unit, we are in the country in rural s. mn. Hard, water full of iron. How spendy are the Kinetico units that they advertise?

[jltimm]

I've had my water softener at my current residence for 8 years, with no problem. I had a water softener at my old place for 5 years with no problems there either. What really impressed me with the Kenmore water softener was at my old place the water was REALLY rusty, and it made it clear as can be. Neither softener use much salt at all (about 1 bag every 3 months) At my home I live in now we replaced a water boss softener that was a p.o.s. and it was only 3 years old. No problems since I put in the Kenmore.

[spearchucker]

I agree with the blue ones with the Fleck valve from Fleet Farm. Any plumber can get parts for them if anything goes wrong. I have had one for a couple years now with no problems. It was about $450 if I remember correctly.

[Charley]

Echotrail-What is a by pass valve? Would I have one with my current one?

[Charley]

Squirrel-What kind do you have? If you go though alot of salt is that bad?

[MN Shutterbug]

Kinetico are way over priced. The local office wanted to hire me as a salesman a couple years ago, so I saw first hand what kind of markup they have. I was shocked.

I have had a Rainsoft for close to 30 years. It now needs a new digital head. I could get by replacing a few small parts, but it seems like every couple years, another minor part fails. This new head will run me $262, but I should then be good for another decade or so.

[Charley]

X-tackel-- My father in law has one I think he paid over a $1000.00 for one. I agee with you. Never heard of a rainsoft.

[MN Shutterbug]

Actually, I was hired to sell them, when they first opened locally. They were selling for $1100 at the time. They were a tough sell. I made sure I bought mine, before I quit. I believe I got mine for about $600. I still think they are the best softener on the market. With one of these babies, the water gets slippery soft. There is a chain of water conditioning outlets in the cities, that handles them. Last week, when I needed to call someone, I found a dealer in Perham, MN and they gave me the phone # of a dealer in Watertown, SD, which is much closer and also services my area.

[spearchucker]

Echotrail-What is a by pass valve? Would I have one with my current one?

A bypass valve allows you to turn a valve to bypass the water softener. This takes the softener off line and no soft water is supplied to the house.

[Enids Hubby]

My culligan is 12 years old and I have 12 repair invoices for it and it's broke again. I'm done with that brand. I'm going to the Home and Garden show at the MPLS convention center the first week in March. Kinetico, Commers, Surge are going to be there and probably some others . I can compare them all at one location and maybe get a show discount.

[echotrail]

The by-pass valve will be located on the water lines just before they enter and exit the water softener. It usually has a push/pull function to open and close it as opposed to a knob to turn. If your softener has problems in the future you can still have water to the house and isolate the softener for repair or replacement. Just to a web search for water by-pass valves to see what they look like.

[schmoe147]

The best one money can buy is a water boss, I have installed hundreds and have had no complaints. Another good one is northstar but they are more expensive.

[DTro]

My Water Boss has been rock solid and problem free for the past 10 years.

[Charley]

Schmoe147-Are you a plumber?

The water boss is that sold at menards.

[Charley]

Thanks for the help.