water softner help in chosing and is this true

csgohan4

Magicbeard said:

Has anyone else been bombarded recently with flyers from Harvey water softeners ? We had 2 in the last month.
I asked around a few neighbors who had water softeners and all said to avoid Harvey water softeners. The company was bought out recently by another softener company called culligan. They have embarked on a big marketing campaign in the UK and pushing out referrals to a team of aggressive salesmen who will visit your home, try and sell you a water softener + a whole load of accessories and services that you don't need then bully you into signing a contract there and then. More of a concern came from a plumbing colleague who advised me that over 20% of Harvey machines fail before the warranty period expires. Apparently there is a known defect inside and they are struggling to keep up with costumer returns.  Definitely one to avoid.
Anyone else had problems with Harvey water softeners ?

They go into the recycling bin, wouldn't touch a harvey with a barge pole, over priced and really not that good

I do get my monarch serviced every so often to ensure no issues

jsinc

Very helpful thread. Narrowed it down to the Atlantis AT210, Monarch Midi and new version of Tapworks AD11.

Will be the Monarch because it's shorter so fits better in my smaller cupboard. Maybe with a 3-way tap although seems soft water is ok to drink really so undecided on that.

bazzie

Hi All,

I just had a Monarch MIDI HE professionally fitted (at great cost!) 6 days ago. I do not doubt the standard of installation as the Installer is very experienced. The Softener was filled with Salt to the top & the initial run was done.

The manual says the unit will automatically regenerate every day at 2am & also at other times when/if the unit deems it necessary. However, I have noticed that at 2am, the unit does not auto regenerate at all. I thought it might be a timing issue due to clocks going forward/backwards an hour every year so I waited to see if it would regenerate at either 1am or 3am but it still does not - I have to manually press the regenerate button.

The salt level has gone down from full to about half in just 6 days which seems quite a lot as I was under the impression a full salt container will last about 6 weeks?

The "Rapid Fit" Bypass Valve Kit has two options - on one side to pull up a push fitting to bypass the Softener & on the other to push in to engage it. I tried to check but they are both very stiff & difficult to move from position & being made of plastic, I do not want to apply too much to them in case they get damaged.

There is no information on the Monarch Manual at all on why or how to resolve matters when the unit does not auto regenerate so am wondering if anyone here can shed any light & how to get the unit to auto regenerate - would be most grateful!

Many Thanks!

andynb

Regenerate EVERY DAY?  Far too frequent.  No wonder your salt is disappearing at a rate of knots.  Is that the way the installer set it up, or have you misunderstood?

csgohan4

One reason I didn't get a Electric one, it regens when it needs to, not according to  a schedule, plus power cuts/electric board failure e.t.c

Doc_N

csgohan4 said:

One reason I didn't get a Electric one, it regens when it needs to, not according to  a schedule, plus power cuts/electric board failure e.t.c

Not sure where you get those ideas from! 

My (electric) Tapworks AD11 has been running faultlessly for 7 years now without so much as a single service.  We get a fair number of power cuts here, but they don't affect the operation of the softener at all - it has a memory, and everything's restored to normal when the power returns.  It regenerates every three or four days at whatever time you want it to (in my case 0500) but not according to any schedule - only in accordance with actual water usage, which is measured by the meter.  The information gathered by the computer on actual usage is used to predict the likely future usage for any given day, and that's also used to decide when to regenerate.

Pretty sophisticated, given the low price, and leads to lower salt usage - can't see how anything non-electric (and without, obviously, any computer program) can possibly minimise salt use effectively.  It's just not possible.

csgohan4

Doc_N said:

csgohan4 said:

One reason I didn't get a Electric one, it regens when it needs to, not according to  a schedule, plus power cuts/electric board failure e.t.c

Not sure where you get those ideas from! 

My (electric) Tapworks AD11 has been running faultlessly for 7 years now without so much as a single service.  We get a fair number of power cuts here, but they don't affect the operation of the softener at all - it has a memory, and everything's restored to normal when the power returns.  It regenerates every three or four days at whatever time you want it to (in my case 0500) but not according to any schedule - only in accordance with actual water usage, which is measured by the meter.  The information gathered by the computer on actual usage is used to predict the likely future usage for any given day, and that's also used to decide when to regenerate.

Pretty sophisticated, given the low price, and leads to lower salt usage - can't see how anything non-electric (and without, obviously, any computer program) can possibly minimise salt use effectively.  It's just not possible.

It's personal preference, as electric there is a risk it may fail no matter how small,  sadly the previous poster, this regens every day which is far more than ours 

I also have had no issues with our monarch softner non electric for more than 4 years now since installing, change our salt every 6 weeks for 2 person use

bazzie

andynb said:

Regenerate EVERY DAY?  Far too frequent.  No wonder your salt is disappearing at a rate of knots.  Is that the way the installer set it up, or have you misunderstood?

Hi,

I have attached some info from the user manual - it is the only information available about regeneration apart from the initial set up & blending with Hard Water if desired.

Based on what it says, I was/am under the impression that it will regenerate everyday at 2am or am I mistaken as there is simply no other information as to when, how & why it will regenerate & at what frequency.

If not everyday, when & how often should the unit regenerate & how will I know that it is working properly or keeping my system clean - is there a way for me to monitor/assess things?

Many Thanks!

andynb

Hi, Yes, you are misunderstanding.  The programmed time is 2:00 am, but not every day.  It also meausres the water usage, and will run at another time if you have completely used up the resin, but in general, it will wait until the middle of the night after the resin goes below a certain level, because with a single-tank unit like this, you can't draw water while it is regenerating.  Don't bother checking it is regenerating or manually initiating it - just let it get on with its job and see how long the salt lasts.  Probably five days or so between regenerations...  To see whether it is working, do a hardness test.

By the way, I have a Harvey (well two, actually) nad they have given no trouble at all over many years.

Rodders53

jsinc said:Maybe with a 3-way tap although seems soft water is ok to drink really so undecided on that.

SWMBO would say to fit a hard water drinking tap 100%;  although softened is safe for most people to drink (babies and very low salt diet excepted).

We moved into a house with softener installed in the attached garage and it does the whole house.   I can't taste any difference but SWMBO and our little granddaughter both dislike the softened stuff' taste.  A very, very difficult route to add a hard water source to the kitchen, so I fill a few plastic containers with hard for tea/coffee and drinking generally.