water softner help in chosing and is this true

Morgage_Confused

Any update on the EWT.....sounds a decent fitted price if the unit is any good. I need to get a water softener as the missus is going on and on about one and the range of different units and prices is baffling.

ihshaikh

Have had a water softener (Coral 10 Water Save) installed for a year now.

All in all works very well - refilling it with salt every couple of weeks and topping it up with water.

Using about 25KG of salt every 4-5 months.

Question - has anyone plumbed their softener to automatically fill up with perhaps a ball supply valve or similar?

Planning to buy another one for my parent house in the new year - this time will go with the high flow version.

imi

allana13

moonrakerz wrote: »

Absolute baloney !

So you have tested and used ALL the different makes/types of softener - I am impressed ! AND based on:- "quality advise"(sic)

An ion exchange water softener OF WHATEVER TYPE will use the same amount of salt to soften the same volume of water of the same hardness.

Again, in a previous thread on this subject another claim was that a particular softener only used a minute amount of salt - this is sheer rubbish ! To flush through and remove a set amount of calcium hardness from the resin you need the set amount of brine, if you use a miniscule amount of salt - the water is soft to start with OR the resin is NOT fully regenerated.

The claim that "(all the mechanical parts always have soft water running through them.)" is again rubbish - the only way this could be achieved is by feeding it with soft water.

The more complex the softener, the more there is to go wrong. I have never had to carry out any maintenance on any of my softeners (except as already stated cleaning out the salt tank, now and again).


There are NO H & S Laws covering what weights people should lift, stop "quoting" things that don't exist.

I seem to spend my time regularly fending off the exaggerated claims, half truths and downright lies of water softener salesmen on this thread.
Those that have a genuine interest might find my previous post #156, on this thread, of interest. I have estimated some long term cost of ownership figures.

Chief


You seem to have a lot of knowledge n softners but i am confused.
There was a post earlier made by some one saying the modern softners sold by B&Q permuit are not good.

I have just cancelled my £1000 order on Kinetico today after reading the post here but i do not know which one to go for now

I am confused

allana13

Also i havent heard good things of the EWT softners.....but i could be wrong

Doc_N

allana13 wrote: »

Chief


You seem to have a lot of knowledge n softners but i am confused.
There was a post earlier made by some one saying the modern softners sold by B&Q permuit are not good.

I have just cancelled my £1000 order on Kinetico today after reading the post here but i do not know which one to go for now

I am confused

Might I suggest one of these? This is a decent price, and the firm has a good name, but there are other suppliers:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Water-Softener-Tapworks-AD11-softner-FREE-hi-flow-kit-/110705583569

manda1205

@Doc N

Do you know much about the insides of a water softener, the mechanical side?
We have a Monarch Midi. Its just 2 years old, but had stopped auto regenerating, we had Monarch out, and he changed the impeller and gave it a service, this was on Friday, it still hadn't regenerated yesterday(and I could feel the water wasn't soft), so I forced one yesterday. It used to regenerate every other day, so Im going to see if it does it tonight, if not Ill ring them again. Im just wondering what else the problem could be? There doesn't seem to be that much to them and if the turbine is working (it is registering the water as a bar turns on the front screen to tell you) what else could it be?
Many thanks.

Doc_N

manda1205 wrote: »

@Doc N

Do you know much about the insides of a water softener, the mechanical side?
We have a Monarch Midi. Its just 2 years old, but had stopped auto regenerating, we had Monarch out, and he changed the impeller and gave it a service, this was on Friday, it still hadn't regenerated yesterday(and I could feel the water wasn't soft), so I forced one yesterday. It used to regenerate every other day, so Im going to see if it does it tonight, if not Ill ring them again. Im just wondering what else the problem could be? There doesn't seem to be that much to them and if the turbine is working (it is registering the water as a bar turns on the front screen to tell you) what else could it be?
Many thanks.

I'm afraid not - I'm just a long-term user of softeners. There are people who post in this thread who might be able to help you, though.

As you say, there really isn't much to a water softener (which makes the high prices some companies charge pretty ludicrous). If it isn't the turbine, which it seems not to be, and the valve is working, which it seems to be, that only seems to leave the electronic control part - presumably a chip or a PCB. Have to say, though, that this is just guesswork.

manda1205

Doc_N wrote: »

I'm afraid not - I'm just a long-term user of softeners. There are people who post in this thread who might be able to help you, though.

As you say, there really isn't much to a water softener (which makes the high prices some companies charge pretty ludicrous). If it isn't the turbine, which it seems not to be, and the valve is working, which it seems to be, that only seems to leave the electronic control part - presumably a chip or a PCB. Have to say, though, that this is just guesswork.

Im glad Im not as daft as some may think as that is exactly what I thought as I can't see what else it could be as it will regenerate when manually started. Will wait and see if anyone else has any ideas, but thank you.

yimpster

I ended up ordering a Coral 15 water saver from fountain softeners. really happy with the advice pre and post sales. Price was pretty good too when compared to other sites.


removed my old Waterside and put the Coral in all by myself - i'm no DIY expert and found it relatively easy.

doberryfirkin

This is a really good thread and lots of useful comment. I am now looking for a water softener. I asked a plumber and he suggested I needed to ensure I got a 'block salt' water softener. Is that a different approach to conventional softeners?