water softner help in chosing and is this true

seanvdv

Thanks MoneyMate, don't suppose you know what valve it uses?

MoneyMate

seanvdv wrote: »

Thanks MoneyMate, don't suppose you know what valve it uses?

Sorry don't know have you googled the manual or technical details ?

Doc_N

Another supporter here for the Tapworks AD11, which I still see as something of a bargain. It's not much more than a third of the price of the equivalent Ecowater machine, which is, apart from the more sophisticated programmer and the case, pretty much identical. Same manufacturer, same mechanical parts, same operation. The Ecowater has a much longer warranty but it depends how much you're prepared to pay for that peace of mind.

In practice, they rarely go wrong because there isn't much to go wrong. If they do, repairs are pretty cheap, but my old Ecowater went for many years without even a service, and I'm expecting the same from its direct descendent the AD11.

£438 is still the going rate for the AD11 online - plenty of highly reputable sellers at that price.

No idea which valve it uses, though - you'd need to contact Ecowater/Tapworks for that information.

seanvdv

Thanks DocN, I have emaild them to ask what valve they use. @MoneyMart, nothing on google that could be considered fact so as per DocN's suggestion - emailed technical.
Appears there is clearly a fav already.
Out of interest, how long did 25kg of salt last you with how many people? We are only two, with a massive bathtime increase in winter.

Doc_N

seanvdv wrote: »

Thanks DocN, I have emaild them to ask what valve they use. @MoneyMart, nothing on google that could be considered fact so as per DocN's suggestion - emailed technical.
Appears there is clearly a fav already.
Out of interest, how long did 25kg of salt last you with how many people? We are only two, with a massive bathtime increase in winter.

There are just two of us at the moment, and 9 bags has lasted 20 months - so a bag is lasting just over 2 months. A lot of it depends on how many baths and showers you take, though.

The equivalent Ecowater Sensatronic 518 that I had for the previous 17 years or so (without ever needing servicing) ended up using about a bag a month, and pretty clearly needed the resin replacing at that point. It didn't make sense to do that to an old machine - particularly when the Tapworks model was so (relatively) cheap.

seanvdv

Cheers, that's what I was hoping to hear.

ey143

Could someone pls explain why it's not a good idea to pressurise the central heating system on the soft water but instead use the bypass? Surely it's better for the heat exchanger as it stop it from scaling up (granted it's not using fresh water all the time so it's only a one time boil event to rid the limescale).

Doc_N

ey143 wrote: »

Could someone pls explain why it's not a good idea to pressurise the central heating system on the soft water but instead use the bypass? Surely it's better for the heat exchanger as it stop it from scaling up (granted it's not using fresh water all the time so it's only a one time boil event to rid the limescale).

Not my area of expertise, but as I understand it it's because softened water can be more aggressive than the untreated water it replaces, because some sodium salts remain dissolved in the water - which is also why it's best to leave a tap in the kitchen on the hard supply.

This slightly 'aggressive' water can, allegedly, corrode some boiler heat exchangers and radiators.

This document disputes all that:

http://www.ukwta.org/assets/NewFolder/Softened-water-is-not-more-corrosive-Rev2-1.pdf

Who knows what the truth is.

raygun57

Hi all,

Our old Culligan has bit the dust or rather I have turned it off as it was spending hours every night regenerating and kiling our water bills.

After much searching (and reading of this excellent thread) I have realised that repairing it is more trouble than it is worth and it is time to move on.

I am leaning very heavily towards the tapworks ad11 that DocN among others on here are big fans of. From what I have read, it won't be a bad choice.

However a plumber we had around recently mentioned that he sources and installs the Atlantis AT-210 that @chance89 mentioned earlier and his supplier now has a newer model which must be the AT-350 which makes some big claims and has a 10 year warranty.

Does anybody have any experience with this model?

Once again thanks to the contributors to this thread, it appears to be the only reasoned and informative debate on water softeners on the interweb!.

Cheers,

Raymond

pokerron

raygun57 wrote: »

it appears to be the only reasoned and informative debate on water softeners on the interweb!

You can say that again! I've wasted hours online and talking to people pushing RRP of £1k+ install on me and I almost gave up on buying one.

Like most I am torn between a couple of options, for me it's the Monarch Midi (covered in depth here) and a BWT WS 555, which has pricing varying from £450-£1k! As a result I have a few questions:

1) Anyone had any experience of BWT WS series?
2) Whats a fair price for installation? I'm thinking £150...?
3) Will all manufacturers commission the unit or is that something the resellers who sell at RRP offer?

I think that's it, I'm off to like 6-7 posts from this thread, thanks again!