Testing and reconnecting Kinetico 2020C Water Softener After 3+ Years Unused -DIY??

WIAWSNB

Clearly it needs to be connected to the mains as in a normal installation, as this is what powers the device. 
Can you see the turbine in the unit which is spun by the water flow? 

Section62

WIAWSNB said:

Clearly it needs to be connected to the mains as in a normal installation, as this is what powers the device. 
Can you see the turbine in the unit which is spun by the water flow? 

If it is connected with a reasonably short length of hose to a mains tap then there ought to be enough pressure/flow to make it operate.  The minimum requirement is modest 0.83 bar and 0.18 litres per minute (up to 2.7 l/m used for the backwash phase).

There are two 2020c models though - the 'HF' (high flow) for use with mains/combi boiler setups, and the 'HE' (high efficiency) for gravity systems.  I'd guess if the model is wrong for sujsuj's setup then it would only be a significant issue if an 'HE' model was being used with a mains/combi arrangement as this might not be able to deliver enough softened water at the required flow rate.  Worth confirming the model though.

sujsuj

WIAWSNB said:

Clearly it needs to be connected to the mains as in a normal installation, as this is what powers the device. 
Can you see the turbine in the unit which is spun by the water flow? 

AFAIK turbine cannot be seen from outside the Kinetico 2020c, if that is not the case please confirm. thanks

sujsuj

Section62 said:

WIAWSNB said:

Clearly it needs to be connected to the mains as in a normal installation, as this is what powers the device. 
Can you see the turbine in the unit which is spun by the water flow? 

If it is connected with a reasonably short length of hose to a mains tap then there ought to be enough pressure/flow to make it operate.  The minimum requirement is modest 0.83 bar and 0.18 litres per minute (up to 2.7 l/m used for the backwash phase).

There are two 2020c models though - the 'HF' (high flow) for use with mains/combi boiler setups, and the 'HE' (high efficiency) for gravity systems.  I'd guess if the model is wrong for sujsuj's setup then it would only be a significant issue if an 'HE' model was being used with a mains/combi arrangement as this might not be able to deliver enough softened water at the required flow rate.  Worth confirming the model though.

As I mentioned, I moved this water softener from my previous house. That house (relatively new build) did not have a cold-water storage tank, so I believe it had either a combi boiler or an unvented hot-water system. The Kinetico softener was installed under the kitchen sink .

Current house

• Cold-water storage tank in the loft

• Hot-water tank

• System type: Vented (gravity-fed) system?

When I moved to this house, a Kinetico engineer visited to assess the installation. He checked the softener and advised that it could be installed in the loft, with only a settings change required. Based on this, I am assuming that my Kinetico 2020c is a high-flow (HF) model and that it can be used in this house as well. That time loft was not at all boarded so he refused work there!

However, I cannot find any paperwork or markings on the unit itself that clearly state whether it is an HF model. I am not sure where to look on the machine to confirm this.

Could you please advise, Where on the softener (label, serial number, valve head, etc.) I can find confirmation of the HF specification?

Thank you.

WIAWSNB

sujsuj said:

WIAWSNB said:

Clearly it needs to be connected to the mains as in a normal installation, as this is what powers the device. 
Can you see the turbine in the unit which is spun by the water flow? 

AFAIK turbine cannot be seen from outside the Kinetico 2020c, if that is not the case please confirm. thanks

I just don't know. I was going by a pic and wondering if the mech case was partially translucent.

WIAWSNB

Surely the answers are available from Kinetico? They will hopefully ID the model, or tell you where to find the spec plate.
I cannot see what significant 'flow' difference there would be between vented and unvented systems. Your CWS tank will need refilling at whatever rate it's being drained at, so there's no reason to assume that will be any less than an unvented tank or combi, afaIcs.
Ask Kinet, and confirm loft installation to a vented CWS is ok. I cannot see any reason why it would not be.
Edit: My bad - there are two models. Ask Kinet how to ID.
https://www.kinetico.co.uk/app/uploads/2025/09/SuperSoftManual.pdf

WIAWSNB

When you are attempting regeneration, do you have the outlet from the unit shut off, as it effectively would be when installed and no demand is being made on supply? 
When first priming the unit, you connect the mains, but have the outlet closed.
AfaIk.

Section62

sujsuj said:

....

However, I cannot find any paperwork or markings on the unit itself that clearly state whether it is an HF model. I am not sure where to look on the machine to confirm this.

Could you please advise, Where on the softener (label, serial number, valve head, etc.) I can find confirmation of the HF specification?

I don't know, but I would expect the label to include the model number and serial number, and one of these to indicate whether ir is HF or HE.

If not, then do as WIAWSNB suggests and ask Kinetico to confirm from the serial number.

Section62

WIAWSNB said:

I cannot see what significant 'flow' difference there would be between vented and unvented systems. Your CWS tank will need refilling at whatever rate it's being drained at, so there's no reason to assume that will be any less than an unvented tank or combi, afaIcs.
Ask Kinet, and confirm loft installation to a vented CWS is ok. I cannot see any reason why it would not be.
Edit: My bad - there are two models. Ask Kinet how to ID.

The whole idea of having cold water storage is so there is a volume of water that can be supplied to appliances (potentially) at a higher flow rate than the incoming mains - in the extreme if the mains water supply fails then the rate of flow from the CWS would be very much greater than the incoming mains flow.  Bylaws previously specified a minimum size for the tank to provide enough water for basic needs for the time a typical loss of supply might last for, and each property having its own storage also helped reduce peak demand on the mains supply.  Where the mains supply only provides a low rate of flow the storage tank acts as a 'reservior' to allow higher flow rates in the home. Hopefully enough so the storage tank never runs out.

I don't know as fact, but would assume the HE model limits the maximum rate of flow so the output water is softened to a greater degree - which is fine if the water is then going into a storage tank, but the reduced flow would be unacceptable for a combi household.  If so, it might be the case that the flow restrictor could be adjusted or removed to convert from HE to HF, but that would be a question to put to Kinetico.  If sujsuj's model is a HF then something might need to be added to make it work as HE, but probably not as important to do that as a less efficient unit would still work Ok in sujsuj's setup.

WIAWSNB said:

https://www.kinetico.co.uk/app/uploads/2025/09/SuperSoftManual.pdf

That is a different model to the 2020c

WIAWSNB said:

When you are attempting regeneration, do you have the outlet from the unit shut off, as it effectively would be when installed and no demand is being made on supply? 
When first priming the unit, you connect the mains, but have the outlet closed.
AfaIk.

The 2020c is twin tank, which means it can continue to supply soft water from one tank whilst the other one is regenerating.  Even for single tank units the outlet is never shut off... they have an internal bypass which switches the outflow to unsoftened water during the regeneration cycle.

There shouldn't be a need to turn the outlet off to get the regeneration to work properly.

Edit: and it may be that the regeneration will only complete when there is a flow through the machine to the outlet to drive the turbine, the flow to the drain might not be enough on its own.

WIAWSNB

Eek, wrong model instructions as you say.
The reason I asked about the outlet being shut off, is that is appears to be necessary for initially 'pressuring' the tank. And if SS hasn't done this, then it might interfere with its operation - just a thought.
The HE/HF versions seem to be as you say, the latter being able to handle a higher flow rate. Hard to think of how it can affect performance and operation, tho', as the two systems types - vented and unvented - can outdo eachother in individual circumstances. 
Anyhoo, ask the makers, SS!