Water softeners

[RiverRat1]

Just curious how the units that cost 2-3x more are better than the big box stores like Home Depot.
I just paid a little over 1k for a dual (to save space) 1 cf softener. It's a Charger I bought through a distributor.

Wondering if these last longer, work better, have more resin or??

[Bisch]

Idk, but I had a Water Boss from HD in my previous house. It lasted right at 10 yrs before a pressure problem in the utility system cracked the resin tank. Water Boss replaced the whole unit under warranty even after explaining the situation. Altogether, that unit lasted 20yrs or so. If they are still being made, and I need a water softener, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another one.

Bisch

[Big_gun]

not sure but most of the issues with the are the actual valves I picked up one from a Texas Water Softeners is a 5' tall model with a 200# salt tank... i had done some research online at terrylove plumbing

[dosrobles]

Many of the “commercial” ones are little or no different than the big box ones. One of the biggest differences is cheap softeners have plastic gears and they can strip. Softeners with a Fleck head on them are better quality wise. Truth is you can buy a lot of cheap softeners for the price of 1 good one. Single vessel softeners are fine for residential applications.

i can buy a quality 1 cubic foot softener with good controls for $850.00. But that’s my cost. When you get up into 3-5 K for a softener for a home that’s a little much

[bowhntrmatt]

The big differences are generally the quality of the valves (most good ones use fleck or clack), ensuring that the water has full-flow through the head without restriction, serviceability, and the quality of the resin

[60 Deluxe]

What is the hardness of your water either in grains of hardness or mg/L calcium carbonate? There is some water in Texas that is so hard that a small softener is pretty much a waste of money because the resin bed doesn't have the capacity to make very many gallons of soft water between recharges. A cubic foot of resin is good for about 32,000 grains of hardness less the fudge factor. Normal sizing is 80% of capacity so 25,600 grains use between recharges. Take that 25,600 and divide by the grains of hardness to obtain gallons. Our water tested at 99 grains when we installed the softener. 25,600/99= 258 gallons of soft water. We gave up on having soft water because of the hassle with the salt bags and the effect that all that salt would have on the septic tank.

Fleck builds the majority of the heads. Even the big commercial heads on 600,000 grain units have nylon and plastic in various parts of the control head. The valves will be brass and are rebuildable, but the timers are not metal and most of the actuator gears are nylon or some polymer.

[PondPopper]

Buy once, cry once. Auquatex.
Our unit is 23 years old. Just add salt.
I’ve pulled the head apart and cleaned algae from the gears a few times but that’s it.
I have family with 35 years in the plumbing business. Big box units do not last.

[mavrick]

Makes no difference if you get the right size. People are wasting a lot of money on softeners.

[Mtltx]

Does anyone ever have the company that installs them come out and maintain/clean the tank and unit? The company that installed mine tells me they have to come out once a year to clean mine. I’ve had it 3 years and haven’t had them come out yet. Just curious if I’m wasting my money if I do.

[Txhunter3000]

Does anyone ever have the company that installs them come out and maintain/clean the tank and unit? The company that installed mine tells me they have to come out once a year to clean mine. I’ve had it 3 years and haven’t had them come out yet. Just curious if I’m wasting my money if I do.

It depends on how much and what they do.

[60 Deluxe]

Does anyone ever have the company that installs them come out and maintain/clean the tank and unit? The company that installed mine tells me they have to come out once a year to clean mine. I’ve had it 3 years and haven’t had them come out yet. Just curious if I’m wasting my money if I do.

I've watched this and actually did it on a commercial size softeners. Without getting into a drawn out explanation, it amounts to an extended backwash with the head removed for an examination of the resin bed, pulling a sample of the resin for lab testing, and then a lubrication of the moving parts in the control head. I've also helped in replacement of the used up resin bed and with the setting up of new softeners that were shipped empty. Look at it as preventative maintenance. Our softeners were going through a recycle twice a day and we maybe did this service every three or four years. I doubt that a home unit cycles enough times in three years to require this type of service unless you have something in your water that is aggressive to the resin, or perhaps even sediment that builds up. Ask your service people what it is that justifies service at that time interval. Once a year sounds excessive.