Kinetico Water Softener

 
grumpy
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Post by grumpy » Sat. Aug. 10, 2013 3:27 pm

Anyone have anything good or bad to say about them? I need a new softener.


 
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Post by creek44 » Sat. Aug. 10, 2013 4:09 pm

I can tell you who I have high praises for:
http://ohiopurewater.com/shop/customer/pages.php?pageid=6
Last year I thought I needed a new softener system. I had purchased a quality twin tank system and installed it myself several years ago. Where I purchased it from was no longer in business. When I called Ohio Pure Water to ask them about a new system, Mr. Moore asked a lot of questions about my water and the system that I had. He walked me through making adjustments to my softener over the phone as well as recommending a product to clean the resin. He spent at least 40 minutes on the phone with me knowing that I did not buy the softener from him. My softener now works as it did when new 8 years ago. He explained why my softener had to be set up a certain way, walked me through it, and provided the product to keep it working properly. I wanted to pay him for his generous time but he would not accept it. He just asked that I recommend him to others. Since then my parents needed a new softener which they purchased through Ohio Pure Water on my recommendation and they are pleased with their purchase.

 
grumpy
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Post by grumpy » Sat. Aug. 10, 2013 4:17 pm

This Fleck

http://ohiopurewater.com/shop/customer/home.php?cat=182#

Is a Culligan, it's what I have now, exactly.. I was told that Culligan no longer supports this (my) unit, maybe thats not true. I'll have to look into it.

thanks.

 
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Post by samhill » Sat. Aug. 10, 2013 6:38 pm

Grumpy, I have one that came with the house, don't know much about them except I haven't had a bit of trouble & it doesn't seem to use much salt. I change my filters on the system 3 or 4 times a year (better check they might be due) other than that it's just something that has given no problems & there isn't really anything else to do that I know of, the previous owner said he never had a problem.

 
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Post by grumpy » Sat. Aug. 10, 2013 8:01 pm

Thanks Sam, I like the product and have heard good things about them but I don't know what they cost, looking to see if I can repair the one I have now.. Just what I need another project.. :( :(

 
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Post by creek44 » Sat. Aug. 10, 2013 10:52 pm

That same Fleck is what I have. They are very good units.
Call the good folks at Ohio Pure Water before giving up on what you have............unless you have money to burn. I would much rather buy coal to burn than buy a new softener that I did not need. You have nothing to loose by calling them. It could be a simple fix that they can talk you through. Soft water is something I would not be without.

 
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Post by grumpy » Sun. Aug. 11, 2013 4:18 pm

I have that as well except it says culligan on it, so who builds for who. I think I can fix what I have, it works just the water meter stopped spinning, full of rust and crud I'm sure, it is 23 years old. If they are selling that unit still I should get the parts if I need them, maybe just a cleaning is all it needs.

Soon I will be moving it to the new basement, I'll have room to work on it and will tear it apart at that time, until then I will just manually regenerate it.

thanks


 
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Post by Mark (PA) » Sun. Aug. 11, 2013 6:02 pm

Grumpy

Have a Kinetico Signature Series that is approx 15 years old now.

never a problem. I do not have filters on the system but have single whole house filter prior to going into the softener, and honestly all I do is add salt every few months or so. does not use salt heavily at all. but that is of course based on water usage to some extent.

Has an automatic backwash system that again runs based on usage on a set gallon amount (not sure what that gallon amt is even really)

Seems like a great reliable product to me. Good luck.

 
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Post by 2001Sierra » Sun. Aug. 11, 2013 9:37 pm

I installed my Kinetico system over 25 years ago. Still works well, local franchises have come and gone. Needed help with replacement float on salt tank took a fare amount of "Eddy Haskell" talking to get support to talk to me. Finally got my answer because my "new" franchise guy really had no clue with my vintage set setup.

 
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Post by MarkV » Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 9:23 pm

We just had a Kinetico system installed today. We built our house 29 years ago, and have had moderately hard water since day one. Recently we've been having issues with sulfur bacteria causing the hot water to smell. Had the water tested a couple places, and bacteria levels plus increased hardness convinced us to put in a treatment system. Kinetico is sold by Martin Water Conditioning in our area--very good company to work with from everything we've seen so far. Our well company also gave us a proposal on a system, but it was a conventional single tank with the computer/timer setup.

After seeing the Kinetico system, and pretty heavily grilling the rep who came to our house, I preferred the non-electrical operation and no computer card to eventually replace. Also, the dual-tank system just seems to be better engineering. You never run out of conditioned water, and each tank recharges only when it needs to, not on timed basis.

Our system included a sediment filter (that's a standard, I guess), a charcoal filter, and a UV light for the bacteria.

Now I just have to figure out where's the cheapest place to buy salt.

Anyone have any input on using potassium chloride instead of the usual sodium chloride in their softener? I just recently saw some internet posts about benefits of potassium chloride.

 
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Post by samhill » Sat. Nov. 23, 2013 8:31 am

I normally don't use that much salt, on average I found that Sam's Club is normally the cheapest @ $3.99 a bag, I doubt if I use more than 10 to 12 a year but there again there are only two of us for the most part.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Nov. 23, 2013 8:43 am

samhill wrote:I found that Sam's Club is normally the cheapest @ $3.99 a bag
Same here. I might be able to do better if I buy an entire pallet from the supply house, but that would last me quite a while. I use about 1/3 the salt since I replaced my softener with a metered unit instead of a timer one.

Mark, your appliances will appreciate the improved water quality.

 
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Post by MarkV » Sat. Nov. 23, 2013 2:21 pm

Yeah, Rob, we're already noticing differences. Like more lather with less hand soap. Also I used a washcloth this morning, rinsed it, and hung it on the shower curtain bar to dry. Normally when dry it would be stiff as board. Today, it was limp and soft, like a nice new washcloth. Can't wait for the first load of bath towels to be washed. I might have to throw my favorite bathrobe in too!!! :D

And it'll sure be nice not to have my plumber out every other year to suck the calcium chips out of the bottom of the water heater.

Thanks for the tips on salt too, guys. I'll check out Sam's.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Nov. 23, 2013 2:27 pm

After a month or so I would drain/flush that water heater.

 
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Post by MarkV » Sat. Nov. 23, 2013 4:48 pm

Rob R. wrote:After a month or so I would drain/flush that water heater.
Thanks, Rob. I'm hoping we'll be ok there.

While we were diagnosing the odor problem with the hot water about a month or so ago, my plumber drained the water heater, and cleaned out all the scale at the bottom. Then we cleaned the heater with hydrogen peroxide--poured a quart of peroxide in the anode rod socket, filled the tank, let it sit four hours, then drained and refilled.

About ten days later, after we found out about the bacteria levels, we shocked our well and made sure both hot and cold lines in the house had chlorinated water all the way through, then left it sit for 12 hours.

Finally, after installing the treatment system yesterday, the installer did another chlorine shock of both hot and cold lines, and the water heater.

The water heater should be the cleanest part of the system now. :) Do you think that's enough? I'd be glad to hear any additional thoughts.


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