18 year old water softener

[Destro]

When you own a home, you are always at the edge of something expensive.

Truer words have never been spoken.

 

[Hoosier Carry]

Well, whadayaknowboutthat. I hit the recharge button, and nothing happens. It is scheduled to happen at midnight. I have replaced the plastic gear that the motor drove, then some time latter I had to replace the motor. Or maybe the other way around, it's been a few years. Circuit board is clean. Hmm.

You just had a lot of storms go through over there right? Maybe a surge took out the plug? Can you test to see if you are getting proper voltage at the board?

Just trying to weed out the small things first.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

We've got a Kenetico (on demand style) water softener that my parents had installed in the early 90s and it has never had anything done to it other than an o-ring being replaced about 5 years ago. Our water is very hard and I'm amazed and thankful that it has worked so well all these years.

I bought a Kinetico Model 60 in 1996. It has dual resin tanks and an impeller meter so it uses no electricity and recharges based on the actual gallons used. With the dual resin tanks, you can recharge any time, because it switches to the new tank and recharges the other one, with no interruption in soft water or pressure.

It quit softening a few years ago, so I bought a rebuild kit on Amazon. I also got new resin as well. After the rebuild and resin replacement, it still didn't work automatically, but I found that it manually recharges just fine. I don't know if I did something wrong with the rebuild, or if that was the reason it quit softening in the first place. I found that all I have to do is to do a manual recharge once a week or so and that works, since it's only my wife and I at home now. I've also found that it works best if I only put a couple of bags of salt in at a time. If I load it up with salt, then the salt accumulates in the stilling well where the float is and interferes. I read somewhere that they quit making the Model 60 since they were so simple and trouble free that they never needed any service.

 

[firecadet613]

Now you are scaring me with these short life predictions. I bought this house with a Kinetico softner 12 years ago. The man I bought it from said it came with the house when he bought the place. I have done nothing but add salt. My "new" water heater was installed in 2015, and did need a T&P valve replaced, but is still running. I am probably right at the edge of something expensive.

They don't make them like they used to, so chances are you're good to go for a while still.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Back in the day, all softeners and water heaters were "hard-plumbed" into the system, since they were expected to last 20+ years. I think it says something that now they're mostly connected with flexible "quick-connect" lines.

 

[Lost Californian]

In the 20 years in this house:

3 water heaters
2 ranges
4 washer/dryer combos (one fails, so replaced set)
3 refrigerators
1 main breaker panel (that was not fun!)
1 dishwasher
2 kitchen sinks (kids, I tell ya!)

And now it is looking like the 2nd water softener

I do not like being the landlord.

 

[Lost Californian]

You just had a lot of storms go through over there right? Maybe a surge took out the plug? Can you test to see if you are getting proper voltage at the board?

Just trying to weed out the small things first.

Power appears to be fine. LCD display lights up, clock is correct time, push the button and the tank light comes on. Stepped thru the programing just to make sure nothing got scrambled. I am capable of checking the input power.

 

[Hoosier Carry]

Power appears to be fine. LCD display lights up, clock is correct time, push the button and the tank light comes on. Stepped thru the programing just to make sure nothing got scrambled. I am capable of checking the input power.

The last easy step in my opinion is to unplug it for about 30 seconds and try to see if the electronics will reset. If not then at least you tried before doing parts or a new one.

Also, here is a generic explanation of the simple cleaning process of the venturi. We have very hard water and cleaning it once a year helps get the most out of the brine cleaning cycle.

Water Softener Maintenance | Morton Water Softeners

Breaking a salt bridge and cleaning the nozzle and venturi are common water softener maintenance. Find out more.

www.mortonwatersofteners.com

 

[Lost Californian]

OK, I pulled the power cord. Smoked a cigarette for a timer, then plugged it back in. Clock still had correct time, cycled thru the program, no other visible changes. Pressed the recharge button. Yikes! Oh, it is cycling now.

Dadblasted mystery electronical devices.

 

[dprimm]

At least you don't have to deal with one of these:
View attachment 351816
Allegedly it's supposed to last a lifetime, but we'll see. It should increase the life of my water heater and softener when I get to installing that.

What is that?

 

[ZurokSlayer7X9]

What is that?

An Iron Filter. I've got iron in my water. Bad. Also sulfur, arsenic, and manganese. It also has a layer of ozone that kills bacteria and stuff. That filter gets rid of all that, but they're pretty expensive and typically not worth it unless you got a lot of iron.

 

[dprimm]

An Iron Filter. I've got iron in my water. Bad. Also sulfur, arsenic, and manganese. It also has a layer of ozone that kills bacteria and stuff. That filter gets rid of all that, but they're pretty expensive and typically not worth it unless you got a lot of iron.

Thanks. We have iron but the iron out salt gets most of it. Glad we don’t need something else.

 

[HoughMade]

At least you don't have to deal with one of these:
View attachment 351816
Allegedly it's supposed to last a lifetime, but we'll see. It should increase the life of my water heater and softener when I get to installing that.

So based on this- question(s)

I've lived in my house for 10 years....and don't be too hard on me- I have a rented water softener. When we bought the place, it was already there. Meant to replace it, but 10 years later- never got around to it- just keep paying the bill.

Anyhoo, we are on a well and we have rust. We have a particulate filter that we replace every month (allegedly) and the aforementioned water softener. Between those two, running "rust remover" salt, the water is pretty good, but we can always taste and smell when it's time for more salt- rust.

After paying the water softener bill today, my wife asked if we should go head and buy one rather than continue to rent- yes is my answer.

A can always just buy a new version of what I have. It works, but what about something that will not require me to add salt? I know that there are salt-free "water conditioners" (pros don't like it when you call them softeners). Will that do as good a job on the rust as with salt? Would I need a separate rust system? What's the upkeep with a rust removal system?

Thanks.

 

[ZurokSlayer7X9]

So based on this- question(s)

I've lived in my house for 10 years....and don't be too hard on me- I have a rented water softener. When we bought the place, it was already there. Meant to replace it, but 10 years later- never got around to it- just keep paying the bill.

Anyhoo, we are on a well and we have rust. We have a particulate filter that we replace every month (allegedly) and the aforementioned water softener. Between those two, running "rust remover" salt, the water is pretty good, but we can always taste and smell when it's time for more salt- rust.

After paying the water softener bill today, my wife asked if we should go head and buy one rather than continue to rent- yes is my answer.

A can always just buy a new version of what I have. It works, but what about something that will not require me to add salt? I know that there are salt-free "water conditioners" (pros don't like it when you call them softeners). Will that do as good a job on the rust as with salt? Would I need a separate rust system? What's the upkeep with a rust removal system?

Thanks.

So keep in mind IANAWTE (I Am Not a Water Treatment Expert), so take everything I say with a grain of salt. What I was told by a friend who is a plumber/HVAC installer, any water with iron above a certain level will need an iron filter. I believe he said above 7 parts per million, however we had that talk a few months ago. Anything below that can be handled with either a iron eliminating water softener which has a zeal lite system that acts as a mini iron filter, or iron eliminating salt as you mentioned.

Iron stains fixtures and clothes, however it also damages appliances such as a water softener and water heater. The house I grew up in had moderately bad iron, and we went through three water softeners and more than one water heater. My friend that I mentioned earlier has to test for iron every time he installs a water heater in a commercial building.

Anyways, your personal water treatment solution will depend on the water condition. I had mine lab tested, however the units were not in PPM.

The unit pictured has nothing to do with softening, as it doesn't touch the calcium in the water. It is an Iron Breaker system that uses ozone and air to somehow separate the iron, sulfur, manganese, and some other heavy metals out of the water. Traditional iron filters use materials like zeal lite to filter out the iron. It is also recommended two get dual head iron filters if you can afford it, as iron filters typically have a long regeneration and/or backwash period.

The advantages:
1. Theoretically should last a lifetime without changing any medium.
2. Will protect appliances and fixtures from the elements mentioned above.
3. The one pictured uses ozone to kill bacteria before entering the softener.
4. Requires little to no maintenance.
5. Required if you got bad iron.
6. Also should fulfill the role of a sediment filter as well (more on this later, though).

The Catch:
1. They are expensive, the unit pictured costs nearly $3,000.
2. They have long regeneration and/or backwash periods. The unit pictured takes 8 hours and uses nearly 300 gallons to backwash the system (if in basement, you need a sump pump), however does it only twice a week. That's why some recommend dual heads (which have two tanks instead of one), so you can use one while the other is regenerating. The air induced ones, like the one pictured, I think may handle this differently however.
3. It is just for heavy metals, still need a softener for hard water.

I've only had this system for less than a month, and in a house I'm not living in yet. Before installation, my water had a visible orange tint to it and smelled like brimstone. No smell ever since installation, though the water comes out kind of bubbly. It does still however have some dirt particles every once in a while, so I'll need to check if I still need a sediment filter, though I was told I didn't.

I'm am renting my unit, however it's a rent to own system, so I'll own it in a little over a year. The sales representative from the company I'm renting from will be out to check on things once a month has past. I'll have to ask about that sediment issue, though.

Hopefully this all helps.

 

[ZurokSlayer7X9]

Will that do as good a job on the rust as with salt?

I can answer this with a degree of certainty, though. Dedicated iron filter is a .50 BMG vs rust removing salt being a 5.56.

 

[Hoosier Carry]

Nice write up Zurok.

Wish we could throw money at an iron curtain setup but dang they are expensive. Our water is pretty rusty. We get by with fairly good water since adding some bigger cartridge filters in before the softener.

Added a high micron mesh sediment fitler, 25 micron 4 inch filter, 5 micron 4 inch filter, and then the softener. Kind of a cheap approach but it helped out a lot. Plus it filters out a lot before the softener.

 

[Butch627]

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