[Shop-talk] o/t Water softener

[Benjamin Zwissler]

I purchased one of these:

Fleck 5600SXT 48,000 grain water softener digitial sxt metered whole
house system

from Abundant Flow Water Systems on Amazon.  I was frustrated with
having to repeatedly repair the "consumer" equipment sold by Sears,
Lowe's, etc., and didn't want to pay "professional" prices.  This has
the Fleck control head (same as used on most professional units,
including Culligan).  The rest of the system is just tanks, plumbing
and resin so there's little risk there.  I sized it for our four
bed/three bath house on reasonably hard Indiana municipal well water,
but with just my wife and I at home most of the time now its way
oversized.  I paid about $6-700 including shipping and I used Amazon
largely because the price was good and I hoped they would help if
things went "bad."

I bought it about 2 1/2 years ago and have had absolutely no problem
so far.  I'd go this way again.  I feel I got a professional unit for
a "big box" price and it took me about an afternoon to install.  Fleck
parts are widely available and if the tank failed before the control
head I'd likely just replace the tank if it was less than 10 yrs old.

Ben....

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:31 AM, Peter J. Thomas <pj_thomas at comcast.net> wrote:
> On 3/15/2015 9:13 PM, Ian McFetridge wrote:
>>
>> The existing 30,000gr softener is from 1994 and the valve is broken beyond
>> repair and has to be replaced. (1994 vintage, so not unexpected)  At 20
>> years old, I'd like to replace the cylinder, valve, and brine tank.  I got
>> quotes from two local companies, one that installed the system for the
>> previous owner.
>>
> I had one installed in 1994.  I have a lot of iron and manganese. It did not
> last me 20 years. The problem with the major brands is they are proprietary
> and require you to go to the "authorized" dealer for parts and service at
> steep prices.  I opted for a non proprietary system and installed it myself
> for about 1/3 the cost. Works great, zero problems.
>
> I don't remember the company or the brand of the unit but you might consider
> searching the web.
>
> Peter T.
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