Hello all:

I've not posted in a long time (a couple of years??) but find myself
with a new issue and from past experience I know this is the best place
to get the input I need.

We live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and are on a well. Our
current water softener pretty much died. It's a Kinetico and we've
been told by several folks that while Kineticos are great for city
water, they aren't the best choice for well water. We've decided on a
Fleck 5600. What we haven't decided on is do we install it or do we
have it installed? A little background...

We've been given prices for the system installed of about $1000 which
includes pulling out the old system and hauling it away. We can order
a new system and install it ourselves for about half that. Since there
is a system currently on the well, I think we'd be okay installing this
new one but since we've not done this before, perhaps there's something
I'm not aware of. My husband is a former electrician so the electric
hook up isn't an issue. The water "piping" is PVC tubing so there
isn't an issue of sweating copper pipes, etc. Any thoughts on this?

After we jump this hurdle and get this taken care of, we'll be having a
water treatment system added but WON'T be handling that ourselves. Our
well is heavy on iron and sulphur. As of yet, we don't have exact
readings on the water, we've never needed them since we bought the
house with the softner and all was fine... until it died of course.

Thanks for any input on the installation of the softner and or our
future hopes of a treatment system.

Destiny

Destiny,

It shouldn't be hard to put in a new softener yourself but since you're
going to have other water treatment work done perhaps you can get the water
treatment company to give you a quote on a new softener.
You say the Kinetico died, have you considered fixing it? Since you
already have the Kinetico you know whether it works on your well. I seem to
recall that the valve on the Kinetico is made with readily available parts
so replacing the rubber parts shouldn't be a big deal. If the resin needs to
be replaced a local business can do that for you. I bet you can fix it for a
lot less than $1000 or $500 if you do the work.

Dave M.

On 10 Mar 2005 14:25:34 -0800, "
wrote:


Thanks for any input on the installation of the softner and or our
future hopes of a treatment system.

Destiny

I recently installed a new Sears softener to replace our ailing 15
year old Sears. Took me about 20 minutes. Nothing magic. Of course
then you have to dispose of the old one. I wouldn't pay someone to do
it when you already have it plumbed. That's the hard part.

Thanks Dave. Actually, the initial repair folks quoted repairs at
almost $900 because of the parts needed, resin replacement, etc. We
were told it needed the "2nd and 3rd section" of the valve part, where
the turbines and such are housed. They also quoted us a refurbished
unit for about $650 which started our search for a new unit installed
ourselves.

Apparently, the rubber and plastic in the Kinetico is what makes it
problematic for well water since the elements in the well water (like
our excess iron and sulfur) erodes those parts. Our Kinetico is
probably over 8 years old though I'm not sure how relevant that is.

wrote in message

My husband is a former electrician so the electric
hook up isn't an issue. The water "piping" is PVC tubing so there
isn't an issue of sweating copper pipes, etc. Any thoughts on this?

Go for it. If your husband is an electrician, he is good with his hands and
if he can read a wiring diagram, he can read an installation manual. There
are no big mysteries about setting up a softener.


There was a fellow posting here from Pennsylvania, Garry Slusser, that used
to sell them and could have one drop shipped to you. He has not posted her
in a long time, but may be worth contacting him as he seemed very
knowledgeable and helped a lot of people here. .
Quality Water Associates
www.qualitywaterassociates.com

On 10 Mar 2005 16:17:36 -0800, "
wrote:

Thanks Dave. Actually, the initial repair folks quoted repairs at
almost $900 because of the parts needed, resin replacement, etc. We
were told it needed the "2nd and 3rd section" of the valve part, where
the turbines and such are housed. They also quoted us a refurbished
unit for about $650 which started our search for a new unit installed
ourselves.

Apparently, the rubber and plastic in the Kinetico is what makes it
problematic for well water since the elements in the well water (like
our excess iron and sulfur) erodes those parts. Our Kinetico is
probably over 8 years old though I'm not sure how relevant that is.

They have a 10 year warranty. Find out for sure how old it is.

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 00:28:54 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:


wrote in message

My husband is a former electrician so the electric
hook up isn't an issue. The water "piping" is PVC tubing so there
isn't an issue of sweating copper pipes, etc. Any thoughts on this?

Go for it. If your husband is an electrician, he is good with his hands and
if he can read a wiring diagram, he can read an installation manual. There
are no big mysteries about setting up a softener.


There was a fellow posting here from Pennsylvania, Garry Slusser, that used
to sell them and could have one drop shipped to you. He has not posted her
in a long time, but may be worth contacting him as he seemed very
knowledgeable and helped a lot of people here. .
Quality Water Associates
www.qualitywaterassociates.com


I bought a Clack WS-1 from Gary this past September. Rarely am I as
pleased with a product and business as I was with this purchase. Gary
is a fantastic guy, and the softener is working perfectly. Gary
includes very detailed info on installation and programming of the
units.

On 3/10/2005 5:25 PM US(ET), took fingers to keys,
and typed the following:

Hello all:

I've not posted in a long time (a couple of years??) but find myself
with a new issue and from past experience I know this is the best place
to get the input I need.

We live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and are on a well. Our
current water softener pretty much died. It's a Kinetico and we've
been told by several folks that while Kineticos are great for city
water, they aren't the best choice for well water. We've decided on a
Fleck 5600. What we haven't decided on is do we install it or do we
have it installed? A little background...

We've been given prices for the system installed of about $1000 which
includes pulling out the old system and hauling it away. We can order
a new system and install it ourselves for about half that. Since there
is a system currently on the well, I think we'd be okay installing this
new one but since we've not done this before, perhaps there's something
I'm not aware of. My husband is a former electrician so the electric
hook up isn't an issue. The water "piping" is PVC tubing so there
isn't an issue of sweating copper pipes, etc. Any thoughts on this?

After we jump this hurdle and get this taken care of, we'll be having a
water treatment system added but WON'T be handling that ourselves. Our
well is heavy on iron and sulphur. As of yet, we don't have exact
readings on the water, we've never needed them since we bought the
house with the softner and all was fine... until it died of course.

Thanks for any input on the installation of the softner and or our
future hopes of a treatment system.

Destiny

I replaced an old Culligan WS with a new Sears one a couple of years
ago. I had copper pipes so I had to do some sweating for rerouting since
the inlet and outlet ports were closer together than the Culligan ports.
I also installed a 1/4 turn ball valve on the outlet pipe, so the next
time I have to replace or service it, I won't have to drain the whole
house to remove the unit. Electricity was not a problem since both the
old softener and the new one had electric plugs and were plugged into a
nearby outlet.
It took me about an hour of work.

--
Bill

I, just this moment finished installing a Morton water softener. I've never
touched one before, and basically still know nothing about them. I did have
to sweat copper, but as a current electrician, I had no problem and your
husband won't either. There's really not much to them. The only thing I'd
question is, could the water softener installation be incorporated into the
treatment system that you're going to have installed?
"willshak" wrote in message
...
On 3/10/2005 5:25 PM US(ET), took fingers to keys,
and typed the following:

Hello all:

I've not posted in a long time (a couple of years??) but find myself
with a new issue and from past experience I know this is the best place
to get the input I need.

We live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and are on a well. Our
current water softener pretty much died. It's a Kinetico and we've
been told by several folks that while Kineticos are great for city
water, they aren't the best choice for well water. We've decided on a
Fleck 5600. What we haven't decided on is do we install it or do we
have it installed? A little background...

We've been given prices for the system installed of about $1000 which
includes pulling out the old system and hauling it away. We can order
a new system and install it ourselves for about half that. Since there
is a system currently on the well, I think we'd be okay installing this
new one but since we've not done this before, perhaps there's something
I'm not aware of. My husband is a former electrician so the electric
hook up isn't an issue. The water "piping" is PVC tubing so there
isn't an issue of sweating copper pipes, etc. Any thoughts on this?

After we jump this hurdle and get this taken care of, we'll be having a
water treatment system added but WON'T be handling that ourselves. Our
well is heavy on iron and sulphur. As of yet, we don't have exact
readings on the water, we've never needed them since we bought the
house with the softner and all was fine... until it died of course.

Thanks for any input on the installation of the softner and or our
future hopes of a treatment system.

Destiny

I replaced an old Culligan WS with a new Sears one a couple of years ago.
I had copper pipes so I had to do some sweating for rerouting since the
inlet and outlet ports were closer together than the Culligan ports. I
also installed a 1/4 turn ball valve on the outlet pipe, so the next time
I have to replace or service it, I won't have to drain the whole house to
remove the unit. Electricity was not a problem since both the old softener
and the new one had electric plugs and were plugged into a nearby outlet.
It took me about an hour of work.

--
Bill