Fleck 7000SXT or 9100SXT?

[Jeff-N-MI]

My wife and I just bought a new bigger house, and while the water tastes fine, it is extremely hard. Water tests from a couple local water softener companies show 17-18 grains of hardness. I received quotes from both of them (Kinetico and Culligan), and both had recommended some nice systems, but cost anywhere from $2700-$3400 installed. I REALLY like the idea of the dual tank setups.

I started looking at other options, and have heard about Fleck, Clack, others.

I seem to be very interested in buying a new Fleck water softener since I am more than capable of installing it myself.

I think I have narrowed it down to 2 different systems and wanted to get some opinions on what others might be able to shed some light on. I narrowed it down to the Fleck 7000SXT or the twin tank 9100SXT.

Does anyone have anything bad to say about either system? I've also seen TONS of people recommend the 5600SXT unit, probably due to being in service for so long. What is the best system? Even though my family may not utilize the full capabilities of the 9100SXT, I really like that setup. I figure if I can buy a high-end system online and have it shipped to me from a reputable dealer and install it myself for at least half or a third the price of a Culligan or Kinetico I'm doing real good...

We are a family of 4 with 2 young kids, so I'm trying to anticipate the extra needs as they get into their teenage years... I was planning on going with a 48k grain capacity, but may upgrade to the 64k. I know the 9100SXT may be a bit overkill, but I really like the idea how the second tank regenerates with softened water and the part of having an endless supply of softened water 24/7.

My next question is the bypass valves. I was planning to buy the softener online, and the ones I have been looking at, they include the Noryl bypass on the 7000 series, but the 9100 includes a stainless steel bypass. As good as stainless steel is, I've heard great things about the durability of the Noryl plastic bypass. The company said they can include the plastic bypass instead if I wanted. What is everyones opinion on the 2 options?

Any help or suggestions will be deeply appreciated...

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Reach4]

I narrowed it down to the Fleck 7000SXT or the twin tank 9100SXT.

The 9100SXT has not been announced to be end of lifed, so I would tend toward that route. Both the 9100 and 7000 fill the brine tank with softened water, where the 5600sxt fills with hard water. Not a big deal, but the soft water will keep the brine tank cleaner.

 

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[Mialynette2003]

While the twin tank will provide 24/7 soft water, I have never been a fan of twin tank systems for residential home. How many times in a year will you be up at 2am using water? A single tank system that is properly sized will be less costly up front and can be less costly in the long run.

 

[ditttohead]

Gotta agree with Mialynette on this one. At less than 20 GPG, a single tank system will be fine and highly efficient. The minimal gains in efficiency of the twin tank system will not be recouped in the salt saving for probably 20 years. The additional complexity of the twin alternating system, higher maintenance costs etc make them simply not worth it. For commercial applications that use a lot of water, Twin alternating or even tri-quad plex systems are the norm since a single tank can be extremely inefficient or the single tank system size simply gets to be silly in order to maintain efficiency. Also many commercial applications require 24/7 soft water. A house does not. The regeneration time can be set to any time, and the frequency of regeneration can be extended by using a larger unit.