Transporting water softener

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Chulapol

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I plan to buy a water softener system from Lowes or Homedepot. I don't have a pickup truck and am wondering if transporting a resin tank on its side would cause any problem.

Thank you.
 

ditttohead

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Not a Home Depot unit, Home depot acts like Amazon, anyone can sell their junk through them. It is a Fake Fleck valve knock off lowest bidder unit. Do you have a water report? I doubt you will find anyone on this forum that would recommend a fake Fleck valve system on an imported tank, with an overseas brine tank, with who knows what resin inside...
 

Chulapol

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Ok, thank you for the heads-up. I just started looking and I like to do this thing myself that's why I was looking at homedepot. Another company that I'm looking at is Culligan. I think they sell and do installation. Is that decent?

I had someone come to check my water and he told me the hardness is about 16.
 

Reader90

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@Chulapol - recommend you spend some time searching this site, this thread and look at the recommendations for Fleck/Pentair or Clack based valve and buying from a reputable dealer or distributor. Search for Clack Ws1 or Fleck/Pentair 5800/5810 based systems. Agree with others, homedepot or lowes IS NOT generally the place to go. Culligan is proprietary and will cost more to buy and maintain. I have two systems (for two homes) one based on Clack WS1 valves (softener and whole home carbon filter) and other other on Fleck/Pentair 5810 valves (same softener/carbon filter), both two separate tanks/valves. Super happy with both system performance and outcomes. I also have two separate 5 stage Osmosis water filter systems at the kitchen sink.

Might also post your water situation (well vs. public). If public/municipality delivered, go get a copy of the annual water report. Consider buying a Hach 5-B test kit to test water. But if you are on well, there are other tests and requirements you need to consider.

You also need to consider daily usage (post home size, number of people using water, anticipated family size in future)

Good luck!!
 

Chulapol

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@Chulapol - recommend you spend some time searching this site, this thread and look at the recommendations for Fleck/Pentair or Clack based valve and buying from a reputable dealer or distributor. Search for Clack Ws1 or Fleck/Pentair 5800/5810 based systems.

I will definitely do more research on that. Thank you for suggesting what to look for when researching water softener.


@ChulapolCulligan is proprietary and will cost more to buy and maintain.

They were just the first go-to place in the area when I started looking for a water softener. There are 2 other companies (Ecowater and Kinetico).


It's a public water. I'm new in the area and will check with the office to see if I can find any water report. A sale person from Kinetico did a test on my water and gave me only two numbers; Hardness = 16 and Chlorine = 1.0. Our house is about 1,800 sqft and has 2.5 bath. There are only two adults at home.

Thank. you again for the information. If you have any product that you could recommend, I would love to hear that.
 
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Bannerman

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There are 2 other companies (Ecowater and Kinetico).
Proprietary brands are typically not recommended. Instead, consider generic water treatment dealers who sell and service a variety of equipment component brands including Fleck and Clack control valves.

The diameter of your home's main water line will need to be considered when choosing water treatment equipment. The equipment should not create a bottleneck as would occur if the equipment connections are smaller than the size of the main plumbing lines the equipment is to connect to.

Unless you plan to install a backwashing carbon filtration system to remove chlorine prior to the softener, recommend utilizing 10% cross-link resin in the softener as it will better tolerate constant chlorine exposure compared to standard 8% C-L resin. Many low-cost softeners are equipped with resin that has less than 8% cross-linking.
 
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HudsonDIY

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Chulapol I'm not a water softener expert by any stretch of the imagination. However I can verify a couple things.

#1. I've owned three homes with Fleck water softeners and they are essentially bulletproof. Yes you may spend a little more up front but if you have to replace the softener down the road you really aren't saving anything. My current home has an old school Fleck 5600 and I fully expect it to outlive me. Once these are set up properly the only worry is remembering to buy salt.

#2 There is a wealth of experience and knowledge here, you can trust these guys to not steer you in the wrong direction.
 

ditttohead

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Chulapol, PM me your city and I will see if I can find a local reputable reasonably priced company near you that sells non proprietary equipment.
 

Chulapol

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#1. I've owned three homes with Fleck water softeners and they are essentially bulletproof. Yes you may spend a little more up front but if you have to replace the softener down the road you really aren't saving anything. My current home has an old school Fleck 5600 and I fully expect it to outlive me. Once these are set up properly the only worry is remembering to buy salt.

#2 There is a wealth of experience and knowledge here, you can trust these guys to not steer you in the wrong direction.

When I searched "Fleck Water Softener," I get a bunch of websites that sell fleck water softener and then a website "www.flecksystems.com" The website says do not buy from other sites. What are the differences? They look the same from outside. For example:


Chulapol, PM me your city and I will see if I can find a local reputable reasonably priced company near you that sells non proprietary equipment.

I'm not sure if I PMed you correctly. I used start a conversation in your profile. Anyway, I'm in Boalsburg, PA (16827). Thank you in advance.
 

Bannerman

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What are the differences?
Water softeners are usually assembled from various off-the-shelf components including the control valve, media tank, brine tank, lower basket, resin, and bedding gravel. Fleck and Clack do not build and sell assembled softeners, only components.

Selling water treatment devices online is very competitive. Dealers will often highlight their system is equipped with a high-quality Fleck valve, but then pair that valve with low-quality components so as to be $1 cheaper than the next online dealer. As Ditttohead often says, 'it's a race to the bottom'.

As online dealers often have no hands-on experience and little technical knowledge on the products they sell, do not expect to receive appropriate programming assistance or warranty support if needed.
 

ditttohead

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Many of the online companies buy counterfeit Fleck valves and try to pass them off as Fleck...

Imagine a company buying a Ford F-150 body, then assembling the rest of the vehicle with the lowest priced of every other part all sourced from the lowest bidder from overseas... then trying to sell it as a real F-150... you could imagine what you might actually get.
 

Chulapol

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Water softeners are usually assembled from various off-the-shelf components including the control valve, media tank, brine tank, lower basket, resin, and bedding gravel. Fleck and Clack do not build and sell assembled softeners, only components.

Thank you for explanation. That makes sense.

Many of the online companies buy counterfeit Fleck valves and try to pass them off as Fleck...

Imagine a company buying a Ford F-150 body, then assembling the rest of the vehicle with the lowest priced of every other part all sourced from the lowest bidder from overseas... then trying to sell it as a real F-150... you could imagine what you might actually get.

@dittohead would you be able to recommend a few companies in my area (16827)? Thank you.
 

DIYMissus

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I will shyly say that I got my made in USA Fleck 9100 SXT from apluswater_softeners on eBay All the other components seem to be of the same quality as the old Isobar system, except for the brine tank but it seems sufficient. I don't think any of the new brine tanks are as sturdy as the old ones. Apluswater has installation videos but the quality is a subject of debate on here. It was good enough for us. Maybe I got lucky but they have over 1900 reviews with no negatives - thats is a lot of luck, Another online dealer is softenerparts.com they have excellent customer service too and seem to be respected on here. I didn't go with them since at the time their systems only came with mechanical valves.


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