Water Softeners ??

[jerry ACC]

Who uses one on his/her TM ? and does it seem to have a noticeable affect on the cleaning ?

 

[J Scott W]

The noticeable effect will depend upon the contrast. If you go from very hard water to cleaning with soft water, the difference is remarkable. You'll use a lot less chemicals. (Which as a supplier I hate to see.)

If you have moderate water and switch to soft water, there will still be a difference but not as striking.

Do you know the typical hardness of the water on the jobs you do?

Scott Warrington

 

[Mikey P]

Not even an option.
You'll use WAY less chems and it will save your machine's colon.



I love my Kinetico, pricey but zero maintence

 

[Charlie Lyman]

a must have for every truck. worth every penny.

 

[Mark Saiger]

As stated, less Chems & better on the system. Almost zero maintenance and really don't have to be descaling the system if your softener is maintained. Would not be without one.

 

[steve g]

yep buy it, the main reason I like it is because after 6yrs I have need had one problem with my machines internal pumping, no failed check valves or selonoids, they have never been opened up or off the truck, the piece of mind is great and worth every penny

 

[diamond brian]

I don't know about PA, but here it's a must. Or, you could sprinkle a little dish washer rinse into your fresh-water tank every morning.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

I definitely like Scott Warrington's answer.

In spite of Scott's desire to promote sales for his company by simply giving a "yes", he is much more honest than that.

Whether a softener gives a noticeable bump in effectiveness for chemical activity or scale reduction in heating systems, is wholly dependent on what kind of hardness exists in the native water.

As a general rule, anything over 3.5 grains of hardness per gallon, indicates that a softener will have a noticeable , beneficial effect. The more hardness, the greater the savings to the end user(you).

Then you have to decide which kind of softener to get. A manual softener requires repeated filling through a narrow opening, with manual disconnect for backflushing and recharging. There are also semi-automatic models that take some of the labor and time required for the recharging cycle. Fully automatic models simply require addition of salt to the brine tank and minor operations to set the recharging process in motion.

The greater the automation, the more the initial capital expense. But that initial expense may pay-off quite quickly for some users. The premier units, like the Kinetico are real labor savers for high-volume water softening.

 

[Jim Morrison]

Prochem, you can feel the difference, its got to be more efficient.

 

[TimM]

What type of water softener would be good to put in a van and not cost an arm and a leg for a start up company?

 

[J Scott W]

As Shawn discussed, a manual unit will cost less but require a bit more work for recharging and other routine maintenance. The price should easily be under $500.

A good, self-contained automatic unit can be purchased for under $700. The smaller size requires you to back flush a bit more often, but it is very convenient, just turn the dial. It also takes up less space in the van. Fine if you are not using a heavy volume of soft water.

Check with your local distributor.

Scott Warrington

 

[Rob Lyon]

Forever Clean works awesome!!

 

[TimM]

Scott, I will have my van in for service Monday at your place, do you have that stuff there?

 

[steve frasier]

I am not sure if it cleans any better. I have good water where I am but I have one to protect my internal workings of the TM

 

[tman7]

I'm curious, how effective are chemical water softeners? For instance Soapfree uses Sodium carbonate, which I'm told is a good cleaner but also acts as a water softener.

 

[steve frasier]

if you have last step chemical injection then the emulisifer doesn't go through the machine

 

[R W]

One word.....Kinetiko. Self charging, no maintainence, but Pricey.....

 

[R W]

Just found a used Kinetico unit in the paper today. Used, but they don't really wear out. $600 OBO. I think I'll check it out. Used units are hard to find.

 

[Ron Lippold]

buy that thing but if the water was hard in that area take it and have new resin put in it

 

[asupremeclean]

Where can a new Kinetico be researched and priced out?

 

[SRI Cleaning]

has anyone ever used they electric one they sell at interlink? its a wire that you wrap around your supply hose and it magnetically charges the water effectively softening it. It sounds like a bunch of crap to me but who knows.

 

[Out of Character - 0]

This week I'm beginning testing of a electronic softener. I don't know if it's the similar to what interlink has. I don't hold much hope for it but I'll post my findings. Because it alters the calcium rather than removing it you cant rely on a hardness test (my understanding). I'm testing it against my conventional softener for my house. We'll see.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

Where can a new Kinetico be researched and priced out?

Any Interlink Supply Affiliate will be able to help you.

 

[Ron Lippold]

any town anywhere has a kinetico dealer and no those magnets dont work

 

[R W]

Kinetico dealer, eh?? I think they all went to JP's boot camp, cause they all are high-pressure sales. If your local Kinetico dealer is anything like mine, he's a shyster that won't even talk any deals on used ones. They want to give you the whole water conditioning BS, and all I wanted was a take home unit for the van.....I'll install it myself. I want to upgrade mine to an all inclosed unit to prevent spillage of brine in the van. Mine is still working after 15 years of rock-and-rolling in my van, and through 2 different machines.

Blue Line might be able to help on one, since they offer it on the Vortex.

 

[alazo1]

I don't know if the gears on the Kinetico break down but there's usually a few on ebay. Seems like the best out there but you have 2 tanks so if space is limited you may want to look for something else. I'm looking at the one from magic wand only because I think it's 7" round. It's only 16,000 grain vs the 32,000 for the interlink ones.

You seem to have pretty hard water where you're at.

http://www.cityoflancasterpa.com/lancas ... 4&Q=517597
Scroll to the bottom "what is the hardness"

Albert