Water Softener

[Daveh]

Hi Just did some work on the toilet ball valve and I found a lot of calcium build up. Recommendations for water softener?   

[bobsallyh]

dAVEH, we have used the RV 1200 water softener for 15 years with absolutely no problems. 

[rynosback]

We have the double on the go water softener.

https://www.portablewatersoftener.com/shop/water-softeners

[rockintom]

We used a Travelsoft for 13 years. Worked great. Sold it when we came off the road. I couldn't make the "on the go" to work more than a couple of days without a regen. They gave me my money back though. 

Frakco Travelsoft  

[rynosback]

42 minutes ago, rockintom said:

We used a Travelsoft for 13 years. Worked great. Sold it when we came off the road. I couldn't make the "on the go" to work more than a couple of days without a regen. They gave me my money back though. 

Frakco Travelsoft  

Holly crap!!  How hard was that water?

[Pat & Pete]

17 hours ago, Daveh said:

Hi Just did some work on the toilet ball valve and I found a lot of calcium build up. Recommendations for water softener?   

Our toilet valve seal is original in our 2000 Monaco . Years ago I thought I had to replace the seal because it wasn't holding water . 

Finding a crust of mineral buildup on the seal , I tried a healthy amount of Lime-a-Way ( a calcium , lime and rust remover ) in the bowl . 

Left it soak for a half hour , at least . Guess what , no more water leakage . The seal was crust free and supple . 

I give it a like treatment when I see it starting to loose water . 

 

[Clay L]

I had the FloPuir Mark 8000 SEE HERE
Cost is $182 and includes shipping if bought from the site above. Regeneration is done with a box of common table salt.
It is similar to others like the "On-The-Go" water softener which is the one Camping World sells I believe.

Both are 8000 grain units which means they will last longer than those with smaller numbers without requiring regeneration. Some folks use  "Water Sticks" but the biggest one of those I have seen is only 1500 grains. The 10,000 grain units will last even longer before needing regeneration. I didn't have room for the bigger 10,000 grain model so I got the 8000 grain one.

In AZ where we spent most of the winters the water hardness is about 50 grains per gallon. That means that an 8000 grain unit will soften about 160 gallons before needing to be regenerated. Since we use about 13 gallons of water per day we have to regenerate every 12 days or so.

In our home in CO we have a water hardness of  20 GPG, there the softener will last about a month.

[rockintom]

Clay, one time we stayed for 6 weeks in the Ft. Collins, CO area.......I couldn't believe the water out of the tap was about 10 grain. We stayed there for 6 weeks and only did regen 1 time, unbelievable!!!!  Don't find that often. I think Yuma has the hardest water in the US. about 70 grain IIRC. Our Travelsoft used solar salt (highly refined rocksalt). 

[DJohns]

h2o mobile soft water- hydro tech systems 16000 grain $234.95.  8000 grain is pretty small. Double the capacity for $50.00 is the way to go.

[hasti14]

another vote for on the go

[Daveh]

Thank you everyone!

[frankgibbons]

I'm using On The Go OTG4-DBL soft portable 16,000 grain RV water softener. I just love it. Bought this for our winter stay in an RV Park in Florida. The water here is very hard so thought this would be worth a try. Well,, installed it and what a difference.

Our water hardness was 180 and is still at zero (0) after three weeks of use. There are the two of us in our motor home where we shower, do dishes and use as much water as we want to and the soap, shampoo and dish detergent lathers up like crazy!

So very happy with this purchase. The advert said it should be around 40 days before there is a need to regenerate and this one is well on to that time frame before needing to do it.

Edited February 25, 2020 by frankgibbons
Information updated.

[orca]

I have been looking at water softeners and wonder what one does to winterize the unit when you return to the frozen north?

[hemsteadc]

My On the Go ate the drain out of my shower.  No more softeners for me.

[rockintom]

Orca, I think you mean storing the WS for the winter. I couldn't find any info in the manual, so I called the manufacturer. I was instructed to leave the water in the unit and add 2 tablespoons of bleach to prevent bacteria while being stored. They assured me it would hurt the resin. Obviously don't let the WS hard freeze.

[rockintom]

7 minutes ago, hemsteadc said:

My On the Go ate the drain out of my shower.  No more softeners for me.

What??????? Better explain this one.....we used 2 WS over 13 years. No problem with plumbing.

[orca]

Can the water be drained without loosing the resin? Kinda hard to prevent a hard freeze when travelling in -20 unless you bring the unit into the heated cab of the T.V.

[hemsteadc]

40 minutes ago, rockintom said:

What??????? Better explain this one.....we used 2 WS over 13 years. No problem with plumbing.

Before softener everything was fine.  About 1 year later the metal drain was almost gone.  Hard to pin that on anything but an out of whack ph.

I have a softener at home, and I went to the potassium crystals because the salt was irritating my skin after a bath. Yes, I understand it's a small ph difference (if running properly) but enough for me to notice.

Edited December 8, 2019 by hemsteadc

[TXiceman]

The salt in the softener is used to regenerate the resin bed and release the minerals that they have captured.  You then flush the salt out and there  is NO MORE salt in the water softener.  You do not get salt on the shin or corrosion in the shower.  There is another problem here.

I have found that you have to modify the manufacturers instructions..

First, I drain about 1/2 of the water out of the softener.

Remove the top.

Next,  add the requires table salt 

Every other regeneration I also add Iron Out.

Fill almost to the top with water ans attach top.

Lay the unit over on it's side and slosh the water to mix the salt.

Let set for about an hour or more.

Attach the water hose and flush very slowly.  Set hose flow to lust barely dribble out the out let for 15 minutes.

Now put full flow on the softener and flush for 5 or a bit more minutes.  Check to see that the salt taste is gone.

Reinstall and enjoy the reduced mineral water.

 

In front of our softener, I run a whole house 5 micron sediment filter and next a 10 micron whole house carbon filter.

Depending on the water hardness, out On the Go Double will go 2 to 3 weeks and we have a washer drier and dishwasher in the rig.

Great water.  With the softener, I replace the water heater anode less often and the sinks and shower get less water spots.

Ken

 

[ms60ocb]

5 hours ago, orca said:

I have been looking at water softeners and wonder what one does to winterize the unit when you return to the frozen north?

I was told at a rally by a MFG Rep that there was only one permissible way to store the water softer in frozen conditions . The instructions I site-ing from memory as the I'm remote from the unit and the written instructions, but expect to be returning the softer to service about Jan 1.

Drain the unit ( or do you back flush first) via the outlet and store the softer on its side.

Returning the unit requires a back flush and regenerate. I don't recall anything about adding any bleach but I will add some some on regen.

Clay    Water softer owner one year and WS stored several  days in temperatures below 20 degrees

[Barbaraok]

Ah, not exactly.   When you set up the resin bed, you coat it with sodium (Na+)  or potassium (K+) ions.   When the hard water passes over,  the more positive calcium (Ca+2)  or magnesium (Mg+2) ions push the Na+ or K+ ions off the beads. When the bed is saturated with Ca+2 and Mg+2 ions, you then back flush with a overloaded Na+ solution, with water forcibly flowing in the alternate direction.  This pushes the 'harder' ions off and then down the drain.   Then the resin bed is once again covered by the Na+/K+ ions.    The soft water will be higher in Na+/K+ ions, so for those on a salt restricted diet for heart or kidney disease, they should use a reverse osmosis filter under the sink to 'polish' the water for drinking/making ice cubes, etc.

Yes, this will be part of the regular science quiz on Friday.  😎

[Barbaraok]

5 hours ago, hemsteadc said:

Before softener everything was fine.  About 1 year later the metal drain was almost gone.  Hard to pin that on anything but an out of whack ph.

I have a softener at home, and I went to the potassium crystals because the salt was irritating my skin after a bath. Yes, I understand it's a small ph difference (if running properly) but enough for me to notice.

Sounds like your water source wasn't properly buffered.  What was the source?   How did you determine there was a pH difference between the Na+ and K+ ions in the water?   It would be imperceptible to the skin, if there was any, which I doubt.  You've got something else going on with that water.

[Ray,IN]

5 hours ago, hemsteadc said:

Before softener everything was fine.  About 1 year later the metal drain was almost gone.  Hard to pin that on anything but an out of whack ph.

I have a softener at home, and I went to the potassium crystals because the salt was irritating my skin after a bath. Yes, I understand it's a small ph difference (if running properly) but enough for me to notice.

We began using  salt, DW's blood pressure rose, changed to Potassium Chloride, then it went to $24 per 40# bag, (salt is $5 a bag). That price jump was aggravating however in a few weeks  all local store stopped selling Potassium Cl. That forced us to return to salt.DW's heart Dr increased her meds.

Edited December 9, 2019 by Ray,IN

[Barbaraok]

16 minutes ago, Ray,IN said:

We began using  salt, DW's blood pressure rose, changed to Potassium Chloride, then it went to $24 per 40# bag, (salt is $5 a bag). That price jump was aggravating however in a few weeks  all local store stopped selling Potassium Cl. That forced us to return to salt.DW's heart Dr increased her meds.

I'd go with an under sink filter reverses osmosis filter  or something like a Zero Water filter.  We get reverse osmosis water for coffee and check the amount of Na in any bottled water we get because of Dave's kidneys (and high BP).  In the summer while traveling we use a Zero Water filter.   Can't do that in the winter because in AZ the water is so bad (TSD is over 500) that it blows through a filter in a week,.   But there are firms all over that have RO water kiosks (we have 3 in the park) where you can get water for 25-30¢ a gallon.  

[Ray,IN]

58 minutes ago, Barbaraok said:

I'd go with an under sink filter reverses osmosis filter  or something like a Zero Water filter.  We get reverse osmosis water for coffee and check the amount of Na in any bottled water we get because of Dave's kidneys (and high BP).  In the summer while traveling we use a Zero Water filter.   Can't do that in the winter because in AZ the water is so bad (TSD is over 500) that it blows through a filter in a week,.   But there are firms all over that have RO water kiosks (we have 3 in the park) where you can get water for 25-30¢ a gallon.  

Thanks; We can't travel much since DW's wreck, however, I've been considering these "filters" to use with the MH when hard water is encountered, but they have a low capacity. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S7KE9P2/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_10?smid=A3EIVBCQ1ZC8U1&psc=1

Thanks for the suggestion to buy RO water, we presently use an undercounter carbon filter for drinking, ice maker, cooking, and the coffee maker, but I  doubt it removes trace salt.

Edited December 9, 2019 by Ray,IN