Reconditioned Water Softener <waves at PigletJohn hopefully>

[FishfingersAreOK]

Just been chatting to a guy who sells watersofteners.

I have two options

1. Brand new Kinetico. £1200 + £200 installation Has 5 year labour 10 years parts guarantee. You can adjust the softness level to control salt usage/softness of water. Probably last 20 years plus

2. Reconditioned Unbadged TwinTec. Same way of working as kinetico. Is going to have all the bits renewed apart from the inner plastic casing. All moving parts, outer box, resin all will be brand new. Plastic Casing 8 years old. Twintec you cannot adjust the softness level. If we ever do the loft and have a 3rd bathroom then there may be a slight lowering of flow if all 3 showers are in use at the same time (how often would that actually happen?) £700 +£200 installation. 12 months parts/labour guarantee only. If do need anything is £80 an hour but rarely go wrong - if anything would be in another 8 years when the resin on about 10% of TwinTecs may expand Would cost £200 to put right.

Am really tempted by the £500 saving of the reconditioned - or would I regret it? Anyone any experiences/advice to offer please?

I got my last one, reconditioned, from a person in Ingatestone, Essex, who advertises on ebay, and have been very pleased with it. I recommended him to someone else who lives in the area, who is also pleased. He does not seem to be advertising at the moment. They are usually in the region of £200-£300, IIRC

I would go for a metered one, that regenerates according to the amount of water that has passed through it, and it is worth paying extra for the large bore hoses and valves if you have a combi or megaflo.

The parts they are made from are pretty simple, and they mostly use a valve assembly made by Fleck, there are no other moving parts.

See if there is a water softener company in your town that services them, if so they will probably assemble or recondition softeners and offer a guarantee on them, and repair if need be. The cheap softeners from the sheds, you might have to throw away if they go wrong.

The repair prices you have been quoted look rather high to me.

Thread hijack: Piglet John - can you link to the cheap salt you linked to a while back? I can't seem to find the thread and am the proud new owner of a water softener, thus requiring salt. End hijack.

OP, I think that is expensive. We just bought this one. We did spend the extra £40 for the larger valves. Has 10 year warranty on parts. So far, so good.

I think the Kinetico and TwinTecs both tend to come in at over a grand new (certainly from what I have seen on here). I am reassured by the lovely Piglet that a reconditioned one is a safe enough bet so am going to go a-hunting down that line.!

Thank you!

10 kg salt, £10 or 25 kg for £8

you have to be fairly strong to carry 25kg around and lift it up to pour into the softener.

don't carry it in your own car as it will rust a hole in the boot (look inside the delivery van)

I now get it delivered in 10kg bags and buy 10 at a time. It will probably last about a year.