New Water Softener
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stogie1020 (11-15-2018)
04-09-2019, 06:51 PM
#42
Senior Moderator
little bit of a 
but I recently purchased a Pelican system from HD:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Pelican-...RC-5/206823516
Our new house came with pre-plumbing for water softeners so I just bought a couple 1" flex pipes to install the system. It comes with a 'salt-free' softening system that doesn't use the ion exchange to remove the chemicals.
Initial thoughts: I am still tasting a bit of plastic from the tap but I'm thinking that MIGHT be from the PEX they installed throughout the house. Water spotting is still evident but this is 'normal' for these types of softening systems. The spots are reportedly 'easier to clean' than if you had a brine tank water softener. I've had it installed for about 2-3 weeks now but will give a long-term review after a while..
but I recently purchased a Pelican system from HD: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Pelican-...RC-5/206823516
Our new house came with pre-plumbing for water softeners so I just bought a couple 1" flex pipes to install the system. It comes with a 'salt-free' softening system that doesn't use the ion exchange to remove the chemicals.
Initial thoughts: I am still tasting a bit of plastic from the tap but I'm thinking that MIGHT be from the PEX they installed throughout the house. Water spotting is still evident but this is 'normal' for these types of softening systems. The spots are reportedly 'easier to clean' than if you had a brine tank water softener. I've had it installed for about 2-3 weeks now but will give a long-term review after a while..
05-10-2019, 02:01 PM
#43
Senior Moderator
A month later review.. still getting water spots, taste is still there, got a response from the company regarding the 'salt-free' system and I"ll copy the text here:
I should still be in the return period so I think i'm going to just return this more expensive system and build my own system with a brine tank, sediment and carbon filter. I should have listened to @KaMLuNg and @SamDoe1 .
According to the Home Depot receipt you have a PR-5CS which is comprised of a sediment filter, PC1000 carbon tank and the NS3 NaturSoft softener. The NaturSoft is designed to address calcium and magnesium minerals. These minerals are in water naturally which keep the waterat a healthy and balanced state but if they are left untreated they will eventually create/form hard scale inside pressurized plumbing and hot water heaters.
The NaturSoft is designed to prevent that from happening by taking those minerals and physically changes them. This process is call Template InducedCrystallization ( https://www.pelicanwater.com/learn_a...technology.php ). Once the minerals are physically changed they no longer have the ability to create/form hard scale. At this point the minerals will flow through your plumbing and out your fixtures.
If water is allowed to evaporate the minerals will be left behind and that will create spottingand evaporative deposits which is what you are seeing in your fixtures. This is totally normal with a salt free system because the salt free system is not designed to remove those beneficial minerals out of the water. It’s designed instead to protect the inside of your plumbing and hot water heater while keeping them the water to keep it at a healthy and balanced state. Hope this helps.
The NaturSoft is designed to prevent that from happening by taking those minerals and physically changes them. This process is call Template InducedCrystallization ( https://www.pelicanwater.com/learn_a...technology.php ). Once the minerals are physically changed they no longer have the ability to create/form hard scale. At this point the minerals will flow through your plumbing and out your fixtures.
If water is allowed to evaporate the minerals will be left behind and that will create spottingand evaporative deposits which is what you are seeing in your fixtures. This is totally normal with a salt free system because the salt free system is not designed to remove those beneficial minerals out of the water. It’s designed instead to protect the inside of your plumbing and hot water heater while keeping them the water to keep it at a healthy and balanced state. Hope this helps.
05-12-2019, 07:23 PM
#44
yea i just don't buy the salt free water softening technology yet... it's just basic chemistry.... sorry you had to go through this.. i hope you can return all of it and just go back to the basics... it's worked for a long time now so it's the tried and true method...
05-13-2019, 11:19 AM
#45
Senior Moderator
Luckily, if you use the Home Depot CC, you get 1 year returns. It was only 90 days since I purchased it anyway so it's still 'returnable'. I've identified a system that I will purchase and save $1000 at the same time.
https://reverseosmosis.com/products/...-metered-valve
I spoke to the customer service and provided a copy of my city's water report and he even said that a sediment filter and carbon filter are not necessary, thus saving me EVEN more money..
Lesson learned... salt-free ain't all that great.
https://reverseosmosis.com/products/...-metered-valve
I spoke to the customer service and provided a copy of my city's water report and he even said that a sediment filter and carbon filter are not necessary, thus saving me EVEN more money..
Lesson learned... salt-free ain't all that great.
05-13-2019, 01:24 PM
#46
Safety Car
Luckily, if you use the Home Depot CC, you get 1 year returns. It was only 90 days since I purchased it anyway so it's still 'returnable'. I've identified a system that I will purchase and save $1000 at the same time.
https://reverseosmosis.com/products/...-metered-valve
I spoke to the customer service and provided a copy of my city's water report and he even said that a sediment filter and carbon filter are not necessary, thus saving me EVEN more money..
Lesson learned... salt-free ain't all that great.
https://reverseosmosis.com/products/...-metered-valve
I spoke to the customer service and provided a copy of my city's water report and he even said that a sediment filter and carbon filter are not necessary, thus saving me EVEN more money..
Lesson learned... salt-free ain't all that great.
05-13-2019, 03:05 PM
#47
Senior Moderator
If you need advice on fine tuning the amount of salt used during regeneration; https://terrylove.com/forums/index.p...nd-answers.22/
Thanks for the heads up Dan. I actually went with the Fleck system due to your suggestion in post#2.
The 5600SXT has a separate brine tank. I ended up with a 48000 grain system and asked for an upgraded stainless steel bypass valve as opposed to the traditional plastic (was an extra $30). Standard warranty was 5-year valve, 10 year tank, but for another $59, you can up it to a 10/10 year warranty. OR, for $89, you can get a lifetime warranty for the system (which I opted for). I also added on a 20" filter housing +10 micron carbon filter that will be plumbed prior to the softener to reduce the chlorine taste. All in, I'll be at $900 which is half of what I paid for the shitty Pelican system from HD. I'm so stoked
05-15-2019, 09:48 PM
#48
Ex-OEM King
FWIW the GE system I put in is still running like a champ. No signs of imminent failure though I should probably go check the bin and make sure I have enough salt...
05-16-2019, 12:53 PM
#50
Senior Moderator
For the record, I did consider a GE unit but a 45000 Grain unit at HD is 700 bucks right now: https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-45-10...H45V/203219806
So it wasn't that much more expensive for a 48000 unit with a lifetime warranty
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