On 12/9/2019 at 4:52 AM, 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.

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.

  On 12/9/2019 at 4:59 AM, 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 9 by hemsteadc

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

  On 12/9/2019 at 4:49 AM, 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

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.  ?

  On 12/9/2019 at 5:41 AM, 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.

  On 12/9/2019 at 5:41 AM, 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 by Ray,IN

  On 12/9/2019 at 11:21 AM, 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.  

  On 12/9/2019 at 11:44 AM, 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 by Ray,IN