MossRoad
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
- 60,216
- Location
- South Bend, Indiana (near)
- Tractor
- Power Trac PT425 2001 Model Year
About 6 months ago I replaced a 30+ year old water softener in our house. I went with a Morton unit from Menards. Its just me and the wife at home now (until the kids move back in, of course! :laughing: ), so we went with a 27,000 grain unit. It was on sale and we had Menard's 11% rebates from past purchases so it ended up being about $300.
Very easy to do with a little planning.
Turn off your water in your house and open the highest and lowest faucets in your house. Hopefully there's one lower than the top of your softener. If not, put a garden hose on the lowest faucet before you open it, run the end to a bucket or floor drain lower than the softener, then open it and drain out your pipes till the hose runs no more. May take several buckets if you don't have a floor drain, but this will relieve any pressure on your pipes and also may save you some water on the floor when you cut the pipes to the old softener.
If you have bypass/shutoffs for your old softener, close then now and bypass.
Cut the two pipes to the softener with a hack saw or tube cutter, but be sure to leave a several inch stub on the house side pipes to slip the new flex pipes on to.
Get two of these in the correct size for you pipes.
U3 68FLEX24LF - SharkBite U3 68FLEX24LF - 1/2" Sharkbite x 3/4" FIP Flexible Water Heater Connector - 24" (Lead Free)
Install the softener per instructions.
Be sure to have electric outlet nearby for controls and be sure to plan for a drain line/overflow line.
Took me about an hour.
You can do it.
Once its installed, be sure to open the main water shutoff and let the air out of your pipes through some open faucets. Then check for leaks.
We don't have a floor drain, so for an overflow, I ran the overflow tube of the new softener to the old salt tank of the old softener and put a water alarm in that to warn me if it ever overflows.
Again, its an easy project.
Very easy to do with a little planning.
Turn off your water in your house and open the highest and lowest faucets in your house. Hopefully there's one lower than the top of your softener. If not, put a garden hose on the lowest faucet before you open it, run the end to a bucket or floor drain lower than the softener, then open it and drain out your pipes till the hose runs no more. May take several buckets if you don't have a floor drain, but this will relieve any pressure on your pipes and also may save you some water on the floor when you cut the pipes to the old softener.
If you have bypass/shutoffs for your old softener, close then now and bypass.
Cut the two pipes to the softener with a hack saw or tube cutter, but be sure to leave a several inch stub on the house side pipes to slip the new flex pipes on to.
Get two of these in the correct size for you pipes.
U3 68FLEX24LF - SharkBite U3 68FLEX24LF - 1/2" Sharkbite x 3/4" FIP Flexible Water Heater Connector - 24" (Lead Free)
Install the softener per instructions.
Be sure to have electric outlet nearby for controls and be sure to plan for a drain line/overflow line.
Took me about an hour.
You can do it.
Once its installed, be sure to open the main water shutoff and let the air out of your pipes through some open faucets. Then check for leaks.
We don't have a floor drain, so for an overflow, I ran the overflow tube of the new softener to the old salt tank of the old softener and put a water alarm in that to warn me if it ever overflows.
Again, its an easy project.