Flow-pur Water Softners for RV's

[jimjohnson]

Camping world shows two Portable units 19 and 18 pounds @$369.99 and 299.99.

Has anybody used these or know if they are worthwhile.

We have been getting pretty bad water lately in the Southwest.

Thanks Jim

[wolfe10]

Jim,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

I assume these are the two you are considering-- that may help others to comment:

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/...onditioner/6848

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/...-softener/34619

Brett

[orickoh@hotmail.com]

Welcome Jim...

Yep, we've been using ours for >2 years now. We spend a lot of time in Arizona where the water is so hard it feel like gravel coming out of the faucet. It has worked great for us. I probably should recharge it every couple of weeks when we're down there but usually stretch that a bit. We actually use it everywhere we go now because we just like having soft water.

rick

[Guest BillAdams]

I "used" to use the Travelsoft unit but it was such a pain to try to get 6#'s of rock salt in that little fill hole that I finally stopped using it. I have to say that it did work very well when we first got it and I was pretty diligent about filling, regenerating and flushing the system but if you are going to get a water softener, find one that you can refill easily. The other water softener says it uses table salt and needs to be regenerated as often as once a week. I wouldn't choose that either. I do like the idea of a water softener and I would like to have one connected again but the standard RV softeners require a high degree of maintenance due to their small size. Friends of our are staying in Casa Grande, AZ for 6 months at a time. They have a water softener and it weighs about 300 pounds when full of salt but only has to be regenerated once or twice a year.

[handsab]

Looking to buy a softner and wondering if anyone has discovered a unit in the marketplace that is easy to fill, doesn't way 300# when full and does the job without having to regenerate every other week. Right now, I'm looking @ "soft cell" by Recreational Water systems out of Mn............has anyone any experience with this system? Good or bad........We are fulltimers and heading to Az this Fall and was considering buying a pick&hammer rather than a softner but ...............any input would be great ! Thanks

[RVerOnTheMove]

The softeners are going to be a bit bulky and a bit heavy when full of water. You can drain the water when you are ready to travel and reduce the weight but if you want a good system that you can regenerate you are going to be looking at a bit of bulk. They do work VERY well but generally you are going to need to recharge them every 2-3 weeks which takes a bit of time and I found to be a bit of a pain. However, if I was going to be spending an extended time in some of the areas with extremely hard water I would definitely buy another.

[wigginsjsr]

We have been using a TravelSoft for three years now. While recharging can be a bit of a pain, I eventually got the hang of it. Now it takes about 30 minutes, 15 of which are simply letting the water flow through to backwash and charge the unit. We use the unit everywhere. It is particularly useful if your unit is equipped with a washer.

We have put the unit in a small roller basket, and load it in the Toad when changing locations. Weight is not a problem if you drain the water before lifting.

[wla7pca7]

WE use this unit:

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/...-softener/34619

It is easy to use, easy to store, and easy to "flush". Do not drain the water from it as you will also drain the brown resin. It is not heavy and works very well. We use it all of the time.

[ClayL]

We have the FloPure Mark 8000.

Cost is $240 and includes shipping. 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 without requiring regeneration. Some folks use "Water Sticks" but the biggest one of those I have seen is only 1500 grains.

In AZ where we spend most of the winter 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 another place we stay with a water hardness of 20 GPG, the softener will last about a month.

To regenerate it I pour about three cups of water out of the outlet, take the cap off, remove the strainer, pour in the box of table salt, replace the strainer and cap, let it sit for a couple of hours then flush it for five minutes.