Community Forums

pddgm · 12-28-2014, 07:43 AM

I am sure this has been asked before: What brand of portable water softener do you use and does it work. Here in Garner State Park in Texas the water is so hard and full of iron and other minerals that according to some the portable softeners just won't do the job. We are leaving tomorrow, but am thinking about getting one to help save the water heater and make the wife happy. I see lot's of them on line priced from 199 and up, but am just wondering if it's worth the investment. I like the fact that most use table salt to regenerate, seems easy enough.

Joe

ronjhall · 12-28-2014, 08:36 AM

We have the On The Go Softener. Works great. It will help with rust. We have a softener at home that red-out is added to the salt. We have no rust in our water after using it at home. Not sure what it would take in the portable softeners.

CampingCajun · 12-28-2014, 10:10 AM

I have a Water Stik that I used to see how well these portable units work. Does a fine job so now I think I'll get one of the On-the-Go types & rig up the Water Stik at home to wash vehicles with.

Clay L · 12-28-2014, 01:41 PM

A sediment filter can help with viable iron but clear iron requires a special type of filter that uses a green sand medium.
I have the FloPur Mark 8000.
Cost is $220 and includes shipping if bought from the site above.

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 spent most of the winters 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 our home in CO we have a water hardness of 20 GPG, there the softener will last about a month.

powerboatr · 12-28-2014, 06:38 PM

RV-PRO10000

been working great for us

CampDaven · 12-28-2014, 06:54 PM

We have the 16,000 grain Double On The Go. It takes 2 boxes of salt and needs regen every 2 to 12 weeks, depending on the local water.

In AZ is varies from 2 to 8 weeks.

It's nice to have good suds and no clogs no matter which brand or size you get!

smlranger · 12-28-2014, 07:18 PM

We got one of the On the Go 8000 units this year and used it on a 4 month cross country trip. I use the water hardness test strips to guide me when I need to regenerate.

However, I noticed a lot of mineral deposits in and around the brass quick disconnect fittings I use to connect my hose to my double filters and to the softener. Wondering if that is from the salt in the softener? Have others noted same?

FlyingDiver · 12-28-2014, 08:09 PM

We used to use the On-The-Go units, but now we use a http://www.water-mark.net system. I like the attached pre-filter, and back-flushing is much easier because both connections on the tank are male threaded, so you can hook up a normal hose to either one. It does use water softener pellets, not table salt like the OTG unit.

CampDaven · 12-28-2014, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smlranger

We got one of the On the Go 8000 units this year and used it on a 4 month cross country trip. I use the water hardness test strips to guide me when I need to regenerate.

However, I noticed a lot of mineral deposits in and around the brass quick disconnect fittings I use to connect my hose to my double filters and to the softener. Wondering if that is from the salt in the softener? Have others noted same?

When the softener is recharged, salt is used to clean and re-ionize the magic beads so they can attract more minerals. At the end of the recharge cycle, the salt has been fully purged from the softener. No salt is introduced via the softener!
When properly used, minerals will not deposit on metal fittings after the softener, but will form before the softener.

B Bob · 12-28-2014, 08:23 PM

We have an on the go softener. I got the medium sized one, 16,000 so it would go longer between regeneration. I have a sediment filter in front of the softener. Our coach has a carbon type filter after the water storage tank. That filter is anti bacterial too. Since we put this softener in service last year the water is sooooo much nicer. Shower water and dish water hardly takes any soap at all. Plus to me the water now tastes as good as bottled water.

We got our gear from the Water Filter store on line. They are a small RV oriented business and ship things to you VERY quickly and well packaged. I recommend them. They have several different water softener brands.