Harvey Water Softener, experience?
Discussion
Just had a Harvey's Water Softener man bore us for an hour and a half!
Ultimately quite impressed but also shocked at the price for what is ultimately a plastic bin with some plastic bits and bobs
Are they worth it?
He assures me the 55 litre/min flow rate won't have any negative effects (we have a 300 ltr unvented cylinder so don't want to compromise pressure).
Thanks
Ultimately quite impressed but also shocked at the price for what is ultimately a plastic bin with some plastic bits and bobs
Are they worth it?
He assures me the 55 litre/min flow rate won't have any negative effects (we have a 300 ltr unvented cylinder so don't want to compromise pressure).
Thanks
Ouch.
I appreciate things have moved on in the last 7 years but my under sink cupboard metered unit cost £400 and my plumber charged £100 to fit it. It did leak a year later but that may have been down to me moving it and otherwise been faultless. Living in North London it was essential to prolong the life of my new kitchen & bathrooms.
Not where I got it from but this looks like the unit I have:
https://www.eastmidlandswater.com/water-softener-1...
I appreciate things have moved on in the last 7 years but my under sink cupboard metered unit cost £400 and my plumber charged £100 to fit it. It did leak a year later but that may have been down to me moving it and otherwise been faultless. Living in North London it was essential to prolong the life of my new kitchen & bathrooms.
Not where I got it from but this looks like the unit I have:
https://www.eastmidlandswater.com/water-softener-1...
Rosscow said:
Supply only £1350 inc VAT
Sounds like they are ripping the arse out of you. I had one installed with a bypass loop for the outside tap so I can have it on for cleaning the car & a second bypass to a small tap on the kitchen sink as softened water tastes yuk! £1150 all in with some salt blocks.shep1001 said:
Sounds like they are ripping the arse out of you. I had one installed with a bypass loop for the outside tap so I can have it on for cleaning the car & a second bypass to a small tap on the kitchen sink as softened water tastes yuk! £1150 all in with some salt blocks.
Is that £1150 a Harvey machine from Harveys themselves?Everybody has a different option on soft water, we find more people have it for drinking, than there are also people who don't.
Everyone is different, outside taps thats a whole different story, many houses have to have soft outside taps as to the location of the incoming main being on the wrong side of the house.
hornmeister said:
I thought there was a regulation that you need 1 un-softened tap for drinking water but couldnt find it.
Softened water isn't recommended for people with certain heart & conditions as it can lead to a raised sodium level. Not recommended for babies also.
No, its not a regulation though it is recommended.Softened water isn't recommended for people with certain heart & conditions as it can lead to a raised sodium level. Not recommended for babies also.
All correct in what you say.
Everyone has different opinions on soft water and water softeners, been there done that.
Here is an article, not everyone will agree but thats life.
https://www.harveywatersofteners.co.uk/blog/health...
I recently purchased a Harveys Crown softener on Amazon, to replace my ageing Waterside, which was OK but needed new resin and we were tired of lugging bags of salt tablets around. I had not appreciated (because nowhere did it say) that you can’t adjust the Crown for local hardness without changing the gears. I subsequently found out that I had been sold a model 500 whereas for London water, 270 ppm, I only need a model 1000. I approached the company who supplied it on Amazon (I note that I am not allowed to name and shame!) who said that they only supply the 500 on-line to ‘protect their seller reputation’ as that model can be used anywhere. As they have sold me a unit that consumes twice as much salt as it needs to, their seller reputation has certainly not been protected in my book! However, they said would send an engineer to change my gear for £95 plus parts (about £10). I contacted Harveys who gave me the same offer. Neither would sell me just the gears. I am an experienced engineer and I would expect to be able to change the gears myself if someone will sell them to me. Although £100 won’t break the bank I am not inclined to pay it out for an already expensive softener that I have been mis-sold. Can anyone offer advice on whether changing gears oneself is do-able and if so, where can I obtain them?
aurorawatcher said:
I recently purchased a Harveys Crown softener on Amazon, to replace my ageing Waterside, which was OK but needed new resin and we were tired of lugging bags of salt tablets around. I had not appreciated (because nowhere did it say) that you can’t adjust the Crown for local hardness without changing the gears. I subsequently found out that I had been sold a model 500 whereas for London water, 270 ppm, I only need a model 1000. I approached the company who supplied it on Amazon (I note that I am not allowed to name and shame!) who said that they only supply the 500 on-line to ‘protect their seller reputation’ as that model can be used anywhere. As they have sold me a unit that consumes twice as much salt as it needs to, their seller reputation has certainly not been protected in my book! However, they said would send an engineer to change my gear for £95 plus parts (about £10). I contacted Harveys who gave me the same offer. Neither would sell me just the gears. I am an experienced engineer and I would expect to be able to change the gears myself if someone will sell them to me. Although £100 won’t break the bank I am not inclined to pay it out for an already expensive softener that I have been mis-sold. Can anyone offer advice on whether changing gears oneself is do-able and if so, where can I obtain them?
Bring it to me in Sussex and I will happily swap the gearing for you.johnoz said:
aurorawatcher said:
I recently purchased a Harveys Crown softener on Amazon, to replace my ageing Waterside, which was OK but needed new resin and we were tired of lugging bags of salt tablets around. I had not appreciated (because nowhere did it say) that you can’t adjust the Crown for local hardness without changing the gears. I subsequently found out that I had been sold a model 500 whereas for London water, 270 ppm, I only need a model 1000. I approached the company who supplied it on Amazon (I note that I am not allowed to name and shame!) who said that they only supply the 500 on-line to ‘protect their seller reputation’ as that model can be used anywhere. As they have sold me a unit that consumes twice as much salt as it needs to, their seller reputation has certainly not been protected in my book! However, they said would send an engineer to change my gear for £95 plus parts (about £10). I contacted Harveys who gave me the same offer. Neither would sell me just the gears. I am an experienced engineer and I would expect to be able to change the gears myself if someone will sell them to me. Although £100 won’t break the bank I am not inclined to pay it out for an already expensive softener that I have been mis-sold. Can anyone offer advice on whether changing gears oneself is do-able and if so, where can I obtain them?
Bring it to me in Sussex and I will happily swap the gearing for you.Thanks Johnoz. Unfortunately I can't drive for a while as I have just had a shoulder operation. In any case I would prefer to swap the gear myself if it is just a straightforward 'engineering' job to save all the upheaval. Is this viable or is some specialist tooling or knowledge required - and if it is do-able where can I get hold of the gears? Harveys won't sell them to me! Thanks.
superlightr said:
does a softener help get rid of the water marks on a car after washing if you don't dry it?
Yes, it reduces them. You can get water softeners that fit onto hosepipe for car washing if you don't want to plumb the whole house as well.That said, I have (naturally) soft water and you still get some marks, so you will likely still need to run a towel over the car.
aurorawatcher said:
I recently purchased a Harveys Crown softener on Amazon, to replace my ageing Waterside, which was OK but needed new resin and we were tired of lugging bags of salt tablets around. I had not appreciated (because nowhere did it say) that you can’t adjust the Crown for local hardness without changing the gears. I subsequently found out that I had been sold a model 500 whereas for London water, 270 ppm, I only need a model 1000. I approached the company who supplied it on Amazon (I note that I am not allowed to name and shame!) who said that they only supply the 500 on-line to ‘protect their seller reputation’ as that model can be used anywhere. As they have sold me a unit that consumes twice as much salt as it needs to, their seller reputation has certainly not been protected in my book! However, they said would send an engineer to change my gear for £95 plus parts (about £10). I contacted Harveys who gave me the same offer. Neither would sell me just the gears. I am an experienced engineer and I would expect to be able to change the gears myself if someone will sell them to me. Although £100 won’t break the bank I am not inclined to pay it out for an already expensive softener that I have been mis-sold. Can anyone offer advice on whether changing gears oneself is do-able and if so, where can I obtain them?
Go back to Amazon, explain the situation to them & the seller response and Amazon will happily pay for you to return it & offer you a full refund.Amazon may pay no tax, underpay their staff & own most of the world we live in... but they dont f
k about with their Customer service! They'll put you right!aurorawatcher said:
Thanks Johnoz. Unfortunately I can't drive for a while as I have just had a shoulder operation. In any case I would prefer to swap the gear myself if it is just a straightforward 'engineering' job to save all the upheaval. Is this viable or is some specialist tooling or knowledge required - and if it is do-able where can I get hold of the gears? Harveys won't sell them to me! Thanks.
Hi, No worries offer is always there if you fancy a trip to the seaside and day. 
No special tools really, just a spanner, and ideally a pair of pressure gauges for the testing purposes.
There is just 1 little gear that needs changing, however it is in the gearbox which is the part that the top hose comes out of. I would NOT recommend you try changing it yourself as you have to remove all the top head assembly and pull it all apart.
Both meters, and covers and then to the gearing, of which fall out or come out with other pieces, its not so strait forward as you think. On reassembly the meters go a particular way, the O rings etc, you then have to set it in a test cycle to run it to see that you have set every thing right.
Think I have explained that ok, its easy if you know what you are doing, like everything really.
There is a web site in my profile, feel free to call us if you want, happy to help.
superlightr said:
does a softener help get rid of the water marks on a car after washing if you don't dry it?
Yes it does reduce them loads, you tend to get a powdery mark left that then comes off unlike a dried scale mark.
Ultimately a DI resin filled vessel for you final rinse that way you get NO water marks.
Note.
You can use DI on its own with hard water, resin won't last as long.
Di with softened water means longer resin life.
Web site in profile, call us happy to help.
johnoz said:
superlightr said:
does a softener help get rid of the water marks on a car after washing if you don't dry it?
Yes it does reduce them loads, you tend to get a powdery mark left that then comes off unlike a dried scale mark.
Ultimately a DI resin filled vessel for you final rinse that way you get NO water marks.
Note.
You can use DI on its own with hard water, resin won't last as long.
Di with softened water means longer resin life.
Web site in profile, call us happy to help.
Im a bit confused as to the process I presume you have a soft water filter attached to the outside tap and either go from there or if you want even less water marks to then have a DI filter after the soft water filter so a double filter before the hose?
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