This issue comes up frequently. Here is my contribution from a thread back in 2009. Like Ben we live in a hard water area. I tested the solids in our Crystal Geyser water (varies around the country), dilute it to about 40-50 ppm, have done so for 5 years, no problems yet, still waiting... read Jim Schulman's FAQ--it is referenced in the thread.
http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus/browse_thread/thread/5047f48ee34f510c/30500894d7e00058?lnk=gst&q=kdkrone#30500894d7e00058 Ken K On Dec 5, 11:25 am, Benjamin McCafferty <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi there Bobcat, > > I know this is a topic of hot debate, and I don't mean to touch off a war > here.....but here's another opinion. > > I live west of Seattle, with fairly hard water. We are always in the 8+ > range for pH, and TDS run pretty high, maybe 200-300 or so. > > I had the softener float a couple of times in the past and cause a pump to > burn out (sucking air and no water), so I removed it altogether a couple of > years ago. I use filtered water from the house supply, i.e. running through > a 2-stage GE filter system that I bought at Home Depot for about $200. So > far, I have no issues with scale or clogging. I am careful to drain the hot > water boiler whenever I clean, to keep the solids from getting ridiculously > high in there, but otherwise I have taken no protective actions. I descaled > once at about two years, and am due to descale again. One of these years I > plan to replace my brew boiler tank just so I can cut the old one in half and > see whether the whole descaling question is much ado about nothing or not. I > also have a bore scope--anyone know if I can easily open a hole into the > boilers so I can have a non-desctructive look inside? > > I may well be sorry down the road, but to date the softener seems like an > unnecessary part, at least in my particular location and water supply. I > have seen friends on well water who have rust lines in their toilet, etc. and > I think in their case I'd probably use bottled water anyway. > > Just some thoughts to consider. > > bmc > > On Dec 4, 2010, at 6:10 PM, Dan Hagelin wrote:> The way I do it requires that > you have a suitably long piece of plastic tubing. I attach the hose to the > nipple of the softener gizmo, and then put 3 big tablespoons of salt in a > full reservoir of water. I then submerge the gizmo in the reservoir and > siphon the whole tank of salt water through it. I repeat the process with > fresh water and then at then end of the tank test that the last bit of water > doesn't taste salty. If it happens to still taste salty, and it never has, > you can run another reservoir of fresh water though it. > > > I assume this process works, but I've never tested the water for hardness > > before and after so I don't really know for sure. It makes me feel better, > > though! > > > On Dec 4, 2010, at 4:15 PM, HERMAN wrote: > > >> i always put mine in a glass of water until it fills and the just connect > >> it to the hose. i'm sure there are better ideas but it will be full of air > >> and your pump will lose it's prime if you don't fill it with water. > > >> --- On Sat, 12/4/10, Bobcat <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> From: Bobcat <[email protected]> > >> Subject: Charging the softner???? > >> To: "Brewtus" <[email protected]> > >> Date: Saturday, December 4, 2010, 7:06 PM > > >> I just received a new softner cartridge, identical to the original > >> one, and there were no instructions on how to charge it for use. Can > >> someone tell me what to do before I put it into use, and what future > >> maintenance I'll need to do and how often? > > >> -- > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > >> "Brewtus" group. > >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >> [email protected]. > >> For more options, visit this group > >> athttp://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en. > > >> -- > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > >> "Brewtus" group. > >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >> [email protected]. > >> For more options, visit this group > >> athttp://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en. > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Brewtus" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en.
