Rainsoft

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I had a service call from Rainsoft with the prognosis that the gears were all stripped and a new unit was needed. After he left I inspected the unit myself and could find no evidence of any stripped gears. A sub-sequent call to the dealer about bringing the unit in for repair was fruitless. "NO way to check the unit in our shop." Are there independent repairmen who can check these things? I have no faith/trust in Rainsoft.

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The gears don't strip. The index lever and anti backlash pawl wear out.

The anti backlash pawl is available and easy to replace.
The index lever is out of production and out of stock.

RainSoft dealers are not allowed to repair these. They are instructed to offer you an upgrade valve or brand new system.

HTH ~

4 Replies

Run, run away from rainsoft. They are incredibly overpriced with incompetent sales people. Go with a company that also does industrial business (water treatment for food of industrial plants) because then you can be assured they will actually know something about the chemistry and mechanics of water treatment.

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H2O_MAN wrote:

The gears don't strip...

Correction: The nylon gear can have it's teeth worn off.
This will cause the clock to stop even though the clock motor is working.
The unit will not keep time and it will not back wash.

This situation can be fixed by replacing the nylon gear.

HTH ~

2 Replies

H2O_MAN wrote:

The gears don't strip. The index lever and anti backlash pawl wear out.

The anti backlash pawl is available and easy to replace.
The index lever is out of production and out of stock.

RainSoft dealers are not allowed to repair these. They are instructed to offer you an upgrade valve or brand new system.

HTH ~

Mr. they offer conversion kits thats false statements about rainsoft.

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AliceInWonderland wrote:

Run, run away from rainsoft. They are incredibly overpriced with incompetent sales people. Go with a company that also does industrial business (water treatment for food of industrial plants) because then you can be assured they will actually know something about the chemistry and mechanics of water treatment.

for your information rainsoft does supply industrial needs.

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Heres my reply, rainsoft is very competitive with the prices ,as are other major brands,besides your no names or off the shelf where they dont store short and long term partsthere are many ways to save the brass generation softeners as long as the teflon has not peeled off the inside the valves throat.

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gobansheego wrote:

H2O_MAN wrote:
The gears don't strip. The index lever and anti backlash pawl wear out.

The anti backlash pawl is available and easy to replace.
The index lever is out of production and out of stock.

RainSoft dealers are not allowed to repair these. They are instructed to offer you an upgrade valve or brand new system.

HTH ~
Mr. they offer conversion kits thats false statements about rainsoft.

The conversion kit has been phased out and replaced by
the option of an upgrade valve or complete new system.

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Can someone pleasr tell me how to set the timer on the rainsoft water softner I just bought a house with the system in it I don't know anything about it wold like to know where I might buy a owner manual. I call tha company they were of no help told me it would be 99.99 for the first 15 min on service.

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$99 for the first 15 minutes!!!
No problem.

What system do you have?
Can you provide a picture of the controls?

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Rainsoft - water salty
We are having trouble with our Rainsoft unit. It is giving us salty water even though the unit has been cycled twice. Rainsoft dealer is arrogant and very difficult to work with. Do third party folks service these units? Do you know what's going on with this control?
BTW, this is a mechanical timer unit. When I requested service, they asked if we wanted the $2k upgrade!

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Re: Rainsoft - water salty

Robar wrote:

We are having trouble with our Rainsoft unit. It is giving us salty water even though the unit has been cycled twice.
Rainsoft dealer is arrogant and very difficult to work with.
Do third party folks service these units? Do you know what's going on with this control?
BTW, this is a mechanical timer unit. When I requested service, they asked if we wanted the $2k upgrade!

The mechanical RainSoft timers and brass valves are obsolete.
Because parts are out of production and in very short supply RS dealers
are instructed to offer you a trade-in or conversion valve instead of repair.

If a third party has the needed parts it can be repaired.

BTW, IMHO $2K for an upgrade is insane!

HTH ~

0 Replies

Rainsoft question too. . .
I have a Rainsoft system and love it. I have a problem though. The other day i heard it "regening" in the morning, but I thought it was set up to do it while we were asleep, thought that was odd. Then later that night, still heard it. When I checked the tank the first time it was half full, now it is empty of salt. In one day! also the water tastes way too salty. What can i do. Of course I cant find the book right now. . .argh!

Here is a picture of the controls.

http://groups.msn.com/RalphSThomas/sigpics.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=2225

(sorry I cant seem to post a picture here. . .)

0 Replies

Momto5,

Take a look at this large picture: RS timer plate.
Note the two springs - the long one is hooked to the anti backlash pawl and the short one is hooked to the index lever.
Both the pawl and index lever wear out over time and need to be replaced.
When they go bad the unit sticks in any given cycle and runs and runs...

Notice the tip of the index lever that fits into the notch. When this tips is worn off by the wheel your problems begin.

Now the bad news: Your entire valve and electronic controls are obsolete and no longer supported by RS.
RS dealers are instructed to replace the entire valve with a composite silver or gold series valve (bastardized Fleck valves).
The index lever has been out of production for over a year and is very rare.

If this is your problem you can try to locate a new index lever and abp, then get someone to rebuild your timer plate -
OR, you can upgrade to a new valve. I suggest and install Fleck 2510SE valves.

HTH ~

0 Replies

I just bought the system in 2000 and it is already obsolete!? That is not right!

Does this one have a lifetime warranty?

0 Replies

Momto5 wrote:

I just bought the system in 2000 and it is already obsolete!? That is not right!

Does this one have a lifetime warranty?

Yes - it did, but RS has switched over to composite vales.
They put a bounty our on brass vales.
Dealers get a credit for every brass valve they replace.

I'm sorry, but your valve is obsolete.

Depending on what they charge for a service call it may be
worth asking your local dealer to look at it and see what they say.

2 Replies

@H2O MAN,

Hey... I have my parts list that came with the softener but I dont find this gear that you speak of ? My clock does not work and the system will not cycle ... I can do it manually and it works fine . I can see the dials trying to turn but it appears something is just stripped out ... The unit is probably 15 years old and has been serviced my authorized reps always .. Just not sure I can even buy the needed part. Thanks

1 Reply

@H2O MAN,

My wife and I spent $4800 dollars for the Rainsoft Purification System with a Lifetime Warranty. We've never had any problems. We do have to replace the battery time to time. We have the AMD Model made in 1996. We got a power surge from the recent ice storm in Kentucky. Now it's DOA. We called the 800 number on the machine and it does not pick up. I went online and filled out a form and was finally contacted. They no longer make any parts for the AMD. We will have to upgrade to the TC series. However the nearest distributor to KY is in MO. If we can not get a service call for pricing, we can not get insurance to pay for 95% of our applaiances lost in the storm as they prefer one check to be issued. WHAT DOES RAINSOFT CALL A LIFETIME if they quit making the parts? They basically want to sell us a brand new system but leave the old tanks. Yeah, right, and I have some ocean front property for sale in Kansas. Insurance or I will not go for that. I'd look around at Lowes, or any large retail store. Use your search engine and browse for a nice machine for about half the price. gdk

2 Replies

@Snakepliskynn,

Whenever I hear "LIFETIME WARRANTY", red flags go up. That's whether it is on furniture, car parts, paint, what have you. But you are right, what good is it if the parts are no longer availble or an upgrade isn't included as apart of the deal.

What do you mean by 'purification system'? Is that a distiller or a UV system or something. A SOFTENER is not a purification system.

Isn't the TC series a timer unit? Never get a timer water softener, extremely inefficient and doesn't produce consistent quality of water.

1 Reply

@Andy CWS,

the "Lifetime Warranty" doesn't include electrical parts, but all the other parts for the brass valve are available. The electrical had a 5yr 100% / 5yr prorated warranty. The TC conversion is a digital kit that converts the old 8 step to a 5 step cycle, it's done with a new cam. I like 'em, so much better than the silver series conversion kit ( no longer avail) that they offered for the brass valves. No Timer Motor anymore.
Joe

1 Reply

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