Should I replace my water softener?

[consequential]

Hi all,

I currently have a General Ionics IQ-0820PB and I believe it could be as old as 20 years.

I have no reason to believe this unit isn't working correctly however, I was wondering if the technology has improved so much over the years that it would make sense to replace it (since I have the money).

I know nothing about this unit but was thinking of replacing it with a Kenmore Elite 31,000 Grain Hybrid Water Softener Model - 42-38520 for about $600

Does anyone know if this would be a massive upgrade and worthwhile?

Thanks so much!

 

[IFIXH20]

I'm not a water softener tech, But I have installed, removed, & Flushed many plumbing system due to water softener resin bed failure. If your softener is 20 years old you should have it replaced. I think a average life of a water softener is 10 - 15 years with 20 years on the high end.

 

[speedbump]

I agree, replace it. I don't know about a Sears softener, but there are some good choices out there.

Even if it's working, it's efficiency is probably very low. The mineral is probably badly fouled.

I don't know if you have the General Ionics I'm familiar with, but when they came through my area, these guys were selling them for around $5000.00. It was like having an extra house payment paying for one. Their claim to fame was that they removed everything. Chlorine, hardness, iron and several other things. Problem was, they used a 1 cubic foot tank with 25% carbon, 25% softener resin, 25% iron resin and 25% calcite to raise PH. The carbon and calcite were sacrificial and iron resin doesn't work well without an oxidizer, so the life of one of these was about 1 to 3 years. That and you had a softener with an 8000 grain capacity instead of 32,000.