WaterBoss water softener

For my family following are the four models has been specified for water softener.

1) Waterboss model 900.
Grain capacity 24,000, Maximum compensated hardness 90gpg. No pre filter required.

2) Kenmore ultrasoft 280
Grain capacity 40,000, Maximum compensated hardness 110gpg

3) GE GXSF39E
Grain capacity 39,000, Maximum compensated hardness 110gpg

4) WhirlPool WHES 40
Grain capacity 39,000, Maximum compensated hardness 110gpg

Please addvice me what is the best option out of these four to buy.

Greatly appriciated.

Nishan

 

The GE, Whirlpool, and Kenmore units all use the same valve, built by Ecodyne, which is widely used in many softeners. GE's differs only that they use a different motor than all the others I know of. People also seem to have more problems with the GE units, but it's hard to tell whether it's simply because there's a lot more GE units out there than other comparable brands. Honestly, a lot people dislike the Ecodyne valve because of reliability questions. Then again, there's some big industry names who stick their label on it, including the Morton Salt company's own water softeners. It's not to any of these companies' advantage to put a rather expensive appliance on the market that's going to fall apart in a couple years.

Basically these three are functionally equivalent. You should choose based on warranty, company reputation, features and looks. I'd eliminate the Kenmore because it only has a 1 year on electronics where the others have 3. GE does in home service for a year, where Whirlpool will send you a replacement part directly to your home free of charge, and currently they don't ask you to return the old part. If you don't mind fixing something yourself, go for the Whirlpool. If you don't mind dealing with repairmen, and can meet them during the daytime, then go for the GE. Of these three, my vote goes for Whirlpool.

All the units have 10 year warranty on the tanks. Waterboss extends that to cover the valve BODY (not the whole valve), with 3 on everything else. The problem with their warranty--as I read it--is that they require you to pay to ship the part to them, and if they find it defective, they'll send you a replacement part freight collect. This is going to cost a few bucks, esp. with something heavy like the tank.

Other than that, I haven't heard enough about the WaterBoss units or the company to advise you either way.

 

I made a mistake. It looks like the Whirlpool WHES 40 has a larger version of the Ecodyne valve. It's almost identical other than size, and hard to tell the difference just looking at an exploded diagram except that the larger valve body has more screws. Of the GE, Whirlpool and Kenmore, the Whirlpool should give you less pressure loss than the other two -- a good thing. You can download the manuals for all three at the companies website. Kenmore has a more imformative website than Sears at www.kenmorewater.com.

In addition, Whirlpool does want you to return defective parts after you receive the new part under warranty, however they pay shipping both directions.

So of those three units, I'd give an even stronger recommendation to the Whirlpool unit.

Sorry for the error.

 

It is my experiance that the GE water softener needs repair work done on it about every 2 years. They appear to have a real design flaw in the pump. I have an earlier model GXSF39B. Howerver I know of people with the GXSF39E that are experiancing the same problem as I have. That is it works for a couple of years then stoppes giving soft water. You do everthing they say in the manual. Still no soft water. You call a repair person and they have to replace some internal parts in the pump. The GE will cost you 250 dollars every 2 years.