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Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener Reviews
Rating Summary
Most Helpful Favorable Review
“This is a very good unit and easy to set up for use. We love it”
Stan6
Grass Valley, CA
This unit is very easy to set up and program the timer for regeneration. We had a very pricy unit before and the cost to replace resin bed was more expensive than this unit. We are very happy with our purchase. I swear by Kenmore products! Our regret is that we didn't get one in the first place!
Posted on Apr 21, 2011
Most Helpful Critical Review
“I WOULD DO MORE RESEARCH IF I WERE LOOKING FOR ANOTHER”
Randy-Taylor
Davenport, IA
Had this in my home for a coouple of years now. It does Just OK, nothing exceptional. Needs a lot of looking after and uses a great deal of salt.
Once again I thought more of Sears brands than they must prior to putting their name on something.....
I would NOT buy another one of these, when this one...
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Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener Reviews
Displaying reviews 1 - 13 of 17 in total
I just installed a Bosh tankless water heater and my town has extremely hard water.
So in order to protect the investment I needed to install a water softener. The Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener was on sale for $699.00, a savings of $200.00. The 370 Series was more money. We love the features of the Elite over the others. This thing does it all. We have run it on Salt for two weeks now and will switch over to K Cl next month.
I will post again after six months of use. This unit was very easy to install. Do yourself a favor and get an extra set of O ringsmine broke the first day.
I installed this unit about a week ago so the jury is still out on the longevity. However, we have already noticed a drastic improvement in the water quality. Our house runs off of well water but the water is extremely hard. Toilet tanks are just plain nasty but they have been completely clear since the install. TIP - watch the drain lines as they work off of a siphon process so the thing will not work properly if you don't maintain the downward flow for the drain lines..I had a slight upkick in mine and boom it quit working...reran the line and all is well again.
I have had two of these softeners. The first one quit working after about 4 years. I had Sears repair out three times. They changed everything in it that could be changed and it still didn't work, so they gave me a credit for a new one.
The second one I have had for about 4 years and guess what same problem. I have just ordered $80 in parts and am going to replace them myself. If this doesn't work I am going to order a delivery service that changes the cylinder monthly. No problems this way. I think if you cost out the salt and the unit needing to be replaced every 4 years, it may make sense.
I have owned this water softener for six months and it is already broken. It has done a nice job of making our very hard water soft, but it takes a lot of maintenance and up keep. Disappointed with the cheap plastic shell and cover. The controls are easy to understand and navigate through. I am dissapointed with the overall workings of this unit. I will purchase the maintenance agreement in fear that I am going to be spending big bucks if I don't.
Installing this was a bit tricky. I had to "machine" the plastic intake fitting a bit to get it to not leak, but that was the worst of it. Works great, salt use is way down and our water quality is much improved. Bit noisy when it runs but it doesn't run very often and doesn't wake us up. 3 teenagers and we never run out of soft water.
I purchased this water softener about 6 months ago after I considered purchasing a more expensive system from a local (national brand) provider. The national brand representative came out and provided a demonstration and sales pitch and when all was said, this water softener promised the same options for 1/4 of the price.
It was easy to install and has worked like a charm since. I had to call the help line once to ask some questions and they were very helpful. I highly recommend this product. The Sears name is everything it has always been, "satisfaction guaranteed"!
good softener the supplied by-pass was cheezy looking spend the extra money on ball valves and make your own by-pass controls are easy to use good product. we have .03 of iron going into the softener and o.o coming out works great
I replaced an 18 year old Sears softener that had deminished operation to the point of not working. Wife got unhappy.
My water tested 25 grains of hardness and 3 grains of Fe (Well Water). I do not have a sulfer problem.
The 420 series manual recommended setting the softener for 35 (calculation: 25 +(3*Fe)).
Installed unit on Sept 7 2008 (install was intermediate due to copper pipe soldering).
Salt usage has been 160 lbs per month or about $25/Month (268gal/day average usage thru Nov 8th.)
Make sure to install a whole house 30 micron prefilter before softener with pre and post shut off valves....
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The Elite 420 has been up and running for about two months in our house now. The results have been great! Having 12 year old triplets we use a lot of water and the unit has stood the test. The Elite 420 is ease to load with salt and the salt level indicator is a plus. The backlight on the display is very useful due to the unit's location in our basement. The selection and settings are easy to follow and it is hard to make a mistake. Changes or errors are quick and easy to correct.
After getting quotes from everywhere - to include $3300 w/ install, I went to sears.com and bought the highest priced model water softener. It does everything and more compared to what I've researched. Instantly noticed soft water within the first hours of operation. Easy to install. Outer shell is a little thin but will be okay if I don't hit it with my truck. Disappointed with nickel and dime price estimates for installation. You have to pay for an estimate if your house is not pre-plumbed. I installed it myself. Easy to follow instructions and a good do it yourself book. (10 lb. book) I...
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I searched high and low for a water softener. This one by far out performs and out prices all the others I researched. So easy to maintain. The digital readout tells you everything you need to know!
I wouldn't recommend installing this product yourself unless you have a plumber/experienced handy man on your speed dial.
this unit is so easy to install and easier to operate!
Once it was in we had softer water in just a few hours. You could feel it in the shower and see it in your glass.
Love It!
Reviews of Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener
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