Latest reviews about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

notintrested says "i am satisfied" about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

notintrested — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:59:49 GMT

i have had this unit for 3 years now and has worked well.

i am on a well with high iron so i have to run it at 37 so it regenerates more often.

do to the iron i have to. once and a wile i put iron out in the tank to get rid of iron buildup.

would recommend this. i am a maint. eng. with a metro hospital that has a very large softener so i can test my water frequently, and it has been fine the 3 years i have had it.

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LATrace says "A good value for the money" about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

LATrace — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 02:26:23 GMT

I've been buying Kenmore water softeners for about 25 years and this is what I know from experience. For the money, the Kenmore water softener is a good product IF YOU BUY THE 5 YEAR PROTECTION PLAN. Yes, they frequently need repairs (about every 12 -18 months). On the last unit that I owned, I replaced the LCD screen and the electronics twice. My dad had a water softener from Culligan - He paid a fortune for it, and it was no better than the Kenmore (still needed lots of repairs). The Sears repair folks are great - you can call them and rest assured the machine will be fixed at no additional cost. So, figure the cost of the 5 year protection plan into your purchase. If you can't extend the protection plan after 5 years, replace the unit.

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ReallyBigFamily says "Works great and easy on salt use" about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:00:05 GMT

I previously had a Culligan softener and it went through salt like nobody's business. I've had this unit installed for almost 2 years with a family of 7 and, more often than not, several guests here. Not only has the quality of water been great, but I don't think I even average using one bag of salt a month. I have really high water pressure (about 65 psi - and I like it that way in case we have 4 showers going at once) and I have been concerned about leaks but so far that worry has been unfounded....

reviewer2222222 says "Not Meant For The Long Haul" about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:30:04 GMT

My water softener worked great... up until the warranty expired. Then one electronic component went out after another. If you need a water softener for more then 2 years, then I would highly recommend getting something other then a Kenmore....

NEWHOME1 says "AWESOME!!" about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:00:05 GMT

We have had our Elite Kenmore for about a year and it is great!! We installed ours in our utility room of our basement in our new construction home, I almost forget its even there its quiet and does not use much salt. Its very easy to use, and works awesome!! In our city we have very hard water, but this takes care of that problem with ease. Makes cleaning the bathrooms and sinks a breeze, no hard water buildup. Our stainless steel interior of our dishwasher used to look horrible, but with this it shines after each load. The only thing I did do was use a copper bypass and ball bearing valves instead of the plastic one it came with....

Inspector62 says "Lasted just past the warranty." about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:15:07 GMT

Notice everyone that gave it a high rating has only owned one for a few months or so. Mine worked great for 1 year. Just past that it starting giving trouble. It is NOT meant for well water, just city water. I also had to pay someone to change some of the resin beads as the cheap beads installed do not remove tannins. It cost me an extra $150.00 to get the resin bed upgraded. The one tank design creates issues itself. The circuit board is just over the salt and mine went out about year 2 due to corrosion. This unit has been literally one problem after another - after the warranty expired....

Anonymous says "water softener" about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:00:08 GMT

i like this water softener because it is very efficient, it works well, it is durable, and it was the cheapest! i would recommend this to all of my friends....

SteveO1975 says "More salt use than i could ever imagine." about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 05:45:10 GMT

This is my first experience with a water softener. I've had it for almost a year and it is working good still, but it uses 4.6 lbs. of salt per recharge, and i have it set on "salt saver" and "water saver." Although we use 220-260 gallons of water with 6 people in the house per day, it still seems like it uses way too much salt. If it lasts 15 years, it may end up costing as much as another high end brand because of the salt usage. I am putting in 100 lbs of salt per month! Hardly a salt saver. It does have some good features like how many GPM's your using, the bypass valve, etc. The unit was simple to isntall, after going to a specialty plumbing store to find the 1" copper lines to hook it up. It only took about an hour. My drain hoses were long enough since i have a sink next to the softener. If only it were a salt saver, i would say this thing is a really nice softener, otherwise, it's just mediocre....

pks77 says "Great Softener" about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:15:11 GMT

This softener is really straight forward...easy to understand. We haven't had any problems with it and we've had it for 3 months or so now....

UtahMtBiker says "Great softener at a great price" about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Mon, 21 May 2007 19:00:14 GMT

I've had this installed for about a month now and it's working great. The softener can use either sodium chloride or potassium chloride and automatically adjusts accordingly. I had it installed though I wish I had just installed it myself. The installer convinced me that I needed to put it on the other side of the room between the furnaces "so that it wouldn't be in the way when the water heaters need replaced" ... perhaps an easy way to get a few more bucks on the installation fee. I realized after he left that the softener has a quick-release (if that's the word for it) with a bypass so that it can easily be removed....

DoctorJ says "Installation can be difficult..." about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Fri, 11 May 2007 22:30:11 GMT

Since this is Sears' most expensive water softener, one might expect the kit to include the fittings needed to connect the 1" lines to the typical 3/4" home plumbing setup, but such is not the case. Most home supply stores only have 3/4" and smaller fittings. You might need to get them from a real plumbing supply store - and try to find one open on a Saturday! The service-bypass valve looks cheap and is just plastic with rubber O-rings. If you install this using the ball valve option instead, use rigid copper compression fittings for the threaded connections, especially when attaching the separate whole house water filter (not included in the setup, so you'll have to purchase it separately), which has plastic connections. The all copper setup will require at least 4 feet of rigid copper 3/4" pipe, about 8 elbows, 3 ball valves, 2 1" female to 3/4" adapters, 2 male 3/4" compression fittings, 2 3/4"T's, Teflon tape and the someone who knows how to make the necessary solder sweat connections.......

tonys4amy says "Best water softner I've used to date" about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Tue, 01 May 2007 22:30:08 GMT

After spending $1000+ on a water softener and installation in our old house and having to fill it up with salt so often I was less than excited to repeat that experience with our new house. I looked into the Sears model which is so much more inexpensive that I was a little leery. I talked my husband into installing it himself' which he did brilliantly. We have had it running for 2 1/2 months now and we probably won't have to fill it up with salt for another 2 1/2 months. I'm LOVING it. Way better than the other brands that offer to come to your home, sell you a much more expensive softener. and then put pressure on you to purchase their water filter as well...who needs that?...

BG07 says "LOVE IT" about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Tue, 01 May 2007 05:30:26 GMT

We bought this water softner a few months back. Before we had the water softner I think we had the hardest water this side of the Mississippi, but since we have installed this water softner our water is crystal clear....

Garth71 says "Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener" about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:45:15 GMT

The 420 has some great features. It monitors water usage. Low salt level indicator is very nice. It is very easy to program. The 420 softens my water very well with very little salt usage. I installed it myself. This is the best softner I have ever had (I have had 4). I would recommend this product....

pepper4 says "good water softener" about Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener

sears-feed — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 05:30:20 GMT

Just installed this unit. Works well. Easy to run. The only snag on hook up was the hose for overflow was too short to reach the drain....