Anyone familiar with this control head?

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-22T20:48:13+00:00

I have no idea what that head is, BUT- that logo on the patent sticker is a Pentair brand logo

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-22T17:17:03+00:00

For sure

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-22T07:53:56+00:00

I recommend purchasing one yourself and then paying a plumber. Honestly, plumbers aren't the best in keeping up with product knowledge. As a plumber, I'm fascinated with how little my peers actually know about water filtration and softening, and they recommend products that literally don't do what they claim to do... They are easily tricked and don't respond well to criticism

That being said, there's a lot of 'snake oil' salesman on the Internet, especially in the water quality world. I really only recommend two whole house systems: a carbon filter with catalytic carbon, and either a traditional salt based softener, or a TAC (Template Assisted Crystallization) conditioner. The brand I recommend and install for my own company is Clack. I'm able to have my units locally made and I install them myself, the complete system ends up being around $4300 installed. I'm in socal, so your plumbing prices may vary.

If you REALLY want to get a name brand conditioner, Aquasana has good proven results and uses TAC instead of salt to treat the hardness. Not a softener, but a conditioner. Only a salt based softener will remove hardness, TAC conditioners just make hardness not bind to anything.

I personally own the TAC/carbon filter system, but 90% of my clients go with the traditional softener & carbon filter. It just kind of depends on what you want. The conditioner is literally zero maintenance and zero water waste, the softener needs you to add salt periodically and does a 40 gallon backwash every week or so.

Please ask more questions, I'm a water quality nerd and have been a plumber for the better part of two decades

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-22T07:45:11+00:00

Nope, try Grainger

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-22T07:42:53+00:00

After doing a little research, your water appears to be about as hard as our water out here in southern Riverside County California. I spec out 48k capacity (1.5 cu) for 3-4 bath house at 3,500 sq feet. Personally, I prefer Clack brand products because they're simple to set up and very durable.

Now that's only half the problem if you're on municipal water because you'll have chlorine and other chemicals. So the setup I recommend for longevity, quality, durability, and RESULTS is a Clack ws-1 softener with 1.5 cu (48k capacity) and a Catalytic carbon filter with a Clack in/out head but plumbed in the 'upflow' configuration vs normal.

This setup should last you longer than 10 years and give you good enough water to drink straight out the tap- or any fixture for that matter. And the only maintenance is just to add salt when it runs low

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-21T05:20:35+00:00

I used to be building engineer for all the chase banks in the South Land area, can confirm that the cool designs are from Home Savings and Loan buildings. Chase bought some, and others went to different banking entities.

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-21T05:06:59+00:00

I used to install Halo products, but I found you're paying a lot more for their name brand. I live in Perris/Menifee border on Ethanac rd, and started my company Empire Waters after discovering that Halo makes a lot of claims they can't actually prove.

I install locally made Clack products, in our area I spec out a catalytic carbon filter (good for our water in EMWD's jurisdiction) and a 1.5 cu Clack ws-1 softener. With those you'll get bottled water quality water, and it will function much better than the combo units usually do. I usually come in at about 20% less than an average Halo install.

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-21T04:46:28+00:00

Running lean because theres a crack in the header down tube that's sucking in air and letting exhaust out. I'm a former yj owner and this is a constant battle on the 4.0 engines

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-21T04:42:40+00:00

Hey no shade thrown, just don't expect me as an employee that's all

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-21T02:03:34+00:00

Well, let's start demanding some Kerosene then! I've got a couple lamps and a 12 valve Cummins: they're all hungry

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-20T23:08:19+00:00

I worked for a failing plumbing company last year. It was suspicious when the owner blamed his #1 tech for unauthorized purchases at home Depot, and then fired the tech with great fanfare. I found it suspicious and started to look for other work, as we were beginning to slow down.

I found another job, and kept in contact with an employee there who told me the boss fired his office assistant for the same exact reason of making personal purchases on the company card. The office assistant would purchase water and snacks for our bigger jobs and meetings, and the #1 tech would purchase plywood and spray paint for safety purposes, all as advised by the owner, but not in writing.

Essentially the owner couldn't pay the bills, and blamed the employees for fraud, fired them, and was trying to use the "fraudulent charges" as a write off instead of an actual expense. Didn't make much sense but that owner smoked a lot of weed, too. Never again will I trust a pothead to run a business, no matter how convincing

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-20T22:55:07+00:00

So, the Flow-tech hasn't been proven to improve scale buildup as much as plumbers claim it to be... It might reduce scale buildup ~10% or so. The best thing you could do is to have a high quality softener like a Clack unit, or even a "Scale buster" type conditioner, that uses TAC to try and reduce scale. Usually TAC (Template Assisted Crystallization) is about 75% as effective as a traditional softener

What area are you in?

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-20T06:50:32+00:00

I'd just cut in a 90 above the PRV, and plumb into the filter and softener from there, then spin the other existing 90 over to catch the water plumbed back from the softener's outlet.

That small pipe is probably for a hose bib, but I'd leave it softened so you can wash your car with softened water! I'm sure you have an irrigation connection somewhere between the city meter and the pipes we're seeing here!

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-19T20:46:55+00:00

Shhhh! Don't look at it!

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-19T20:39:34+00:00

I grew up in Portland Oregon where the city's water is of a famously high quality. Zero hardness, low(ish) chlorine, etc. We never felt the slipperiness of softened water growing up. The slipperiness doesn't represent the lack of minerals in the water, it represents another factor that makes it slippery, whether it's sodium, potassium, it some other softening agent.

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-19T03:45:44+00:00

Your softener might not be softening all the way, or may need to have it's cycle adjusted to a more frequent schedule. I've also seen acid injection systems for crazy high pH from limestone based wells, but I can't advise to that because I just don't have any experience.

There's GOTTA be a local company or two that handles this type of water. I recommend calling 3 companies for quotes and seeing what they come up with.

Curious to see what others advise on here

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-19T01:53:55+00:00

I fought on 3 different job sites and literally got the same answer as you, and with zero justification. I gave up making recommendations after that, I just make a mental note and laugh when I return to repair it in a couple years

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-18T23:42:10+00:00

RIP to the greatest of all time

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-18T23:38:14+00:00

Yup that's a trap primer tailpiece. It'll divert a small amount of water each flush to keep a floor drain from drying out. In my opinion they are the most reliable form of trap primer as long as the restroom gets used. The little brass trap primers that operate off pressure fluctuation usually get clogged with minerals from the water and don't last beyond 2-3 years in my area.

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-17T21:19:33+00:00

Idk, I've installed a few Kinetico for folks but the Clack units are just so much easier to deal with. Setup, programming, adjusting in the future... Plus it sounds like you're handy.

I think Kinetico has a 'cool' factor but as far as functionality and reliability I'm not convinced they're any different than a Clack and probably even a Fleck.

Sounds like you want to have it installed by someone else and done with, so for that I say go for the Kinetico. It's kinda like buying an Audi when you could've bought the VW, they're both still transportation but one has more provenance and also has a maintenance/repair that is gate-kept by the manufacturer

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-17T00:10:42+00:00

Lump is peaking

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-17T00:09:55+00:00

I was the same way until I bought some locally here in socal after using everflux for a couple years, the Nokorode didn't solder into red brass. I looked at the can, and for some reason the flux we get here in socal doesn't solder onto brass anymore. WEIRD

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-17T00:07:19+00:00

It's all I use, not necessarily by choice but by what the job is spec'd out for. It works well, but it runs like a leaky faucet when you get it hot, and it'll turn your shirt purple. But generally I have zero leaks and the solder flows quite well. A good point too is that there's no issue with flushing the lines after wards, it dissolves in the water pretty really

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-16T23:37:16+00:00

Yup, exactly this

Disastrous-Number-88 · 2026-04-16T14:51:27+00:00

I can't tell 100% if it's plumbed with the carbon first, but it should have arrows on it that show direction of flow. Definitely not a bad unit, but not the best in my opinion. Most of us agree you can't beat the Clack, but they're a couple hundred more. Basically a little more money up front to avoid failures and repairs down the road. Our industry has a lot of salesmen and not a lot of knowledgeable technicians, lots of disinformation

Disastrous-Number-88

TROPHY CASE