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On The Go Portable RV Water Softener

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Neal

Staff member
RVF Administrator
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Messages
13,413
Location
Midlothian, VA
RV Year
2017
RV Make
Newmar
RV Model
Ventana 4037
RV Length
40' 10"
Chassis
Freightliner XCR
Engine
Cummins 400 HP
TOW/TOAD
2017 Chevy Colorado
Fulltimer
No
I'm late to this game and finally got on board with the water softener two years into my RVing experience. I bought one knowing I would be traveling to the great south west for the winter but got caught off guard on an east coast location in Cape Charles, VA with hard water. I use this all the time now and it's no hassle. Regen is simple per the YouTube video below done by simply adding salt. After the regen is complete you do not taste or smell salt, some chemist knows what they are doing! I have heard to try to keep it out of the sun and of course like your city water connection stow it at night if going below freezing temps. Works great, shower glass remains clean but it is not something to use for RV washing as that's what DI rinse is for, this is not DI rinse.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KVPNVJ6/?tag=rvf01-20

otg-water-softener.png

 
We are certainly enjoying our OnTheGo.

It was getting to the point I was adding salt every 2 or 3 weeks (large model). Another Newmar owner was talking to me up north a couple months ago and asked me how often I was back flushing it. I have had it for about 5 or 6 months and NEVER back flushed it. I actually forgot all about doing that!

Needless to say I looked up the process and did it, plus put in a couple containers of salt because it was due. It is lasting a month or slightly longer now since doing the back flush.
 
I have heard nothing of this requirement/suggestion to backflush it. Do you have any info or links on the process? News to me. Thanks for sharing the tip.
 
Tizbad (from iRV2) forum was in the same Illinois CG as me recently. He (Stu) has one of these softeners and we were talking about how well they performed. He asked me how often I found it needed back flushed and I was like "what????"

He told me you had to do it every few months. I dug out my literature and sure enough it said to back flush every 3 months for 2 - 5 minutes. You just take your hoses off and blow water through it in reverse. I bypass my second whole house filter of course and just back flush the softener. Mine certainly needed this procedure because my salt is lasting much longer now.
 
Regarding the regen cycle, a simple hardness test should indicate the effectiveness of the softener. Simple test of water before and after the On The Go softener should indicate when you need to regen the On the GO.
We used the On The GO extensively on our last six week cross country through the South and Southwest this Fall. We regenerated mid trip. Water was satisfactory throughout the trip. BTW We do not drink or cook with the water stored in the RV, prefer to drink and cook with bottled water when traveling.
 
I have this one: 1573844951143.png. The instructions state
Regeneration should be performed when the hardness
from your system exceeds 3 grains per gallon as indicated
on the supplied water test strips
. I use it every place we go. I probably should back flush it since I forget about that and have never done so.........
 
I have this one: View attachment 189. The instructions state . I use it every place we go. I probably should back flush it since I forget about that and have never done so.........
I was thinking about getting the On the Go...are there some advantages to the Flow-Pur?
 
I was thinking about getting the On the Go...are there some advantages to the Flow-Pur?
I don't know if there is any advantage of one over the other. Mine is a 10,000 grain unit and regens use 2 pounds of salt per.I usually only dump in one container. The round containers only hold 1lb 10oz so I regen slightly more often. I certainly don't want to go without it.
 
Time to revive this thread...

I'm about to purchase an OTG water softener...debating between the 8,000 vs 16,000 models. The 8,000 would certainly be easier to store and setup. However, does the need to regenerate more frequently outweigh that? Are there other advantages of the larger model/disadvantages of smaller model?

Thanks...
 
We went with the large one for a couple of reasons. With my Newmar model I knew I would never plumb it to be used inside my wet bay and it would always be something I would set up outside, so the larger size was not a factor there. The other factor was being full time it would be getting used 365 days a year so I felt larger was better.

I do have mine ratchet strapped onto a cheap hand cart. Even after adding an extra whole house filter it is pretty easy to wheel around and store in a curb side storage bay. I do empty most of the water out prior to moving it and that lessens the weight a lot.

Just a side note. We wish we would have purchased one of these years ago.
 
Time to revive this thread...

I'm about to purchase an OTG water softener...debating between the 8,000 vs 16,000 models. The 8,000 would certainly be easier to store and setup. However, does the need to regenerate more frequently outweigh that? Are there other advantages of the larger model/disadvantages of smaller model?

Thanks...

I'm solo and I got the large one and I think you'd regret getting the smaller one. I want to do regens as little as possible, it's just another maintenance task that if I can put it off then that's better. Yeah, it's a little heavy but it's manageable.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KVPNVJ6/?tag=rvf01-20
 
We also went for the large size. If you can manage the size it is a good choice. Regenerating can use a lot of time and water. It may take some time to find the right spot to perform this service. We were lucky on our trip this fall and found state parks with plenty of water and drainage to regen the unit. About once a month or so for us.
 
@Neal , @JoeHogan Thanks for your input.

I just ordered the larger unit from Camping World. Total $211.33 (+tax, includes shipping). I was concerned about the model...their website lists it as the OTG3, whereas Amazon lists theirs as OTG4. I called OTG and was assured they are in fact identical...different model numbers for internal marketing purposes only.

I used promo code "Winter15" for 15% off their normal price of $249.33
 
When I hear statements referring to “salt lasting longer”, it‘s obvious that the water softening and regeneration process is not fully understood. I looked at the On The Go website and sure enough, as expected, they had a very concise definition. It is here:
[begin copy & paste]
How Does a Water Softener Work? The principle behind water softening is really just simple chemistry. A water softener contains resin beads which hold electrically charged ions. When hard water passes through the softener, calcium and magnesium ions are attracted to the charged resin beads. It's the resulting removal of calcium and magnesium ions that produces "soft water."

The idea behind how a water softener works is simple. The calcium and magnesium ions in the water are replaced with sodium ions. Since sodium does not precipitate out in pipes or react badly with soap, both of the problems of hard water are eliminated. To do the ion replacement, the water in the house runs through a bed of small plastic beads or water softener resin. The resin is covered with sodium ions. As the water flows past the sodium ions, they swap places with the calcium and magnesium ions. Eventually, the resin contain nothing but calcium and magnesium and no sodium, and at this point they stop softening the water. It is then time to regenerate the resin.

Regeneration involves soaking the resin in a stream of sodium ions. Salt sodium chloride, so the water softener mixes up a very strong brine solution and flushes it through resin (this is why you load up a water softener with salt). The strong brine displaces all of the calcium and magnesium that has built up in the resin and replaces it again with sodium. The remaining brine plus all of the calcium and magnesium is flushed out. [End copy & paste]

All references to: Learn - On The Go - Portable Water Softener

I can agree to a statement about periods between regenerations are longer since implementing a periodic backflush, but making salt last longer is just plain incorrect. The need for regeneration is determined by using test strips. After a while, your skin will replace the test strips. You’ll know.
 
Has anyone installed a sediment filter before the OTG water softener? if so, which one?
 
I hung a 10" filter on the side of my OTG softener. I use a cheap 5 micron filter in it and change it the same time I change my WH filter, which is every month or two.

I also wash the coach, my car, and the Harley with the softened/filtered water. It leaves a lot less spots.
 
The double is the best.

I've gone a full year without backflushing or a Regen. Just tested it the other day, and it's still cranking out really soft water!

I bought two large black Bin trays from Home Depot, and put a section of small pool noodle along each side, glued down, to form a cradle for both my DI and SW tanks. They lay flat in the bay on the wet side. My process is to pull them out BEFORE putting the FWS out, which REALLY saves the back.

My quick connect system is a GODSEND, and I can hook everything up in about 20 seconds.
 

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The double is the best.

I've gone a full year without backlashing or a Regen. Just tested it the other day, and it's still cranking out really soft water!

I bought two large black Bin trays from Home Depot, and put a section of small pool noodle along each side to form a cradle for both my DI and SW tanks. They lay flat in the bay on the wet side. My process is to pull them out BEFORE putting the FWS out, which REALLY saves the back.

My quick connect system is a GODSEND, and I can hook everything up in about 20 seconds.
@CaptainGizmo , looks like a nice setup. What kind of filter is that ahead of the OTG?
 

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