Frozen Water Softener.

Bjorn Bored.

I got one of these outdoor units 3 yrs ago. In jan of this year and also in the last week the main unit has frozen over leaving me with no water in the house as the mains are fed through the unit and back inside.

I have had to pay a plumber on 2 occasions now to come out and thaw the unit out.

I noticed today on the vessel within the outdoor housing that the minimum operating temperature is 1 C degree.

So basically the unit is being sold on the basis that the temperature does not drop below this, well you dont need me to tell you just how low the temps have been lately, I rang EW technologies who tell me that the unit must be serviced anually to have any come back,I just feel that is a whole lot of crap as a service would not prevent the freezing in the first place.

I am not about to pay a plumber every time it goes below freezing so I am thinking of suing what rights do I have in this situation?

MagicSean

Sue them on what grounds?

Bjorn Bored.

k_mac wrote: »

Sue them on what grounds?

on the grounds that they have sold me a unit that is not fit for purpose!

can you not see my point?

every time it goes below freezing the vessel freezes up leaving me with no water,

surely if they are going to sell a unit that is going to be sited outside it should contain a vessel that can handle lower temp than 1 degree, it is simply not right that i lose my mains water because of this!

MagicSean

did they give any guarantee it would withstand freezing or advertise it as such?

Bjorn Bored.

k_mac wrote: »

did they give any guarantee it would withstand freezing or advertise it as such?

not that I am aware of,is this what it comes down to?

MagicSean

I'm just wondering why you think they are responsable. Can't give legal advice here. You will have to consult a solicitor.

drBill

You could certainly argue that they are responsible for incorrectly siting the device. I mean who the hell would knowingly install something outdoors in this country knowing that it could not tolerate temperatures below 1 degree?? Surely its the responsibility of the fitter (assuming you didn't fit it yourself) rather than the client to read the small print of the device they are installing. To me this suggests they are either incompetent or misrepresented the product. I'd be looking for a refund for the filter at the very least.

In the more immediate term, I'd suggest wrapping the filter and pipes in something to prevent them from re-freezing.

MagicSean

drBill wrote: »

You could certainly argue that they are responsible for incorrectly siting the device. I mean who the hell would knowingly install something outdoors in this country knowing that it could not tolerate temperatures below 1 degree?? Surely its the responsibility of the fitter (assuming you didn't fit it yourself) rather than the client to read the small print of the device they are installing. To me this suggests they are either incompetent or misrepresented the product. I'd be looking for a refund for the filter at the very least.

In the more immediate term, I'd suggest wrapping the filter and pipes in something to prevent them from re-freezing.

By that logic I could sue the plumber who fitted my outdoor tap because he didn't tell me water freezes faster outside. Did they pick the location for this device?

Pkiernan

To address the problem with the softener, a couple of rolls of fibreglass insulation will get you thru this cold spell.

It is non-combustible and it doesnt matter is if gets wet.

Sue after Crimbo.

FreudianSlippers

See a solicitor.