Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - Water Softener-Sears Kenmore, Ecowater, GE, Morton

I was given a Kenmore 625.3484400 (1995?) water softener. I was told it was 'bound up'. It had been drained and sitting in my garage for about 3 years, so I didn't know if it would do anything. The rotor seemed to turn, but the gear would click and then snap back repeatedly. I removed the motor and turned the gear manually. I was surprised at how hard it was to turn, so I disassembled the head unit. Everything seemed OK, so I cleaned and lubed it with plumbers grease. I later re-did this with silicone grease. BTW, ACE charged $4. Home Depot had the same thing for $2. Anyway, it still turned just as hard and I suspected a problem here, but wanted to ask someone if this is normal. So far, I was impressed at how simple this unit was to work on. Well, to get to a Sears tech, you have to call an 800 number and set up an appointment. I just wanted to ask a question, so I tried to find a dealer who sold a unit with this same head. Turns out, those listed in the subject line do, but Ecowater was the only servicing dealer, so I pulled the head and took it in and asked their tech. He said that this was normal, and that the motor was probably bad due to a power surge or lightning. Hmmm, wouldn't the circuit board be dead too? He quoted part prices that were cheaper than Sears. Surprise. The motor was $44. Sears was over $50 and I would have to order it plus shipping. He also said later models had a teflon coated rotor disk. Mine is black plastic. Another interesting fact. They wanted $1395 for a new unit, but I could go to Menards and buy a Morton (same head) for $349. We just need to think a little. So, I took the unit back home, relubed with silicone grease that I thought would offer less resistance, but was far more stiff and sticky than my 20-30 year old plumbers grease. Surprisingly, the thing worked - I think. At least it cycled through and drew brine, clicking all the way. I had to disassemble and clean the nozzle, venturi, and brine valve assemblies too. Don't forget to disassemble all the way and check every pin hole as one little piece of grit will cause a problem. Other posts have blasted this head and valve assembly as a flawed design and short lived. Some had to bend the micro-switch arm to get the brine cycle to work right. I nursed my old Culligan along for over 25 years. I guess I'll see for myself how good these are, but based on what I have read, there are much better heads out there if you want to pay for them. Damn, and this one is so simple to work on too. Maybe the majority of them work just fine and we only hear about the problem units here. Oh yea, the tech told me that there was no need to buy a new head, as you can just replace the major internal parts and it's basically a rebuilt unit. I appreciate him not trying to rip me off on parts. Now, others have posted that they thought the plastic housing o-ring grooves wear, but that would surprise me if everything was properly lubed. While I had the head off, I also poured a mixture of Iron Out directly into the resin tank for removal of any accumulated rust. I had previously called their 800 number and asked a tech if this would harm the resin if I did this and let it there for awhile, and the answer was no. So, if I find that this thing works properly after eleven years, I will buy a new motor ans see just how good this freebie is. Hope my experience will help someone else fighting a problem. Comments welcome.

Jerry