Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - repair or replace?

and if i replace, what do i replace it with?

ok, first off your patience will be greatly appreciated so thanx in advance to anyone who reads this and offers advice.

around 92' or so i bought a whole house softener/filter system from culligan. needless to say i paid through the nose.

a year ago the lifetime guaranteed tank on the softener split and nearly totally flooded my basement. after legal threats they came out and replaced the tank (old geared timer type)
with a newer tank equipped with an electronic timer. i have no complaints about this as it seems to do the job.

anyhoo the repair guy said that my carbon fiter tank timer would probably go out before long and it would start recycling and not turn off.

sure enough last week it recycled and would not stop running.
so now I'm trying to decide whether to call them again, or just replace the carbon tank with one of those inexpensive in line whirlpool filters they have at lowes. (the chlorine smell sux)
any suggestions?
old tank/timer on left (carbon) newer softener tank timer on rt.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a184/TwistedLefty/watersystem1.jpg
timers with covers removed
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a184/TwistedLefty/watersystem2.jpg

Apparently you have a need for a backwashing carbon filter and you have been satisfied until now when it requires service.

No inline filter you can buy will do the job of a backwashing carbon filter so forget that idea.

Either have Culligan repair the one you have or replace it with another. Culligan should be able to give you an estimate.

Look in the yellow pages under water treatment for companies who do not sell a brand name softener. The will be independent dealers or you can buy online and do-it-yourself.

Check your PM.

sorry i read the pm before i saw your reply,

my need is relative to what is needed to remove the chlorine smell and any particles/etc that make it past the city and my softener.
i don't neccessarily need a carbon filter that backwashes.
i bought this system a long time ago and my wife seemed to think we needed it.
i guess i need to know if an inline filter that only needs a cartridge replaced every 6 months or so will do the job.
thanx for your reply and the links in the pm

An inline whole house carbon filter will restrict the flow. You'd probably need at least two 20" big blue style filters in parallel and the smart thing to do would be to place pressure gauges before and after each filter to monitor the pressure drop. That way you could monitor the pressure drop across the filters and know when to replace them.

I assume, and we know about assuming, that back in the day Culligan justified the backwashing filter to you and it has been doing its job for over 15 years. Pretty good I think. A backwashing filter requires no maintenance and just sits there and do its job. If it costs a couple hundred and the filter goes another 15 years I'd consider that money well spent.

I'd get an estimate from Culligan to repair the filter control and maybe replace the carbon and then consider the options.

JMO

thanx for the replies.
i've done just what you suggested. culligan should be calling me back shortly with some details. i will post the results asap