Mar 30, 2012 12:14 PM
15831 Views
(Updated Oct 04, 2012 11:04 PM)
UPDATE: Updating my previous review after recent problems and service experience.
As mentioned in my review, the capacity of the tank was much-much less than what was promised though it was not a big deal for us. However, about a month back, the flow of water went down a short good burst of about 2 seconds followed by an excruciatingly slow trickle. Eventually your container was filled, but it took something like 15 minutes for about 2 litres! Another problem appeared about a week later. The water was warm even though weather has been turning colder recently. Even in the mornings, water out of RO is always warm. Now, we do not know what causes this, but it is worrying. So we called in Kent service guys, and experienced what others have mentioned.
Kent service is pretty bad. Service guys do not turn up on time. Though we mostly have a guy roaming in our general area(as per him), it always takes him considerable time to attend our calls. More than that, Kent's attitude towards their product is shocking.
The service guy told us that our tank had lost pressure and would need to be replaced(cost~1500). When we asked why this tank went bad in just over a year, he shrugged and said these things happen. When we asked if the replacement will last longer, he refused to commit(at least he was honest). When pressed for more options, he said we could try topping up the pressure in the tank. This, he said, may work for a month or three.
We tried to get a second opinion from another service engineer. He flatly said that this type of mechanical failure was common in under-counter tanks and was to be expected. He more or less told us to expect this as an annual expenditure.
For warm water, they both said it is not a problem, but did not have any solution or even an explanation.
However, what bugged me more was the attitude of Kent helpdesk. If you are not carrying an AMC, then service person will charge 300 just to visit. So, no solution, but you still pay . for each visit! And they refuse to discuss the fact that there seems to be no long term solution. This is not good at all.
We are going to try to use this unit for as long as possible while looking for a more robust solution with some other company.
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We bought this almost one year back. No major issues so far, and the water tastes pretty good. There are some issues with durability of some of the parts, though the RO purifier itself has been durable with no issues.
We were looking for a thin design as space available for an RO purifier in our kitchen was limited. We called up the Kent representative. After understanding what we wanted, he advised for an under the counter model. He did not have a display model so we were skeptical. However, we gave the go ahead as we did not have any other option available.
The installation was actually much better aesthetically than we expected. The unit was installed properly under the counter and connected very well to the visible tap/fount piece through good looking tubes. In fact, many people do not realize that we have an RO system installed. No problem so far on the installation except for one described below. Water quality has been very good and taste is also to our liking. Beware though that after using RO for some time, normal water will not taste as good.
The tap/fount lever became loose after much use and started malfunctioning. Replacement(we called our local plumber) was slightly difficult. However, he brought it back to normal working condition and it has been good so far. But this part doesn't feel very sturdy and one feels that with some rough handling it will break up.
One major shortcoming we found was the capacity of the tank. We were assured that the water tanks will provide at least 7ltr of water at one go as this is the level maintained by filtering unit ahead of use. Even with some loss as water is driven upwards for delivery, we expected 5-6 ltrs of capacity. However, actual usage shows about 3-3.5 ltrs only. This is not a major problem as we never need more than that in one filling. But it is a shortcoming of the'under the counter' design. Also, if you will need larger quantities of water quickly, then this model may not be right for you.
