Evontis Maintenance
Does high performance mean high maintenance? Just how much time will you spend performing the recommended maintenance on the Evontis Elite?
The Evontis Elite is the most powerful, non-commercial water ionizer available on the market today, but what kind of maintenance is required to sustain its highly rated performance? Let’s take a look.
As it turns out, the maintenance of an Evontis Elite water ionizer requires no more time or effort to maintain than most other water ionizers. To sum it up, it takes just a few basic maintenance procedures about twice a year.
Filter Replacement
You can expect to change the filters in this model about once every six to nine months depending on how much you are using your Evontis Elite and whether or not you have installed a prefiltration system, which is about average.
The filter change procedure? Well, that’s definitely NOT average. But in a good way.
Changing the filters in an Evontis Elite water ionizer may be easier than filter replacement in any other water ionizer because of the “swing open” front panel access to the filters and the “tip out” design of the filter connections.
Thankfully, you never have to move the unit to access a rear filter panel. You never have to fumble with matching fittings on a filter door panel to snap it back in place. The entire front panel of the Evontis Elite swings opens providing full and easy access to the internal filter compartment.
With most water ionizers, gripping the filters to unscrew them and then remove them can be tricky given the tight space inside the filter compartment. Not the case with the Evontis Elite! The filters actually tip out at an angle making them easy to grasp, easy to remove and easy to replace.
Once you’ve replaced the filters and locked them back in place, close the front panel and then take a few more seconds to reset the filter life indicator.
As with all water ionizers, you’ll want to run the Evontis Elite for several minutes at the neutral setting to flush loose carbon from the filters. Once the water coming out of the unit is clear, that’s it – you’re done.
Internal Cleaning
Internal cleaning is just as easy to perform using an Evontis Cleaning Cartridge.
Start by replacing the #2 ceramic filter with the cleaning cartridge.
If the unit is connected to the faucet, set the water temperature to hot – not scalding hot – the water should be about the same temperature as the water you would use to wash dishes. Then divert water to the unit.
Allow the unit to run for 20 to 30 minutes at the neutral setting. This process will dissolve the cleaning powder and circulate it throughout the unit, loosening any scale buildup inside the electrolysis chamber and dispenser hose and flushing out of the system.
After the unit has run with the cleaning cartridge in place for 20 to 30 minutes, set your faucet to “cold” and continue to flush the system until the water coming out of the dispenser hose is the same temperature as the cold water that comes directly from the tap.
Once the temperature of the water coming out of the unit is back to normal, shut the unit off, replace the cleaning cartridge with the #2 ceramic filter and then allow the unit to run at the neutral setting for another minute or two to flush the system.
If you choose to install your Evontis Elite by connecting it directly to the cold water line below the sink, using hot water won’t be possible. That’s okay – while hot water does allow for more effective cleaning, it’s not absolutely necessary, and you have a couple of other options.
First – you can allow the unit to soak. Start the cleaning procedure using cold water, but stop the unit after about 5 minutes and block the acid drain hose to lock the water inside the unit.
Allow the unit to “soak” for up to an hour, then unblock the acid drain hose and restart the unit at the neutral setting, running it for another 15 minutes. Then replace the cleaning cartridge with the #2 ceramic filter and perform your flush at the H2O setting.
Another option is to disconnect the unit from the water supply coming from below the sink and reconnect it to a faucet using the faucet diverter that came with your Evontis Elite.
If your kitchen faucet is incompatible with the diverter, and the diverter fits another faucet in your home, you can move the unit there to perform the cleaning using hot water.
Just don’t forget to shut the water supply off before removing the water supply line from the back of the unit. There will be a flow control valve on the T-adapter used for this direct-connect installation that you can use to stop the flow of water to the Evontis Elite.
Evontis recommends running a cleaning cartridge once every 12 to 18 months, or once every 6 to 9 months if you are in a hard water area.
The Evontis Elite requires no more maintenance than any other water ionizer out there – but the front panel access and tip-out filter chamber design sure does make maintenance a whole lot easier.