Customer Reviews

Culligan US-EZ-4 EZ-Change Level-4 Under-Sink Drinking Water System

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

The Culligan 2650 was easy to install; I installed it within 20 minutes, provided the hole on my sink was already there for the faucet. The instructions walked me through everything, even have detailed instructions via pictures for the lazy reader. Comes with an ergonomic long reach faucet. The new design on the lead free faucet looks almost like the ones they have in Lowe's for $50. Filter unit warnes user with audible beeps and LED lights to indicate when filter needs changing (uses a 9V battery, included). So far, this is the only unit that I know that removes MTBE's, VOC's, and more at a low cost of $32 per filter cartridge replacement set (500 gallon filter life, Pentek brand name at filterpros.com). I avoided Lowe's and Home Depot water filters b/c they use proprietary filters, forcing consumer to buy expensive filter cartridges. All other pressure fed water filters I know use $40+ filter cartridges (i.e. Aquasana). I switched to the under sink filter b/c my Pur faucet head filter keeps leaking, and I got sick of replacing them after the third time. I get filtered water at less than $0.07/gal, and I get great tasting water in an instant; it fits my needs perfectly.

After 11 months of service the plastic stem of the faucet broke and flooded my kitchen cabinet and the basement wall. I have yet to see the warranty response, however I highly recommend a Watts Premier Chrome Non Air-Gap Faucet to install from the start. Otherwise, filters are cheap, the water quality is good. But Culligan going for a one or two dollar saving using plastic faucet part under strain vs. the liability of flooding a house demonstrates very bad judgment from Culligan.

We bought this after wanting to get away from bottled water which is expensive and not environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, the local water is less than desirable (terrible taste). The reviews here tell the tale already - it's easy to install and it's also easy to change out filters (and you can choose the one you want as you see there are many levels of filters for the system). Again, the system was easy to install but the fixture is horrible. It's plastic so while trying to install on the sink area the base of the plastic broke from the fixture itself. Not cool. To improvise I put it back together with super glue but this is obviously not recommended - I did it because I didn't want to undo what I already started. I've already replaced it with a Watts fixture which is cheap but is all metal and it's working much better and I'm not worrying about someone with heavy hands breaking it off and having water going everywhere. The system now is working well and the water it's delivering is great. Looking forward to using this for a long while.

Stay away from this item. The connector for the sink is made of thin, weak plastic which was broken upon arrival. Repeated calls to Culligan gains a 'we will call you back tomorrow' and they never do.

Looks great, doesn't it? Great filtration.. Then you have the faucet. A piece that does all the work manipulating the water on and off. Sounds easy.... and it is. Except when they cheap out and make the stem that holds the faucest to the sink out of plastic. It will snap off with just finger tightening at its weakest point. That is what happened to mine. I had to buy one from a home center (with a brass stem) and finish the installation. Too bad, really. It could be great...

1. The filtered water produced by this unit still tastes noticeably like chlorinated tap water. Your results may vary, of course, but here in Los Angeles, my Brita filter does a much better job of improving the taste of our city water supply.

2. The Culligan tap is all plastic and feels cheap and delicate. The tap stem wobbles when you touch it. The on/off mechanism is not intuitive, and visitors to our home frequently try to pull up on it rather than rotate it as they should.

3. Perhaps it was this periodic wrenching by confused newbies that caused the threaded nipple on the tap to spontaneously shear off one evening. Nobody was touching the unit at the time, but fortunately I was home and noticed the kitchen floor and undersink cabinet flooded with water. We used the filter for about eight months before it self-destructed. I haven't tried to get it replaced under warranty, and I'm not sure I will bother, as we had already decided to find another solution. This filter was a waste of money.

I would rate the product much higher if it didn't almost flood my house. The plastic fitting on bottom of the faucet broke off an hour after installing it. Water was just free flowing under my sink. Luckily the sound of water pouring out on my kitchen floor was enough to wake me up after only a couple of minutes of flooding.
They didn't question it when I called and said they would send another fitting. I'm worried that it will break again and considering buying another faucet. That looks like it will cost another $30-$40!

Filtered water very well from Nov 2008 - Aug 2009. Plastic nipple has broken from no apparent cause, sending a cascade of filtered water from my base cabinet down the basement stairs. The water was further filtered by my hardwood floors as it seeped into the basement where it is now raining from the ceiling. Thanks Culligan! I'll never buy another of your products!

I bought this unit because it used the old style dual-stage filters that you can get anywhere (Pentek 250A's are one example). It filters out just about everything except fluoride.

This is an under-sink unit so make sure you have enough room and your dishpan holder doesn't hit it. It includes the dual stage unit, a monitor, a drinking water faucet and of course, the 2 filters.

I had it installed by a professional plumber and it worked great for about 6 months. Around the time of the first filter check/replacement, someone must have clipped the above-sink filtered water faucet moving some pans on the counter.

This faucet looks chrome but has a cheap nylon shaft internally that is bonded to the 3/8" blue hose that runs from the filter unit to the drinking water faucet. This threaded, nylon shaft allows you to attach it securely from underneath the sink to one of the standard, extra holes most sinks have.

This filtered water faucet and the nylon shaft became the single-point of failure for us. This might only happen in 1/10000 cases but the faucet shaft broke off under the sink and ended up (overnight) flooding our basement. Now, the flow rate is only about .25-.75 gals per minute or less - but the damage it did to our finished basement cost us $3000 to repair.

So, my review of the SY-2650 unit is still high. This is still a good unit. It's no longer made by Culligan. Pentek picked up the design and calls theirs the US-1500 (model without the water beeper monitor that the SY-2650 has though).

Basically, I think Culligan stopped making these and opted for single, spin-on cartridge solutions (more $$$ with replacement filters since they are BRAND-specific).

These Culligan SY-2650's - if you can find one - use STANDARD P250, P250A filters (no $$$ for Culligan - about $30 in bulk - only replaced every 6 months or so).

Reiterating, the only issue is with the cheap faucet. Make sure you don't torque down on that nylon bolt too hard putting the faucet in since it might pre-load the shaft for later failure.

WaterFilters.net (the vendor of record for this product on Amazon) DID replace my broken faucet for free and were very nice (recommended highly).

Unfortunately, in his haste while servicing the leak, the plumber cut some of the unit's blue hose while removing it and this destroyed the integrity of the ENTIRE filtering unit so I now have to buy another unit. Neither Culligan nor WaterFilters.net want to reimburse me or replace the unit. In their defense, the part that the plumber damaged (cutting the blue hose), is probably not handled by warranty.

It would be better if you have a plumber install the unit with a shutoff BETWEEN the main (60psi) water supply line and the dual-stage filter unit so you can ensure that 1/10000 doesn't happen to you. Turn it on (undersink) to fill the filter when needed, shut it off when you don't.

Otherwise, this is a great unit.

I'm switching to a counter-top MultiPure unit with a diverter right on your existing faucet (can install yourself)

http://www.multipureco.com/mpct.htm

I looked at some other faucet-mounted units and none of them have the longevity of units separated from the faucet and they don't filter nearly enough. The Multipure uses a carbon block filter. There are other, cheaper counter-top solutions, but this is the one I chose because of it's capacity (750 gals) and it's stainless. Unfortunately, all counter top solutions use BRAND-specific filters so if you opt for this style, you limit your ability to get cheaper filters.

For me, the Multipure (or any other diverter/counter top solution) solves the one weakness of the SY-2650 - the fact that the Culligan is always under water pressure and any failure will cause a leak.

Since, the Multipure counter-top filter is only "filled" and working when you have your REGULAR faucet running with the diverter "ON", there is never a chance of it leaking by accident.

...and, in this case, it's the faucet! If you are not willing to spend an additional $50 (+) on a faucet, don't waste you time/money on this product! Like several other raters have already posted, the cheap plastic faucet on my unit broke on installation.

The Culligan insisted that I send the unit back to the place of purchase (Amazon.com). Amazon accepted the return but charged me a $1600 restocking fee (on a defective item)?????

It's the first time Amazon let me down, and the last time I'll buy anything Culligan!