Fleck 5600 high pressure?

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dbpo

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While my FLECK 5600 econominder softener was regenerating, I though I had measured high pressure at a spigot in my home.

Is it possible for a softener to introduce high pressure into a water system while its regenerating? (perhaps from air getting into the lines?)

Is it safe to assume that it is impossible since its in bypass when in operation and depends on main pressure to push water thru the system?
 

Reach4

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The softener has no pump. I don't know if it can close fast enough to make a water hammer effect. I doubt it. So I am thinking it is not going to make even a high pressure spike.

The little gauges with the lazy hand peak reading can move due to vibration. I found that lightly tapping the gauge can make the little red hand move. It could also be that the house pressure did rise due to the water heater expanding and the expansion tank having failed.
 

dbpo

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I was kind of thinking the same thing about lack of a pump.

When the softener is working, it simply by passes itself so the rest of the house would be isolated from the softener correct? So it just like having a ball valve closed. There would be no effect?
 

Reach4

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I was kind of thinking the same thing about lack of a pump.

When the softener is working, it simply by passes itself so the rest of the house would be isolated from the softener correct? So it just like having a ball valve closed. There would be no effect?
It bypasses the input to the output, but the input water is entering the controller at various times in the cycle. The biggest flow is during the backwash. I cannot for sure say that there is no water hammer type spike when the backflow ends, but my thinking is that the 5600 valve does not slam shut, so it should not make a water hammer action.

What is happening with your pressure gauge? It is not unusual for actual water pressures from a city to be higher at night. How high is the apparent pressure peak that your gauge records?
 

Mikey

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Municipal water supplies can show dramatically different pressures over time, but if you ALWAYS see higher pressure ONLY when regenerating, then there's something worth investigating.
 

ditttohead

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5600 is a very slow moving piston design so no pressure fluctuations or hammer should occur with this valve. If you are on a municipal supply water pressure fluctuations are normal on pumped distribution systems. We see pressure rises in excess of 200 PSI in many areas in Southern California. It is especially common at night.
 

dbpo

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Thanks for the replies. What occurred is that I saw a transient increase in pressure. I happened to measure it while the softener was doing its thing. Opening a spigot in the system did not relieve the pressure.


When the softener was done, I drained the system and rechecked. The increase was still there but then it disappeared and went back to normal on its own.

I have a closed system so I checked my expansion tank and albeit a bit under pressure I pumped it up but I think I can rule out thermal expansion because I drained the system down and it reappeared.

I do not have a PRV valve and there has never been a need for on in our area.

So at that point I was thinking it was either a spike from the main and a coincidence or the softener itself.

Its been a few days now. Had no increase in pressure with the guage on the house for over 24 hours and everything used as normal. I posted in order to rule out the softener but I think I answered my own question today by simply putting it into manual regen again with a pressure guage on the system.

There was no effect whatsoever... the pressure stayed right on the mark for the entire cycle.
 
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DonL

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"I do not have a PRV valve and there has never been a need for on in our area."


Times change, It would not be a bad Idea to install one.

If pressure can come from nowhere, I want some.

Good Luck.
 

ditttohead

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If your municipality uses pump stations rather than gravity, then you have the possibility of high pressure spikes. PRV's are cheap insurance. Thermal expansion is also common and the tanks should be replaced every 5-10 years.
 
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