Fleck 5600sxt overfilling brine tank

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Rkulp89

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I installed a brand new 40k grain fleck 5600sxt water softener last weekend. The instructions said put 5 gallons of water in the brine tank and 120-160 pounds of salt. I ran the manual regen to test drain fittings and brine fittings, everything was good. I left during the brine draw/slow rinse and when I got home I noticed the water line in the brine tank was up to the safety float.

Today I ran the manual regen again after doing some research and monitored the entire cycle.

During the brine draw/slow rinse, the entire brine tank is sucked dry. Nothing but salt left.

During the brine refill cycle, the sxt head shows a 10min countdown and starts filling. This time, I shut the cycle off after the water line reached the salt and was nearing the float. This was about 5mins into the cycle, so it would have surely hit the float and cut off.

What am I doing wrong? Why is it filling high?
 

Rkulp89

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The instructions say to program the head for 12min brine refill, I have mine set for only 10.
 

Reach4

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What is the BLFC? Look for a label on the controller near the hose that goes to the brine tank.https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/huge_5600blfc-jpg.22481/
 
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Rkulp89

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.5gpm is what is marked. I guess I can try doing another regen and measuring the actual flow rate because I think it must be off.

When i initially filled the tank with 5 gallons, the water line was nowhere near the float.
 

Bannerman

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I suspect the BLFC button was not installed or is incorrect.

The button is a black plastic washer like disk with a small hole through the center. It's purpose is to limit the flow of water into the brine tank to a specific rate, in your case, 0.5 gpm. With a 0.5 gpm button, your 10 minute setting should result in only 5 gallons in the tank. Performing additional manual regenerations will not change the result if the part is missing or is incorrect. There are numbers embossed into the button so as to identify the intended gpm flow.

It appears you will need to dismantle the brine port on the control valve, directly behind where the brine tube connects, to verify if the button is missing or is incorrect. If so, you'll need to contact the reseller you purchased from, to obtain the proper button.
 
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Reach4

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After you resolve this overfill factor, you may want to revisit with your hardness, iron, manganese numbers as well as the number of people in the household. 15 lbs of salt with 1.25 cubic feet of resin is 12 pounds of salt per cubic ft of resin. You can probably get better salt efficiency by using a smaller BD and a smaller C (but not proportionally smaller).
 

ditttohead

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What size is the brine tank? Grid or no grid?

.5 BLFC = 5 gallons, x 3 pounds per gallon, way too high of a salt setting, very inefficient.

Try 7 minutes, this will make you system a 30,000 grain actual capacity.

You can remove the brine line fro the brine tank and simply time the refill rate into a gallon jug. It should take 2 minutes to fill it if the button is correct and working properly.
 

Rkulp89

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14x34 square brine tank, no grid.

I checked for the flow control button and it was installed. Rated for .50

I ran the brine fill cycle and measured the results. The water flow starts in between cycles, shortly before the timer starts so I bit of extra water is dispensed.

After 2 minutes 1.3 gallons was measured. A good portion of the overage was from the water that was dispensed before the timer started. The flow rate did seem slightly fast though.
 

Bannerman

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The flow rate did seem slightly fast though.
Since you previously indicated that the flow into the tank was extremely fast
When i initially filled the tank with 5 gallons, the water line was nowhere near the float.(
, is the flow now slower since you removed the button and re-installed it?

When you had the button out, did you happen to notice which way the button was installed and did you re-install it the same way? (ie: numbers facing in or facing out?)

The button must be orientated specifically in one direction to work properly. Dittohead will recall which direction is the proper orientation.
 
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Rkulp89

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I didn't measure the flow rate before inspecting the button. The button flew out when I pulled the retainer out so I couldn't tell which way it was facing but I reinstalled it according to spec (numbers out).

I never said the flow was extremely fast, I just stated where the water levels were at within a certain time frame.
 

Reach4

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I didn't measure the flow rate before inspecting the button. The button flew out when I pulled the retainer out so I couldn't tell which way it was facing but I reinstalled it according to spec (numbers out).

I never said the flow was extremely fast, I just stated where the water levels were at within a certain time frame.

You did by implication.

During the brine draw/slow rinse, the entire brine tank is sucked dry. Nothing but salt left.

During the brine refill cycle, the sxt head shows a 10min countdown and starts filling. This time, I shut the cycle off after the water line reached the salt and was nearing the float. This was about 5mins into the cycle, so it would have surely hit the float and cut off.

So you describe the system during brine fill adding what -- 10 to 20 gallons (non-expert estimate) of water in 5 minutes. That would be 2 to 4 GPM. You have a flow regulation button (BLFC) that is supposed to limit that flow to 0.5 GPM. So the flow would be 4 to 8 times what it should be.

So is that not extreme? Remember they sell CPUs that go maybe 20% faster than others that they call extreme, which is a marketing exaggeration maybe. What are your standards for extremely fast?
 
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ditttohead

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Numbers always face the valve, that is a directional flow controller and does not restrict the brine draw, only the brine refill. The white cage allows the BLFC button to move out of the way of the brine draw.

So... be sure the button is in the correct direction or it will not be accurate.
 

Rkulp89

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Numbers always face the valve, that is a directional flow controller and does not restrict the brine draw, only the brine refill. The white cage allows the BLFC button to move out of the way of the brine draw.

So... be sure the button is in the correct direction or it will not be accurate.

Great info! The button is facing the right way, at least after I reinstalled it, but I was not sure the reasoning behind it.

I'm not sure what kind of accuracy to look for but if it wasn't for the premature flow, the rate would be pretty close. Is it normal for the water flow to start in between cycles, slightly before the countdown? Every cycle seemed to start early before the timers started so it didn't raise any flags with me, but I'm only guessing.
 

Jon Penko

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I am new to this forum…honestly I got tier of searching the net to get a straight input on how to set my new Fleck 5600STX 1cft (32000) water softener. I am hoping that someone will help.

My issue is that I got get the slimy water at all…it is softer than the hard water but it still leaves white residue on my stainless still sink, etc. I installed this water system over 3 months ago and put 3 bags of 40 pounds of salt, and after 3 mounts there is still approximately 20 pounds left in brine.

My system:

1) Fine mesh water softener resin

2) System Capacity set to 24000 (default)

3) Water hardness set to 20

4) BW set to 10

5) RT set to 60

6) RR set to 10

7) BF set to 10

Brine line value at 0.125 grams…should the setting be different? Based on the setting above and the info I found on internet, the salt usage is at 11.25 pound of salt per regeneration? If the system is using over 11 pounds of salt then I should be done with 120 pounds of salt in less than 2 mounts.This is not the case.

What is wrong with my system? Let me mention that I replaced old unit that was 10 years old…but it looks like this new one does not work any better and seems to me that it does not producing the same quality of soft water as I am in costume to with my old unit. Any thoughts?
 

Reach4

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With C=24000 and 1 cuft ( as implied by the "32000") of resin, you want 8 pounds of salt.

When you say "Brine line value at 0.125 grams", I am guessing the BLFC is 0.125 GPM (Gallons Per Minute). In that case, the BF should be 21.33 minutes to give 8 pounds.

Alternatively, use C=20000 and BF=16 minutes for 6 pounds of salt per cubic ft. That is probably the better choice.

Now those numbers are not very close to your numbers.

You say H=20. Is that measured? You can't just take a default for hardness.

I don't know what you mean by slimy water. Hard water is not slimy. With a little soap residue plus soft water can feel slick, but not slimy.

With BLFC=0.125, BF=10, then you are using 10/8*3=3.75 pounds of salt -- not enough.

If your BLFC is something different, then the above numbers don't apply. Check that out.
 

DumbOnPlumbing

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Rkulp89 did you get this resolved? My Fleck 5600sxt brine tank water level is also consistently over the salt level. Thanks.
 

ditttohead

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First thing to check is the brine valve. Simply remove the compression nut and take off the brine line from the valve. It should not drip. This is a wear item that needs replacement occasionally.
 
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