FLeck 5810 SXT Settings Help Request

[D C]

I suppose I'll jump on the bandwagon of people asking for setting advice. We've been in our house a bit over a year now, and it seems like the softener is slowly becoming less effective. When we moved in and installed the softener, my wife actually asked if water could be TOO soft. Not anymore.

Here's the scoop:
5 adults in the house

Softener:
Fleck 5810 SXT Valve
3 cuft of 10% resin

Water Quality (it ain't good )
20.5 grains hardness
870 ug/l iron

Just checked the settings on the softener:
DF Gal
VT 5810
RF dF1b
CT Fd
C 24 (shouldn't this be 96 for the 3cuft of resin?)
H 24
RS rc
DO 14
RT 2:00
B1 10
Bd 60
B2 -
RR 1
BF 12
FM t1.2
RE OFF
VR OFF

I've been putting in a cup of citric acid per bag of salt. Just started that a couple months ago though.
I understand there's a salt usage/efficiency tradeoff, but I'm not clear on the settings or calcs for that.

Any suggestions on where to go from here?

THANKS!
Dave

 

[Bannerman]

BF 12

The BF setting X the BLFC (brine line flow control) flow rate will determine the quantity of water that will enter the brine tank. Each 1-gallon water will dissolve 3 lbs salt. We will need to know the BLFC rate to establish the appropriate BF settings for various capacities to be regenerated. The BLFC rate is typically indicated on a label located close to the brine line fitting. Standard flow rates are 0.125, 0.25, 0.5 or 1.0 gpm.

C 24 (shouldn't this be 96 for the 3cuft of resin?)

The capacity to be programmed is dependent on the quantity of salt that is dissolved as mentioned above.
The chart at the link below will show various capacity and related salt requirements for various resin quantities. The most recommended settings for 3 ft3 resin will be either 63,000 grains capacity when regenerated with 6 lbs/ft3 (18 lbs total) salt, or 72,000 grains capacity when using 8 lbs/ft3 (24 lbs total) as those provide good balance of salt efficiency, capacity and water quality as summarized at the bottom of the chart.

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/resin-chart-jpg.53316/

How was the hardness quantity established?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[D C]

The BF setting X the BLFC (brine line flow control) flow rate will determine the quantity of water that will enter the brine tank. Each 1-gallon water will dissolve 3 lbs salt. We will need to know the BLFC rate to establish the appropriate BF settings for various capacities to be regenerated. The BLFC rate is typically indicated on a label located close to the brine line fitting. Standard flow rates are 0125, 0.25, 0.5 or 1.0 gpm.


The capacity to be programmed is dependent on the quantity of salt that is dissolved as mentioned above.
The chart at the link below will show various capacity and related salt requirements for various resin quantities. The most recommended settings for 3 cuft resin will be either 63,000 grains capacity when regenerated with 6 lbs/ft3 (18 lbs total) salt, or 72,000 grains capacity when using 8 lbs/ft3 (24 lbs total) as those provide good balance of salt efficiency, capacity and water quality as summarized at the bottom of the chart.

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/resin-chart-jpg.53316/

How was the hardness quantity established?

Found it
BLFC: 0.25 GPM
DLFC: ------
INJECTOR: 1

A local water analysis lab did the hardness check as part of the testing that needed to be done to certify the new well.

So if this thing was set to 24,000 grains, it was working to not much more than 2 lbs/cuft salt. That might explain why the salt usage seemed really low considering the size of the unit.

That's a VERY handy chart! That's the kind of thing I was looking for earlier, with no luck.
We'll see what morning brings. I bumped the 24k to 96k right after posting and started a regen. Looks like it'll use a little bit of salt tonight! I'll adjust it down before it cycles again.

 

[Reach4]

System info (not programmed)
salt lb/cuft : 7 ; A choice ( efficiency vs capacity)
BLFC : 0.25 ; Brine Refill rate GPM
cubic ft resin : 3 ; Same as (nominal grains/32,000)
Raw hardness : 24.85 ; including iron @5 grains/ppm
Estimated gal/day ; 300 ; 60 gal per person prediction (auto-tunes)
Est days/regen ; 7.87 ; presuming days each use estimated

Fleck 5810SXT Settings:
DF = Gal ; Units
VT = 5810 ; Valve type
RF = dF2b ; Downflow, Double Backwash
CT = Fd ; Meter Delayed regen trigger
C = 66.1 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 28 ; Hardness grains after high-hardness comp factor
RS = cr ; Cr = base reserve on recent experience
DO = 10 ; Day Override (typ 30 if no iron/Mn)
RT = 2:00 ; Regen time (default 2 AM)
B1 = 5 ; Backwash 1 (minutes) [3...10]
Bd = 60 ; Brine draw minutes
B2 = 4 ; Backwash 2 (minutes)[3...10]
RR = 6 ; Rapid Rinse minutes
BF = 28 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = t1.2 (usual) ; t1.2 is default flow meter
RE = OFF ; Relay
VR = OFF ; ?

========================
The less salt per cubic ft, the more salt efficient, but more hardness breakthrough.
BLFC = 0.25
cubic ft resin = 3
Alternative C and BF pairs:
lb/cuft ; C= ; BF=
5.750 ; 58.5 ; 23
6.000 ; 60.0 ; 24 ;More salt-efficient.
6.250 ; 61.5 ; 25
6.500 ; 63.0 ; 26
6.750 ; 64.6 ; 27
7.000 ; 66.1 ; 28 ;Used in above example
7.250 ; 67.6 ; 29
7.500 ; 69.1 ; 30
7.750 ; 70.6 ; 31
8.000 ; 72.0 ; 32 ;Softer
8.250 ; 73.3 ; 33
8.500 ; 74.6 ; 34
8.750 ; 75.9 ; 35
9.000 ; 77.0 ; 36
9.250 ; 78.1 ; 37
9.500 ; 79.1 ; 38
9.750 ; 80.1 ; 39
10.000 ; 81.0 ; 40

 

[Bannerman]

We'll see what morning brings. I bumped the 24k to 96k right after posting and started a regen. Looks like it'll use a little bit of salt tonight!

Increasing the capacity setting will only make matters worse since increasing capacity will not automatically increase the salt brine available for regeneration.

Your current salt setting is 0.25 gpm BLFC X 12 minutes BF = 3 gallons X 3 lb/gallon = 9 lbs salt dissolved.

96K is inappropriate as the amount of salt required is very high and inefficient. The 6 lb/ft3 setting previously recommended will provide a salt efficiency of 63K / 18 = 3500 grains per lb. The 8 lb/ft3 recommendation will be slightly less salt efficient (3,000 grains/lb) but the water quality will be higher as the ongoing result will be less hardness leakage than the 6 lb setting.

Reprogram for 24 lbs/72,000 capacity as recommended and increase the hardness setting as Reach4 suggested. Before initiating a manual regen cycle, add an additional 12 gallons to the brine tank and wait approx 2 hours to allow additional salt to dissolve before regeneration is performed. This will restore additional capacity beyond the 72K you will be using.

 

[D C]

Awesome guys! Much appreciated!
I'll make some setting changes and see how it goes.

I'm putting in about 1 cup (or so) of citric acid per 40-50lb bag of salt. Is that about right?

And is there any point in using the "iron fighter" salt (or whatever name each brand uses)? I haven't been.