Fleck 5600sxt questions

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Bannerman

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My system should regenerate once it gets to 120?
There will likely be less than 120 gallons remaining when regeneration actually occurs.

The 120 gallon reserve setting is your estimated daily usage. If at 2am (the Regeneration Time programmed), there is more capacity remaining than 120 gallons, then regeneration will be further delayed.

The capacity remaining at 2am could be only 125 gallons so the first person rising in the morning will likely cause regeneration to be triggered at 120 gallons remaining, but regeneration will be further delayed until 2am the following morning. Since additional soft water will be utilized before regeneration occurs, the water consumed directly after regeneration is triggered but before regeneration takes place will be the reserve allowance.

If there was only 125 gallons remaining at 2am, then it is likely almost all of the reserve allowance will have been depleted when regeneration takes-place. If the remaining capacity at 2am is <120 gallons, then regeneration will be performed without further delay.
 
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Reach4

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My system should regenerate once it gets to 120?
It will regen at 2AM (if RT is set there) the night after you count down to zero. The reserve was already deducted from the number when the countdown started.
 

Reach4

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Hi @Reach4 So, I tested my water again last night. The amount to Regen on the display read 51. It still takes 2 drops for water to turn blue.

Thoughts?

One drop should turn it blue normally. Sounds like you want to set H higher. Still, two drops is not bad, and maybe you want to put up with with that level of hardness leakage to save salt.

Also, start testing mid-way during the countdown. Test cold to avoid the delay through the WH.
 

Reach4

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It was a cold water test.

What would you recommend for setting to tweak a bit?
I would trigger an immediate regen. Then test as you have 300, 200, 100 gallons left until one drop no longer turns the solution blue. Then based on that, do a calculation.

Alternatively, for a simpler method, maybe increase H by 10% to 15%.
 

Reach4

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Just H setting? or should there be other one?

The countdown gallons is C/H-RC. Whether you lower C by x percent or raise H by x percent, you get the same result. Countdown number starts lower, and you reach zero sooner.

Logically H sees to make more sense, because you are compensating for differences in the water. However C gives more granularity. Plus, if you had lost some resin or the resin has degraded, then C makes sense. There is high-hardness compensation needed. Not usually accounted for, but high TDS due to salt in the water can effectively make the water act as if it were higher hardness than you would think.

So the calculations make a good starting point. But once you have experience, you want to cause the softener to regenerate about the time that the hardness leakage becomes almost too much for your preference.

Now if you did notice the water having 2 grains of hardness, then leaving the settings right where they are makes good sense. Lots of people have 7 or 8 grains of hardness all of the time, and would never consider getting a softener.
 

Reach4

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Would more granularity effect much? Trying to find that balance.

I really appreciate you taking the time to explain everything. I'm learning alot.
Granularity would be the ability to cause the initial gallons to be 89.9% or 91.5 percent as much as now, vs 88% or 92%. Not a big deal.

Again, leaving the settings where they are for a few months might be your best option... if you ever notice the water is not as good as you like during bathing, then adjust. If you leave it, you will use a little less salt.
 

Bannerman

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With it being a fairly new softener, have you tested the hardness of the soft water directly after regeneration has occurred?

There have been issues with damaged or missing O rings where the riser tube connects to the control valve that will result in hardness leakage. Since the programming should be correct initially, suggest checking the water hardness to verify it is being fully softened before making setting adjustments.
 

Bannerman

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Since hard water enters at the top of the tank, if the seal around the top of the riser tube is poor, hard water can leak past directly to the softener's outlet connection, causing the hardness of the soft water to be higher than it should be, just as you have been experiencing. When the O ring is missing, the 'soft' water exiting may be the same hardness as the raw water but since your hardness amount is only 2 gpg, not 15, it seems there is a partial seal.

One method to test without removing the control valve is to advance the controller to Brine Draw and taste the flow to drain. When there is leakage around the riser, the drain flow will usually taste salty almost immediately. You might perform the taste test or you could anticipate the O ring is damaged and proceed to remove the control valve to replace the O ring while also lubricating the new O ring and the top of the riser tube.
 

Bannerman

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It’s 2 after being softened.
Yes, you clarified that in post #34.

The 2 gpg directly following regeneration is what lead me to suspect the problem is not a programming issue, but is a result of some hard water leakage past the riser tube where it connects to the control valve.
 
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