3 Grains Hardness after Softener in New House

[rural_engineer]

I've been consistently getting about 3 grains of hardness on a brand new softener with brand new plumbing, even after regenerating several times and using the hot and cold water pretty heavily. I've been checking it with a Hach 5B. What might be causing this, and how can I troubleshoot it?

I've had my well water tested by a mail-order lab and the local health department.

Tapscore: 0.56ppm Iron and 25.46gpg hardness
Heath Department: .08mg/L Iron and 376mg/L total hardness
My own Hach 5B: Between 25 and 26 grains hardness
(I also had a pushy water softener salesman do a test, and he found 18gpg and no iron)

I've got a 2 cu.ft. softener with a Fleck 5810XTR2.

Thanks!

 

[Bannerman]

List all of the settings currently programmed.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[ditttohead]

Put the system into brine and slow rinse cycle and taste the water going to the drain after 1 minute. It should not be salty. Salty water should get to the drain after 5-15 minutes. Let us know what you find.

 

[rural_engineer]

Here are the current settings:

VALVE:
Valve: 5810
Regen type: Softener Meter Delayed
Media Volume: 2 cu ft
Salt Dosage: 8lbs/ft^2
blfc size: 0.125gpm
Capacity: 45236 grains
Hardness: 27gpG
Sensor sensitivity: NA
Day override/time-driven: off
Regen time: 2am
reserve: Weekly reserve

REGENERATION:
Regen flow: downflow 2x backwash
Step 1: Backwash
Time 1: 10 m
Step 2: Draw
Time 2: 120 m
Step 3: backwash
Time 3: 5 m
Step 4: rapid rinse
Time 4: 10 m
Step 5: Tank refill
Time 5: 43 m

RELAY OUTPUT:
Auxiliary 1: off
Auxiliary 2: off

METER:
Meter type: 1.25" turbine
generic: NA
emerg. regen: off

CONTINUOUS FLOW DETECT:
continuous flow detect: off
flow rate: na
duration: na

REMOTE REGENERATION:
Remote signal duration: off

WATER SAVER REGEN:
Water saver regen: off

CHLORINE GEN / LOW SALT:
cl generation / low salt: off
regen interval na

For the record, it has a 00 injector and a 3.5GPM DLFC. It's a 12" tank.

I'll do the brine taste test when I next have time, maybe tomorrow night.

 

[Reach4]

Nice job posting the settings.

I'll do the brine taste test when I next have time, maybe tomorrow night.

If you have a TDS meter, you can use that instead of tasting. Expect the TDS to go up a lot, over 1000, when the salt hits. Taste works too.

 

[rural_engineer]

Brine test was a clear failure. I could taste salt after 30 seconds, and it was really salty after 60 seconds. What's next?

 

[ditttohead]

Dang I'm good.

Remove the valve and check the riser o-ring/clip. It needs to match the riser pipe size. The 5810 is available with 3 different riser tube sizes, all use the same valve, just a different adapter kit.

 

[rural_engineer]

Yep, I was just opening it up to take a look and it's definitely a mismatch.

 

[ditttohead]

Post pictures, the problem is very easy to correct. Here is a video of the 7000 riser, almost identical to the 5810.

 

[rural_engineer]

Any suggestions for where I can source that quickly? I'm sure my water softener supplier will eventually send me one, but I really would like to get one by Friday.

 

[ditttohead]

We need to know which part you need first. What size is your riser tube?

 

[rural_engineer]

Looks like my dealer is coming through, and I'll have the part this week. Thanks all!

 

[rural_engineer]

With the new riser adapter the cold water is now completely soft. The Hach 5B shows blue without any drops of the liquid reagent.

 

[ditttohead]

Congrats on a successful fix! The riser assembly on the 5810 is very unique in that it accommodates 3 different size riser tubes. This is good and bad as you found out.