5810 - 48k grain capacity, 24 hardness = 1300 gal after recharge?

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Bannerman

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48,000 grains total capacity signifies 1.5 cubic feet of resin.

Regenerating all 48,000 grains will require 30 lbs salt each regeneration cycle, which would be excessive, wasteful and highly inefficient.

To obtain the best balance of efficiency, capacity and soft water quality, the usual recommendation is to program the Capacity setting to cause the system to regenerate when no more than 36,000 grains of capacity has been depleted as regenerating 36K capacity in 1.5 ft3 resin will require only 12 lbs salt. Salt efficiency is much greater at 3,000 grains/lb. (36,000 / 12 lbs = 3,000) vs (48,000 / 30 lbs = 1,600 grains per pound).

The amount of salt consumed is governed by the water quantity that enters the brine tank. Each gallon water will dissolve 3 lbs salt. The quantity of water is determined by the Brine Fill setting (minutes) X the Brine Line Flow Control flow rate (typically specified on a label located nearby to the brine tube connection.

Because a single tank softener utilizes a Reserve Capacity allowance which should typically equal the usual number of gallons used per day, that reserve allowance will be immediately subtracted before the remaining gallons are displayed.

Since 1300 remaing gallons worth of capacity is displayed directly following each regeneration cycle, I anticipate your current Capacity setting is 36K grains (36,000 / 24 gpg = 1500 gallons) - 200 gallons for Reserve Capacity.
 
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I actually have 2ft3 resin and am only loading up 8lbs/ft. I meticulously measured my BD and BF rates and use 5.3 gallons of brine per regen.

This makes sense if the gallons are subtracted right away. I just changed from percentage to variable reserve. I guess it needs to learn.

Thanks for the reply.
 

Reach4

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I think your thought that the variable reserve is causing that, until the valve gathers data. Learning time is long, weeks I think. I got impatient, and I switched to a fixed reserve.

This would be especially good for somebody who regularly does laundry on Mondays, for example.
 
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Bannerman

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I actually have 2ft3 resin
2 ft3 would equal 64K grains total capacity. You said your system has 48K capacity, therefore 1.5 ft3.

As an alternate method to determine the quantity of resin, 1.5 ft3 will be usually installed in a 10" X 54" media tank whereas 2 ft3 will usually use a 12" X 52" tank.

If 5.3 gallons is entering the brine tank, that will dissolve 15.9 lbs salt, which is just short of the amount needed to regenerate 48K of usable capacity in 2ft3 of resin.

Since only 1300 gallons capacity is available after each regen cycle, either your Capacity setting is programmed to cause regeneration to occur when 36K grains has been depleted, or the Hardness setting is programmed substantially higher than 24 GPG, or the Reserve setting was much higher than 200 gallons.
 
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Bannerman

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measured my BD and BF rates and use 5.3 gallons of brine per regen.
5.3 gallons does not compute.

As the Brine Fill setting only allows whole numbers, a 10-minute BF setting flowing through a 0.5 GPM BLFC restrictor, will cause 5-gallons water to enter the brine tank. An 11-minute BF setting will result in 5.5 gallons to enter the brine tank.

Likewise, a 20-minute BF setting flowing through a 0.25 GPM BLFC restrictor, will result in 5-gallons water to enter whereas, 21-minutes X 0.25 = 5.25 gallons.

A 40-minute BF setting X 0.125 = 5-gallons whereas 41-minutes X 0.125 = 5.125 gallons.
 
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5.3 gallons does not compute.

As the Brine Fill setting only allows whole numbers, a 10-minute BF setting flowing through a 0.5 GPM BLFC restrictor, will cause 5-gallons water to enter the brine tank. An 11-minute BF setting will result in 5.5 gallons to enter the brine tank.

Likewise, a 20-minute BF setting flowing through a 0.25 GPM BLFC restrictor, will result in 5-gallons water to enter whereas, 21-minutes X 0.25 = 5.25 gallons.

A 40-minute BF setting X 0.125 = 5-gallons whereas 41-minutes X 0.125 = 5.125 gallons.
My BLFC is .5gpm but when measured it's only .28gpm. See my "elevated brine tank thread for details". 19 minutes * .28 = 5.32 which is almost perfect.

My settings are 48k capacity and 24 hardness even though I have 2ft3. That puts me at the 8lb/ft mark as suggested here.

I think the reserve setting is where the gallons have disappeared. As reach said above, I'll wait a while and see how it adjusts. If it becomes a pain I'll switch to fixed.
 

Bannerman

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My BLFC is .5gpm but when measured it's only .28gpm.
Seems to me that the BLFC installed in the system, may not match the flow rate specified on the label.

Suggest removing the brine tube directly at the control valve, then install a short piece of tube of the same diameter so outgoing flow can be directed into a graduated jug. Advance the controller to Brine Fill to measure the quantity of water in 60 seconds without any possible interference caused by the elevated brine tank location. If a 0.5 BLFC is actually installed, then 0.5 gallons should exit from the tube in 60-seconds.

The variable reserve setting will require several weeks to identify your family's usual water usage patterns for each day of the week. During that initial learning period, you may see the remaing gallons vary significantly each day while the controller is learning. Even after the usual patterns are determined, the controller will continue to record water usage so if usage patterns change over time, it can compensate for those changes as appropriate.

If for instance Monday is the usual laundry day and so a greater amount of water is normally utilized that day compared to other days, if there is insufficient capacity remaining at (usually) 2am Monday morning to satisfy that day's anticipated soft water usage, then the control valve will immediately proceed to perform a regeneration cycle to ensure there will be sufficient capacity available. Since an identical amount of remaining capacity may be sufficient to satisfy a lower usage day, the controller may delay regeneration 1 more day so as to utilize as much usable capacity as possible without using more capacity than is to be regenerated.

A fixed reserve amount will not take into consideration any water use variance, but will always cause a regeneration cycle to occur once any amount of reserve capacity has been consumed. Even with a 200 gallon reserve allowance setting, if only 1-gallon is used and 199 gallons of reserve capacity remains, which may satisfy the requirements of the following lighter water usage day, the controller will proceed to disregard the 199 unused capacity, and will immediately proceed with regeneration.
 
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Seems to me that the BLFC installed in the system, may not match the flow rate specified on the label.

Suggest removing the brine tube directly at the control valve, then install a short piece of tube of the same diameter so outgoing flow can be directed into a graduated jug. Advance the controller to Brine Fill to measure the quantity of water in 60 seconds without any possible interference caused by the elevated brine tank location. If a 0.5 BLFC is actually installed, then 0.5 gallons should exit from the tube in 60-seconds.

The variable reserve setting will require several weeks to identify your family's usual water usage patterns for each day of the week. During that initial learning period, you may see the remaing gallons vary significantly each day while the controller is learning. Even after the usual patterns are determined, the controller will continue to record water usage so if usage patterns change over time, it can compensate for those changes as appropriate.

If for instance Monday is the usual laundry day and so a greater amount of water is normally utilized that day compared to other days, if there is insufficient capacity remaining at (usually) 2am Monday morning to satisfy that day's anticipated soft water usage, then the control valve will immediately proceed to perform a regeneration cycle to ensure there will be sufficient capacity available. Since an identical amount of remaining capacity may be sufficient to satisfy a lower usage day, the controller may delay regeneration 1 more day so as to utilize as much usable capacity as possible without using more capacity than is to be regenerated.

A fixed reserve amount will not take into consideration any water use variance, but will always cause a regeneration cycle to occur once any amount of reserve capacity has been consumed. Even with a 200 gallon reserve allowance setting, if only 1-gallon is used and 199 gallons of reserve capacity remains, which may satisfy the requirements of the following lighter water usage day, the controller will proceed to disregard the 199 unused capacity, and will immediately proceed with regeneration.
I already did the BF procedure you are describing. I was precise in my measurements and it flows .28 regardless of the .5 designation. Maybe a mis-labeled BLFC but it doesn't matter to me since I adjusted settings accordingly and during BF I get soft water in the house.

I'm going to let the variable reserve go and see what happens. We try to spread out laundry days since we have a septic so it should get some good readings over time.

Thanks to all again for the insight.
 

Bannerman

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it flows .28 regardless of the .5 designation.
0.28 GPM is irregular as BLFC restrictors are available in 0.125, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 GPM versions.

Appears to me there maybe debris to cause a partial blockage within the BLFC or possibly a defect.

Because both the BLFC and DLFC restrictor buttons are directional, perhaps your BLFC was installed backwards, which is resulting in an incorrect flow rate through it. The numbers that are embossed on one side of the button, should be installed facing the valve.

Regardless of you being satisfied with the current performance, the reason for the incorrect flow rate should be investigated and corrected.
 

Reach4

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0.28 GPM is irregular as BLFC restrictors are available in 0.125, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 GPM versions.

Appears to me there maybe debris to cause a partial blockage within the BLFC or possibly a defect.

Because both the BLFC and DLFC restrictor buttons are directional, perhaps your BLFC was installed backwards, which is resulting in an incorrect flow rate through it. The numbers that are embossed on one side of the button, should be installed facing the valve.

Regardless of you being satisfied with the current performance, the reason for the incorrect flow rate should be investigated and corrected.
.28 is damn close to .25 so that's my only guess. I checked all possible sources for a restriction or debris and found nothing. Directionality is correct. I have marked the level on my brine tank and it has been consistent so I'm good with it. This setup is dialed in to the max.
 
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