Fleck 5600 meter not working, ok to manually regen?

[The harrymanimus]

I noticed that my Fleck 5600 was about 3x as loud as usual, so I checked the water usage dial and over a day it did not move. I found a video or two on troubleshooting the meter, will do that when the weather warms up. My main question is, for now until I can fix it, is it ok to manually regen? I feel like it would be ok, but I want to double check.

Thanks

 

[Bannerman]

As you refer to a Fleck 5600, I anticipate your unit will be a mechanical valve, not equipped with a digital controller (ie: SXT or SE)

There should be no reason you can't attempt to regenerate manually but ...

If the problem was the meter, that would not explain why the unit is making noise. Have you checked the softener's drain line to determine if water is flowing to drain while the noise is apparent?

Over time, particularly when the valve is continually exposed to water containing chlorine (city water), the control valve's seals and spacers will more rapidly degrade and may become torn or swollen, which can increase the resistance for the piston to move. When that occurs, the valve may become stuck during regeneration so regeneration will not conclude so as to return to the 'Service' position where soft water will flow through the meter to the home's faucets and fixtures.

The control valve's seals, spacers, brine valve and piston are all wear items that require periodic replacement. There are rebuild kits available and rebuilding the valve a fairly simple and straightforward proceedure for most with moderate DIY skills.

 

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[The harrymanimus]

I should have mentioned some history. It is mechanical. I did a rebuild around 6 years ago (with the help of this forum pointing me to great vids!). Got it back to working like new. About a year ago the spark plug looking valve was replaced by service man due to valve in rebuild kit part having problems. Been working great up until now.

 

[Bannerman]

Does the softener continue to make noise? If so, what position is showing on the large dial? Possibilities include: Service, Back Wash, Brine Draw or Brine, Rapid Rinse or Rinse, Brine Fill or Fill.

If not showing 'Service' , what is shown and does that change over time such as after 1 hour?

Are you able to turn the large dial without too much force? If the softener remains noisy, is water flowing to drain?

Just because you rebuilt the valve 6 years ago, does not signify it does not require rebuilding again.

 

[The harrymanimus]

Just now getting back to this after a month and a half. The winter storm hit me, then I had larger things to contend with.

I’ve been doing manual re-gens this whole time. That has been working fine, keeping water soft.

I may have been exagerating on the noise. Let’s say twice as loud. But as soon as warmer weather hit, the noise seems pretty normal so maybe just some cold related contraction.

I messed with the gear to set the gallons water flow. After a couple of manual regens it was set to 15 or 20, something way higher that I ever set it to. I put it back down to 10 and tried to make sure the gears felt normal and were engaged. It did move for a few days and then stopped around 6. I haven’t messed with it since.

So likely the meter?

 

[Reach4]

If you refer to this as a 5600 Econominder, the people that know this product are more likely to read your post. The 5600 SXT also has softeners with meters, so some might suspect you are talking about that.

So is the problem the paddlewheel, or gears, or something else? I don't know.

 

[Bannerman]

In being forced to review your thread from 2017, I see it is a Fleck 5600 Econominder installed on a 9" X 48" tank which is appropriate for 1 cubic foot softening resin.

Because it was programmed for 6 lbs salt per regen cycle, the capacity regenerated will be 21,000 grains. I haven't seen where you verified the water hardness value at your location as the previous thread was based on an estimated 10 gpg hardness from your city supply.

If 10 gpg hardness is accuate, then the capacity being regenerated with 6 lbs salt would be 2100 gallons. 1-day usage will need to be calculated and reduced from that 2100 gallons. If there are two people estimated to each use 60 gallons/day, then 2100 - 120 = 1980 gallons to be programmed on the Capacity dial. If there are 3 people, 2100 - 180 = 1920 gallons programmed. As 1980 or 1920 gallons is likely not indicated on the Capacity dial, you may then need to round down to 1950 or 1900 gallons.

You mention you have been regenerating manually. Clarify if you only needed to initiate a manual cycle and the 5600 then completed the cycle itself, or did you need to advance the controller through each phase of regeneration?

Without clarification, I will assune the meter is only not initiating regeneration but is completing the cycle once started.

To confirm the controller gears are not jamming, the meter cable may be unplugged from the paddlewheel meter by pulling the cable straight up from the meter.

Once disconnected from the meter, twisting the cable between your fingers should cause the Capacity dial to rotate. If the Capacity dial rotates freely, the issue is likely a worn or jammed meter.

When removing the cable, verify the cable's metal tip that plugs into the meter remains securely connected to the cable. The tip has been known to become partially detached which will prevent the cable from transferring the twisting force from the meter to the controller.

To check for debris blockage in the meter, fully bypass the softener and manually advance the controller to Backwash to depressurize the softener. Remove the 4 machine screws from the top of the meter housing to lift the cover from the meter housing. Sometimes, there maybe grit or other debris that will prevent the paddlewheel impeller from spinning freely.

Over time, the meter gears can also become worn and can jam and prevent the paddlewheel from spinning. If the meter gears are jammed/worn, a replacement top cover may be purchased separately from the complete meter assembly.

 

[The harrymanimus]

I only initiate the regen cycle, it completes by itself.

The gears spin freely when turning the detatched cable.

I’ll take it apart according to your instructions, and a video I’ve seen to inspect it. If the meter needs to be replaced, I’m not seeing one on Amazon. I do see one on ebay.

 

[The harrymanimus]

Disassembled, inspected parts, nothing looked wrong with visible parts. Ordered $50 meter cap off ebay. Installed and have been monitoring it. Seems to be correctly counting the gallons down.

So I'm going to call this fixed!

I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to all you regulars (especially Bannerman!) that are all over the board helping people. I think Bannerman has helped me with quite a few things over the years. It is much appreciated!