Fleck 5600 SXT Settings in new house

[GEWaterSoftenerDude]

Howdy,

First, thank you to all who have helped me in the past in my old house. You guys gave me some awesome settings and it worked great for the last few years.

I just bought a new house and the water was awfully hard. We used a tester and its at 24. So we went ahead and got a Fleck 5600SXT 64K. Would like nice soft water, but doesn't need to be super slick. Just want our dishes to stop getting wrecked and come out clear/clean after the dish washer.

We are a family of 4 and use about an average of 380 gallons per day as per the water bill for the last few months.

Unit: Fleck 5600SXT 64K 12" x 52" 2cuft

Initial settings are as follows:

DF - GAL
VT - dF1b
CT - Fd
NT - 1
C - 42
H - 8
RS - RC
RC - 380 gal
DO - 14
RT - 2 am
BW - 10 min
BD - 60 min
RR - 5 min
BF - 9 min
FM - p0.7

Please let me know your thoughts on this or tweaks you may recommend.

 

[Reach4]

You should use a Hach 5-B or similar to measure hardness. Don't use test strips.

You can also ask your water department/company, but rather than average hardness, you want the max hardness.

So suppose you got the Hach 5-B and it took 24 drops to get the color change from pink to blue. And suppose that none of your 380 gallons per day is yard watering or other use of unsoftened water. Also, confirm you have a paddlewheel, using the link below.

Then based on those suppositions, here is what I am thinking:

System info (not programmed)
salt lb/cuft = 7.5 ; A choice ( efficiency vs capacity)
BLFC = 0.5 ; Brine Refill rate GPM
cubic ft resin = 2 ; ft3 resin = (nominal grains)/32,000
Compensated hardness = 27 ; 24 + high-hardness compensation
People = 6.33333333333333 ; gallons affects reserve calc
Estimated gal/day = 380 ; 60 gal per person typical calc
Estimated days/regen = 4.49 ; Computed days including reserve

Fleck 5600SXT Settings:
DF = Gal ; Units
VT = dF1b ; Downflw/, Single Backwash, black cam
CT = Fd ; Meter Delayed regen trigger
NT = 1 ; Number of tanks
C = 46.1 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 27 ; Hardness-- compensate if needed
RS = rc ; rc says use gallons vs percent
RC = 380 ; Reserve capacity gallons
DO = 30 ; Day Override (28 if no iron)
RT = 2:00 ; Regen time (default 2 AM)
BW = 5 ; Backwash (minutes)
Bd = 60 ; Brine draw minutes
RR = 5 ; Rapid Rinse minutes
BF = 10 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = P0.7 ; check https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/img_fleck5600sxt_flow-png.31592/

 

[Sponsor]

 

[GEWaterSoftenerDude]

Thank you @Reach4 for the very quick response.

Ok here is the update to your questions...

I called the water company and they are claiming it has recently been measured at 17. From their website, max is 22.

The measured amounts of water (380) were averages from when we moved in around November. No yard watering yet, but I will keep an eye on it.

It is indeed a paddlewheel.

Please let me know how this will change the above recommendations. Thank you!

 

[Reach4]

I would change H to 25 or maybe 24, based on the max 22.

 

[GEWaterSoftenerDude]

Perfect... thanks a lot for the recommended settings!

 

[Arritxuwheel]

Does this water softener really make a difference? My new house has one, and I wonder whether I need one. We never used it at my parents' house, and I've never met anyone who would tell me they use it. What is it needed for?
I got this new house only a few days ago, and I'm really happy about it. There are so many cool things I've never used, like this water softener or climate control. It's the first house I could afford on my own, and I hope it will be a good place to live with my future family. I'm really thankful to Equity Release Coventry for helping me find this offer on the market. And it wasn't that expensive (less than $200K).

 

[Cliffyk]

A common misconception is that the various settings of ion exchange water softeners can and do control "how soft" the treated water is--this is not so. Ion exchange softening removes a quantity (close to all) calcium and magnesium ions from the water making it generically "soft".

The softener setup settings control "how much" water the unit can treat before regeneration of the exchange resin is required--not "how soft" the treated water is--that is a factor of how much water has been processed since the last regen....

 

[Tengizpine]

Does this water softener really make a difference? My new house has one, and I wonder whether I need one. We never used it at my parents' house, and I've never met anyone who would tell me they use it. What is it needed for?

 

[Reach4]

Here is a London hardness map. 171 ppm (same as mg/l) is 10 grains of hardness. So London water is pretty hard, surprisingly. Harder water usually comes from wells, and river water is usually less hard. https://www.harveywatersofteners.co.uk/blog/do-you-have-londons-hardest-water/ The fact that I used the Harvey link does not mean that I would endorse Harvey. I suspect they are premium priced and are not open to sales outside of their network.


Softened water is nicer, because it cleans better. But if you are used to hard water, you may be alarmed initially. You are used to thinking clean skin is high friction. That is actually soap curd.

With soft water, you use less soap, and it rinses better. But you will not perceive it.

Softener resin may need replacing with maybe 10 years of city water. It varies.