fleck 5600 what should happen in a complete proper cycle

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moose66

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This is a last ditch effort to save my softener. I really hate it when I cant figure something out like this.
What I need from those who know is what to look for through each step of the process in order to troubleshoot.
I have changed the media, new piston parts, drain line parts etc. every little part I can think of. The unit from what I can tell is going through its cycle but it just doesnt seem to be softening. Almost as if the brine isnt flushing the media but it seems to be sucking water from the brine. Is it taking enough? I dont know. Oh and mechanical timer is cycleing fine. Even doing a manual regen doesnt seem to help. I am waiting on a test kit to come so I can see if I am only getting a small amount of softening/ cleaning of the media. At this time this is my educated guess, but only a guess untill test kit arrives. This unit has a 9" media tank. Any words of wisdom????
Thanks All
 

moose66

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A follow up question. Assuming I am correct and there is a problem with the brine rinse cycle of the media, should I also see water coming out the drain tube all of the time once the cylinder fills as well as the water in the salt solution going down?
 

Reach4

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A follow up question. Assuming I am correct and there is a problem with the brine rinse cycle of the media, should I also see water coming out the drain tube all of the time once the cylinder fills as well as the water in the salt solution going down?
Water should be coming out of the drain tube except for brief intervals, during regen up to, but not during brine fill. No flow out during brine fill.

So during backwash, a lot of water. During brine draw and slow rinse, a little water, and water is flowing out during the other rinses.
 

moose66

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No. I was correct in assuming it was wrong and originally got sold Iron filter media. They went good and replaced it with the 3M H-050p.
This is what i have now.
 

moose66

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Ok, I figured that seeing the brine fill cycle should take 50minutes that it took water in and flushed it out at same time. From what I am understanding now is it takes in brine very slow and fills the tank over the 50 minutes, correct?
 

Reach4

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Ok, I figured that seeing the brine fill cycle should take 50minutes that it took water in and flushed it out at same time. From what I am understanding now is it takes in brine very slow and fills the tank over the 50 minutes, correct?

What color is the end plug on your piston? Gray, white, or black?
 

moose66

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One of the things I would like to know is what I should have for water levels through out the entire cycle, in regards to the tank and salt.
 

Reach4

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One of the things I would like to know is what I should have for water levels through out the entire cycle, in regards to the tank and salt.
You have a 9" x 48" tank with 1 cuft of resin, right? So if you were using 6 pounds of salt, there would be 2 less gallons at the end of slow rinse than there is most of the time. That 2 gallons would be added back by the end of the brine fill (last cycle). If you were using 9 pounds of salt, that would be 3 gallons. 12 pounds, 4 gallons.

Wonder what 2 gallons looks like? Pour in 1 or 2 gallons of water and see what the rise/fall per gallon is.

Adding extra water between regens just uses extra salt on the next regen.

Maybe make yourself a dipstick out of a wooden dowel or yardstick.
 

moose66

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I am sorry I gave you wrong info. Its an 8 x36 resin tank that sits inside the brine tank that measures 16x16x36.
 

Reach4

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8" x 35" 0.64 cu. ft. ( 20,480 grains )
8" x 44" 0.75 cu. ft. ( 24,000 grains )

How much resin did you put in?
 

moose66

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I think i read it should be around 12" from top and I believe thats what i did not 100 percent sure.
 

Reach4

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I think i read it should be around 12" from top and I believe thats what i did not 100 percent sure.
That would be about right. You bought a cubic ft of resin, and had about 1/3 left over?

So multiply the gallons mentioned in #10 by about 0.66.

If you want to measure how much gets put into the brine tank rather than measuring the level with a dipstick, you could disconnect the brine line and direct the water into a large-enough bucket. Weigh the bucket with water and subtract the weight of the empty bucket. That weight can be converted to gallons.
 

moose66

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Why does that cycle take so long? Does the brine just sit in there for the majority of the time soaking the media? I thought i read it takes about 50 min for this and it shouldnt take much time to fill.
Bare with me I am really trying to get good understanding of the complete cycle so I am not poking and hoping.
This is the type of thing that really bugs the crap out of me. I need to drain my system to replace a broken pressure guage so i want to take the softener apart one more time and check for clogs, filters etc. one more time before i give up. Its got to be something simple.
 

Reach4

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http://waterpurification.pentair.co...ItemDownload/en/5600 Owner's Manual 42447.pdf
Page 4 describes the cycles. Are you referring to the Brine/Slow Rinse as being long? During that time the softener is sucking on the brine tube, and at the same time sending some water out of the drain. After maybe 10 or 15 minutes, the brine will be sucked down as far as it will go. At that time the air check valve in the bottom of the brine tank closes. The cycle continues passing water from the top and then out of the drain. During that time, the brine is being rinsed out of the resin.

Also see https://terrylove.com/forums/index....time-on-a-5600-econominder.68722/#post-509972 #4 for comment on long cycle times for that valve.
 

ditttohead

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Remember... the 5600 is a 360 degree mechanical valve. Anything done on the front side happens on the back side. The valve will have two backwashes, two fast rinses, and a brine draw is at the 180 position so it is the only single cycle but it includes brine draw/slow rinse (draw is the brine tank has water, slow rinse when the brine tank runs out of water).

I like how Fleck calls it a "Preliminary Rinse" lol.

http://waterpurification.pentair.co...rvice-manual-downflow-current-40106-rev-j.pdf

Check out page 10-13 for details.
 
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