Fleck 5600SXT 48K softener settings

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steppinthrax

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So I got my fleck 5600SXT 48K system and I'm in need of optimal settings. I scrolled through the master menu and have changed a few values. I have placed notes in areas I don't' know, please assist. One thig to note is that I used the HACH 5B hardness test and found my water to be between 10 - 11 GPG. The water was labrortory tested at .31ppm of iron. I have about 4 ppl in my family. I"m on a well.

DF: GAL
VT: St1b (default)

CT: Fd (Default), I understand this to be the regeneration method, FD means it regenerates once the system reaches a certian amount of water use AND it reaches 2:00am to regenerate. However, when you do this you will still have some leftover soft water that is wasted. What's the impact (besides a small moment of hard water) of changing this so that it regenerates once it reaches 0 gallons and in the middle of the day. Maybe I don't understand this setting

NT: 1 tank (why is this setting here, can this system take an extra tank?)

C: I'm confused on this setting, I have a 48K system, I currently have it set at 48 x 1000 (48,000), I contacted the company and they indicated to set it 30% less. However, other instructions indicate to keep it 30% less, I don't know what the existing setting was because I changed it to 48K and I assumed the existing settings were BS and were required to be set by the user upon install. :(

H: I have this set at 11, however I have .31ppm of iron, should I consider this?

RS: Reserve Capacity, someone explain this to me, not sure what to set this at

SF: Safety factor ????

DO: Day override, I understand what this is for, but I'm curious curious what is the impact of disabling this feature, I read some that say to just disable this unless you have a vaca home etc... The distributor is saying that bacteria can grow in the tank if the water sits in there too long?? I currently disabled it to save water and salt, Should I keep this at 14 days maybe? Can this damage my resin bed etc if I keep this disabled?

RT: Regen time, I understand

BW : 10 mins currently
BD: 60 mins currently
RR: 10 mins currently
BF: Not sure what this should be set at
FM = t0.7 I believe this is default.

More questions will follow...
 

Reach4

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BF: Not sure what this should be set at
What was it set to? We are hoping way too high. Otherwise there is a hardware problem.

Here is my best guess. Due to your iron, I put DO=7. Maybe it could go a little bigger. Do use iron treating salt, and maybe consider a wick-based dosing system like Rescare or Res-Up.

System info (not programmed)
salt lb/cuft = 7 ; A choice ( efficiency vs capacity)
BLFC = 0.5 ; Brine Refill rate GPM
cubic ft resin = 1.5 ; ft3 resin = (nominal grains)/32,000
Raw hardness = 14 ; including any compensation
People = 4 ; gallons affects reserve calc
Estimated gal/day = 240 ; 60 gal per person typical calc
Estimated days/regen = 9.8 ; Computed days ignoring reserve

Fleck 5600SXT Settings:
DF = Gal ; Units
VT = dF1b ; Downflw/Upflw, Single Backwash
CT = Fd ; Meter Delayed regen trigger
NT = 1 ; Number of tanks
C = 33.1 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 14 ; Hardness-- compensate if needed
RS = rc ; rc says use gallons vs percent
RC = 240 ; Reserve capacity gallons
DO = 7 ; 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 = 7 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = usually t0.7 ; flow meter, make note of what is there
 

steppinthrax

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What was it set to? We are hoping way too high. Otherwise there is a hardware problem.

Here is my best guess. Due to your iron, I put DO=7. Maybe it could go a little bigger. Do use iron treating salt, and maybe consider a wick-based dosing system like Rescare or Res-Up.

System info (not programmed)
salt lb/cuft = 7 ; A choice ( efficiency vs capacity)
BLFC = 0.5 ; Brine Refill rate GPM
cubic ft resin = 1.5 ; ft3 resin = (nominal grains)/32,000
Raw hardness = 14 ; including any compensation
People = 4 ; gallons affects reserve calc
Estimated gal/day = 240 ; 60 gal per person typical calc
Estimated days/regen = 9.8 ; Computed days ignoring reserve

Fleck 5600SXT Settings:
DF = Gal ; Units
VT = dF1b ; Downflw/Upflw, Single Backwash
CT = Fd ; Meter Delayed regen trigger
NT = 1 ; Number of tanks
C = 33.1 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 14 ; Hardness-- compensate if needed
RS = rc ; rc says use gallons vs percent
RC = 240 ; Reserve capacity gallons
DO = 7 ; 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 = 7 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = usually t0.7 ; flow meter, make note of what is there


Not sure what my BF is set to. I need to go home and scroll thru my settings again to see. I don't really like the DO feature and I understand i can simply disable it, but I'm concerned that the amount of iron in my water is so small that I can get away with disabling it, will disabling the DO damage my resin etc, based on my water chemistry?
 

ditttohead

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Set the DO to 28 days. No need to overthink it. If you do not use the systems capacity the system will clean itself monthly regardless. There are a multitude of reasons to do this.
 

Reach4

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Set the DO to 28 days. No need to overthink it. If you do not use the systems capacity the system will clean itself monthly regardless. There are a multitude of reasons to do this.
Presuming somebody is using the softener for iron treatment plus softening both, at what iron ppm would that person reduce DO below 28 days?
 
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ditttohead

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With chemical cleaning I would say .5 ppm, but this varies with the water, usage patterns, etc.. too many variables to set any rule. With any iron a simple chemical acid drip cleaning system is beneficial. With heavier iron loads adding a few pounds of citric acid regularly is a good practice.
 

steppinthrax

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With chemical cleaning I would say .5 ppm, but this varies with the water, usage patterns, etc.. too many variables to set any rule. With any iron a simple chemical acid drip cleaning system is beneficial. With heavier iron loads adding a few pounds of citric acid regularly is a good practice.

What is in the contents of the salt bags that say "Iron fighter" or "Iron"? Do they use a small amount of citric acid?

Got it for DO, how about my Capacity setting. I have a 48K unit.
 

Reach4

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how about my Capacity setting. I have a 48K unit.
lb/cuft ; C= ; BF= ; grains/pound of salt
4 ; 22.8 ; 4 ; 3800
5 ; 27.3 ; 5 ; 3640
6 ; 30.0 ; 6 ; 3334
7 ; 33.1 ; 7 ; 3148
8 ; 36.0 ; 8 ; 3000
9 ; 38.5 ; 9 ; 2853
10 ; 40.5 ; 10 ; 2700
11 ; 42.0 ; 11 ; 2546
12 ; 43.1 ; 12 ; 2396
13 ; 43.9 ; 13 ; 2254
14 ; 44.6 ; 14 ; 2121
15 ; 45.0 ; 15 ; 2000

Those salts use some citric acid. Looks like 0.35%. That would be a small amount-- a pound of citric acid in every 286 pounds of salt.

https://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/b5/b5a4dd0c-76c2-483a-9425-a3769465e8b5.pdf
https://hdsupplysolutions.com/wcsstore/ThdsMroUs/product/fm/additional/30/300491-SDS.pdf
 
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Bannerman

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Got it for DO, how about my Capacity setting. I have a 48K unit.
The capacity setting to be used, is directly related to the salt dose utilized.

For salt efficiency, the total capacity (ie: 48K) should not be programmed as that would require an excessive and inefficient quantity of salt each regeneration cycle.

Typical 'usable' capacity and salt settings for a 1.5 cuft (48K) softener are:
36 'C' setting would require 12 lbs salt (3,000 grains per pound efficiency)
or
30 'C' setting, requiring 9 lbs salt (3,333 grains / lb efficiency)

Each 1 gallon water added to the brine tank will dissolve 3 lbs salt. If your BLFC (brine line flow control) rate is actually 0.5 gpm (should be specified on a label near the brine line connection) then as an example, 8 minutes 'BF' X 0.5 gpm = 4 gallons. 4 gallons X 3 lbs = 12 lbs total salt dissolved.
 
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steppinthrax

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The capacity setting to be used, is directly related to the salt dose utilized.

For salt efficiency, the total capacity (ie: 48K) should not be programmed as that would require an excessive and insufficient quantity of salt each regeneration cycle.

Typical 'usable' capacity and salt settings for a 1.5 cuft (48K) softener are:
36 'C' setting would require 12 lbs salt (3,000 grains per pound efficiency)
or
30 'C' setting, requiring 9 lbs salt (3,333 grains / lb efficiency)

Each 1 gallon water added to the brine tank will dissolve 3 lbs salt. If your BLFC (brine line flow control) rate is actually 0.5 gpm (should be specified on a label near the brine line connection) then as an example, 8 minutes 'BF' X 0.5 gpm = 4 gallons. 4 gallons X 3 lbs = 12 lbs total salt dissolved.

I'm confused now.

Are you saying that the C value should be 36 or 30? I'm trying to get what it originally was from the distributor, I unfortunately cleared the value.
 

Bannerman

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That is your choice.

The 36K / 12 lb setting provides an additional 6K grains usable capacity between regen cycles and also delivers higher quality (less hardness leakage) water with about 10% reduction in salt efficiency.

The 30K / 9 lb setting offers higher salt efficiency at the expense of less usable capacity and slightly higher hardness leakage through the softener.

Usually, the goal is to not regenerate more often than 1X per week. Will 30K usable capacity satisfy your soft water usage requirements for 1 week or will you require 36K?

The 5600SXT can be used on a range of softener capacities. During manufacture, there are default settings programmed as something needs to be programmed, but the expectation is for the settings to be reprogrammed at the time of installation, appropriate for the softener's usable capacity and actual water conditions.
 
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LLigetfa

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I'm trying to get what it originally was from the distributor, I unfortunately cleared the value.
As Bannerman said, it has to have some value set from the factory but that value should not be taken as gospel from a reputable source. Since in your other thread, the brine level reached the overflow, it suggests that it was too high. Now it could be that since it was the first regen, that the first brine draw was less than subsequent draws might be due to air trapped initially.
 

steppinthrax

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That is your choice.

The 36K / 12 lb setting provides an additional 6K grains usable capacity between regen cycles and also delivers higher quality (less hardness leakage) water with about 10% reduction in salt efficiency.

The 30K / 9 lb setting offers higher salt efficiency at the expense of less usable capacity and slightly higher hardness leakage through the softener.

Usually, the goal is to not regenerate more often than 1X per week. Will 30K usable capacity satisfy your soft water usage requirements for 1 week or will you require 36K?

The 5600SXT can be used on a range of softener capacities. During manufacture, there are default settings programmed as something needs to be programmed, but the expectation is for the settings to be reprogrammed at the time of installation, appropriate for the softener's usable capacity and actual water conditions.

Got it, I'm going to go for 30K and see what happens. I honestly don't know what the values were before. The guys said that if I perform a Master reset all the values will go to where they were before. I wish not to do this because all my gallons used so far will be gone. I wish there was a way to "advanced" the gallons used.

So if I set my C to 30 my BF should be set to 6 min?
 

steppinthrax

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As Bannerman said, it has to have some value set from the factory but that value should not be taken as gospel from a reputable source. Since in your other thread, the brine level reached the overflow, it suggests that it was too high. Now it could be that since it was the first regen, that the first brine draw was less than subsequent draws might be due to air trapped initially.

I believed I started messing with the settings before I put salt in the machine......
 

Reach4

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Yes,

I was viewing that table. I saw this line

lb/cuft
; C= ; BF= ; grains/pound of salt
6
; 30.0 ; 6 ; 3334

BF = 6?

Yes. If you use that line, you will be using 6 pounds of salt per cubic ft of resin.

You will set C=30.0
 

steppinthrax

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Yes. If you use that line, you will be using 6 pounds of salt per cubic ft of resin.

You will set C=30.0

Yes, what's wrong with that, I'm going to see how that works now.

Yes I found the settings here

https://www.aquatell.com/pages/water-softener-capacity-and-salt-settings-for-fleck-control-valves

So Now I'm kinda concerned, why are water softeners advertised by Grain capacity that is much higher than the setting. This one has 1.5cu foot of resin, which is supposed to be 48K. Why can't you simply use the entire capacity of the system (all 48K) and just draw out the regeneration time longer to compensate for the additional salt used? Why do we aim to regenerate once a week, while it's also acceptable to set the DO to 28 days?
 

Bannerman

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So if I set my C to 30 my BF should be set to 6 min?
You have not confirmed if the installed BLFC is actually 0.5 gpm. As there are various flow restrictors which could be used, verifying which restrictor is installed is critical.

I wish not to do this because all my gallons used so far will be gone.
How long have you been using the softener since the last regeneration?

If the prior setting was higher than 30K and programmed to use more salt than 9 lbs, after you reset to the new 30 'C' setting and 9 lb salt dose, you could then initiate a manual regeneration cycle which will reset the used capacity so gallons displayed should be appropriate for the new 30K capacity setting. At the end of the manual regen, 3 gallons water will enter into the brine tank to dissolve 9 lbs salt for the following regeneration cycle likely to occur 1 week later.
 

Bannerman

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Why can't you simply use the entire capacity of the system (all 48K) and just draw out the regeneration time longer to compensate for the additional salt used?
To regenerate all 48K, would require 27 lbs of salt, thereby resulting in a salt efficiency of 1,777 grains per pound. Since resin will become fractured and worn over repeated backwashing and initial handling, some capacity will be lost over time. For this reason, a 1.5 cuft softener is generally considered to have 45K grains maximum capacity over the lifespan of the resin.

To regenerate 45K capacity would require 22.5 lbs salt, resulting in an efficiency of 2,000 grains/lb.

As you can see, the quantity of salt can be reduced substantially while only reducing the usable capacity a marginal amount. In addition, the remaining capacity help to reduce hardness leakage through the softener even as regeneration is coming due.
 
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