Fleck 5600SXT 64K Settings Help Requested

[ProAvia]

Requesting help setting up my softener for best efficiency (balance of salt/water use each regen).

Fleck 5600SXT
64k - 12x48 tank
2.0 ft3 10% resin (per dealer)
Brine tank - 14.5x14.5x34
Hardness runs 5-20 grains, avg 16.5 (city report)
City water

BLFC - 0.5 gpm
Salt - 1.5# min

DLFC - blank, I'm guessing 3.5 gpm?
Injector - 1 (from label)

Fleck 5600SXT Settings:
DF = Gal
VT = dF1b
CT = Fd
NT = 1
C = 64
H = 20
RS = rc
RC = 225 (3x75)
DO = 14
RT = 2:00
BW = 10
BD = 60
RR = 10
BF = 16
FM = t0.7

As presently set, it says it will regenerate after 3048 gallons. Each regen would take 24 pounds of salt (3#/gal x 8 gallons). According to what I've read here, this doesn't seem very efficient and is using too much salt. On BF, the brine tank fills until the float shuts the water off (there is about 2 minutes left on the BF time) - tank is about 2/3 to 3/4 full of water. Presently, salt level is just below water level.

Any suggestions on setup are most appreciated!

 

[Reach4]

System info (not programmed)
salt lb/cuft = 6.75 ; A choice ( efficiency vs capacity)
BLFC = 0.5 ; Brine Refill rate GPM
cubic ft resin = 2 ; ft3 resin = (nominal grains)/32,000
Raw hardness = 20 ; including any compensation
People = 3 ; gallons affects reserve calc
Estimated gal/day = 180 ; 60 gal per person typical calc
Estimated days/regen =12.24 ; 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 = 43.1 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 29 ; Hardness-- compensate if needed
RS = rc ; rc says use gallons vs percent
RC = 180 ; Reserve capacity gallons
DO = 28 ; 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 = 9 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = usually t0.7 ; flow meter, make note of what is there

Alternative C and BF pairs:
lb/cuft ; C= ; BF=
5.250 ; 37.2 ; 7
6.000 ; 40.0 ; 8
6.750 ; 43.1 ; 9
7.500 ; 46.1 ; 10
8.250 ; 48.9 ; 11
9.000 ; 51.3 ; 12
9.750 ; 53.4 ; 13

 

[Sponsor]

 

[ProAvia]

Thanks!

One question - how did you settle on a hardness of 29?

 

[Reach4]

Thanks!

One question - how did you settle on a hardness of 29?

It was an error. I will edit to correct that. However if you really did have 20 hardness much, I would raise that to 22 for high-hardness compensation.

 

[ProAvia]

Okay - thanks for the clarification. I've measured it at 17 grains previously. I'll set it for 20 grains for now and see how it goes.

Thank you for the info and for your time!!

 

[ProAvia]

Correction to softener specs. I believe I have a paddle wheel flow meter instead of a turbine - flow meter has domed top and has a 3 conductor wire running to the 5600SXT. Is this correct?

FM = P0.7

Does this change anything in your above recommendations?

 

[Reach4]

Correction to softener specs. I believe I have a paddle wheel flow meter instead of a turbine - flow meter has domed top and has a 3 conductor wire running to the 5600SXT. Is this correct?

FM = P0.7

Does this change anything in your above recommendations?

Just that changes... but you posted T.07 in your post. So the seller had that wrong when he shipped?

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/img_fleck5600sxt_flow-png.31592/ shows the two types.

 

[ProAvia]

Yeah - mine is definitely the one on the right - paddle wheel. My fault - I entered it incorrectly in my initial post.

Thanks!

 

[Neshco]

I am sorry for waking this thread after a year, just want to ask for same thing.
I bought also Fleck 5600SXT 64k a year ago and now is time to install it.
Have measured couple of time hardness with Hach test and it is always exactly 20gpg.
Can I use same settings like a ProAvia?
We are 5 members family, two grown up people and 3 childrens 17, 15 and 9 years old.
Thank you in advance.

 

[Reach4]

I am sorry for waking this thread after a year, just want to ask for same thing.
I bought also Fleck 5600SXT 64k a year ago and now is time to install it.
Have measured couple of time hardness with Hach test and it is always exactly 20gpg.
Can I use same settings like a ProAvia?
We are 5 members family, two grown up people and 3 childrens 17, 15 and 9 years old.
Thank you in advance.

If you have iron (Fe) or manganese (Mn) in your water, that would affect H. If neither, make H=22 to for high-hardness compensation.

You have more people. So you would change RC to what you would use in a day. You could make RC= 5*60=300 in that case. If your use is different, adjust that too.

One more thing: you probably have a #1 Injector - White. If you have #0 Injector - Red, make BD=80.

 

[Neshco]

If you have iron (Fe) or manganese (Mn) in your water, that would affect H. If neither, make H=22 to for high-hardness compensation.

You have more people. So you would change RC to what you would use in a day. You could make RC= 5*60=300 in that case. If your use is different, adjust that too.

One more thing: you probably have a #1 Injector - White. If you have #0 Injector - Red, make BD=80.

Guess I need to disassemble control unit to see color of injector, or there is some less painful way to do it?

Regarding usage, I dont have a clue right now, system is still offline, but when I start a new installation with Grohe Sense, I will measure pressure, water usage etc. Then I can fine tune it.
With this settings you provided, what would be regeneration frequency and salt usage monthly in average?
Thank you very much for this informations.

 

[Jeff Ho]

System info (not programmed)
salt lb/cuft = 6.75 ; A choice ( efficiency vs capacity)
BLFC = 0.5 ; Brine Refill rate GPM
cubic ft resin = 2 ; ft3 resin = (nominal grains)/32,000
Raw hardness = 20 ; including any compensation
People = 3 ; gallons affects reserve calc
Estimated gal/day = 180 ; 60 gal per person typical calc
Estimated days/regen =12.24 ; 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 = 43.1 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 29 ; Hardness-- compensate if needed
RS = rc ; rc says use gallons vs percent
RC = 180 ; Reserve capacity gallons
DO = 28 ; 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 = 9 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = usually t0.7 ; flow meter, make note of what is there

Alternative C and BF pairs:
lb/cuft ; C= ; BF=
5.250 ; 37.2 ; 7
6.000 ; 40.0 ; 8
6.750 ; 43.1 ; 9
7.500 ; 46.1 ; 10
8.250 ; 48.9 ; 11
9.000 ; 51.3 ; 12
9.750 ; 53.4 ; 13

So Reach, just curious...so based off the numbers you provided would you say the 7.5lb/cuft pair is the best "balance" for a 2.0cuft resin tank?

 

[Reach4]

So Reach, just curious...so based off the numbers you provided would you say the 7.5lb/cuft pair is the best "balance" for a 2.0cuft resin tank?

Matter of choice, but that is certainly in a good range. That is the one I would pick.

The less salt per cubic ft, the more salt efficient, but more hardness breakthrough.
Revised based on number from https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/help-for-programming-fleck-5810.82673/#post-595983
BLFC = 0.5
cubic ft resin = 2

Alternative C and BF pairs:
lb/cuft ; C= ; BF=
5.250 ; 39.2 ; 7
6.000 ; 42.0 ; 8
6.750 ; 44.5 ; 9
7.500 ; 46.6 ; 10 *** proposed; round C down to 46.
8.250 ; 48.6 ; 11
9.000 ; 50.3 ; 12
9.750 ; 51.9 ; 13
10.500 ; 53.3 ; 14

 

[Jeff Ho]

Matter of choice, but that is certainly in a good range. That is the one I would pick.

The less salt per cubic ft, the more salt efficient, but more hardness breakthrough.
Revised based on number from https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/help-for-programming-fleck-5810.82673/#post-595983
BLFC = 0.5
cubic ft resin = 2

Alternative C and BF pairs:
lb/cuft ; C= ; BF=
5.250 ; 39.2 ; 7
6.000 ; 42.0 ; 8
6.750 ; 44.5 ; 9
7.500 ; 46.6 ; 10 *** proposed; round C down to 46.
8.250 ; 48.6 ; 11
9.000 ; 50.3 ; 12
9.750 ; 51.9 ; 13
10.500 ; 53.3 ; 14

Awesome! Thank you so much Reach. Also one last question...how often would you recommend using resin cleaner? I have seen the gradual droppers you can install on the brine well or just use the powder resin cleaner...should I do that monthly or is that too often? or just invest in the dropper system?

Thanks,

 

[Reach4]

Awesome! Thank you so much Reach. Also one last question...how often would you recommend using resin cleaner? I have seen the gradual droppers you can install on the brine well or just use the powder resin cleaner...should I do that monthly or is that too often? or just invest in the dropper system?

With city water, I don't know that resin cleaner would help you. There is a lot that I don't know. What causes you to think that resin cleaner might be called for for you?

 

[Jeff Ho]

With city water, I don't know that resin cleaner would help you. There is a lot that I don't know. What causes you to think that resin cleaner might be called for for you?

Oh, I just figured it would be smart to use as regular maintenance. I do have .3 ppm of iron even through the city.

 

[Reach4]

Oh, I just figured it would be smart to use as regular maintenance. I do have .3 ppm of iron even through the city.

If you got that number from the city water report, you don't. If you got that number from an actual test on your water, I would suspect that your test was flawed.

Any iron in chlorinated/chloromined will get oxidized and fall out as a solid. That is what hydrant flushing is about -- washing out the accumulated sediment.

 

[Jeff Ho]

Ok guys, running into some major issues. So this is a brand new Fleck 64,000 5600sxt I bought off Amazon. I input Reach's recommended settings and everything seemed fine until it wasn't. I ordered the Hach 5B test kit, and I tested cold water immediately after a regen and it took me 25 drops to turn the pink solution blue. How on Earth is my hardness still 25 after going through the softener???

I called APlus Water who sold and shipped me the unit from Amazon. The tech walked me through all the physical connections to make sure I had it setup right. We confirmed the water inlet and outlet were correct. We confirmed the brine draw and the brine fill worked as it should. He claims my settings were wrong. He told me I needed to set the Capacity to 64 since I had a 64,000 grain unit. He then said because of this setting I needed to change the BF setting to 12. I told him this will leave about 2 inches of water above my salt line and he said that is normal.

I don't know what is going on. I have yet to input his instructions because they seem completely off base what i am reading on here and on other sites.

Here's what I don't understand. I'm getting a 25 for hardness from the test but yet I can tell a difference in the shower and using basic soap tests in a bottle. The soap bottle test leaves me with a bottle full of suds and clear water at the bottom. Isn't that usually a sign of soft water? In the shower i also can tell it's soft, not slippery soft but definitely not hard water. This is with the settings reach told me to use.

Is it possible the Hach 5B test is wrong? I have done multiple tests with it on different faucets around the house and every time it takes me 25 drops to turn blue.

So do I listen to the APlus Water tech and change the C to 64 and the BF to 12???

 

[Reach4]

I ordered the Hach 5B test kit, and I tested cold water immediately after a regen and it took me 25 drops to turn the pink solution blue. How on Earth is my hardness still 25 after going through the softener???

Where are you taking your sample for hardness testing?
Outdoor spigots normally don't get soft water. Kitchen cold sometimes is piped with no soft water.

If you are confident that is not the problem, next would be to make sure that the connection at the top of the distributor tube is not leaking water around the resin.

Is it possible the Hach 5B test is wrong? I have done multiple tests with it on different faucets around the house and every time it takes me 25 drops to turn blue.

OK. So you tried other faucets. Too bad.

Seems very unlikely that the Hach 5B could be so off.

Try your soap bubble test on your raw water.

 

[Bannerman]

As a quick test without removing the valve, manually advance the controller to Brine Draw and then taste the drain water exiting the softener. If the drain water becomes salty rapidly after the BD cycle commences, then the 'O' ring seal where the riser tube connects to the control valve inside of the tank is either missing or damaged OR the incorrect diameter riser tube is installed.

To inspect the riser tube connection, the control valve will need to be removed from the tank.