Fleck 5600SXT Newbie Questions

[TkVoice]

I am new to owning a Fleck 5600SXT water softener.
I have been looking through the manual and reading many threads on how to configure the parameters of this valve. The Manual seems to have left out some crucial "units" and it probably uses documentation that is "common" to all of Flecks various model lines. I have been burned many times when I "assume". So I want to ask a few basic questions before getting into figure out how to calculate the settings needed for particular systems.

1) Is the Flow Meter on the 5600SXT-10 (mount on a 10x54 tank) a 3/4" Turbine or 1" Turbine?

2) "The Job Specification Sheet" found on page 3 of the manual:
Why do they have a huge list of "Meter Sizes" if there is only 1 flow meter size that comes from the factory? Assuming it is a 3/4" meter how would the end user know if it's a type "A" 3/4" Standard Range (125-2100 Gallon setting) or type "B" Extended Range (625-10625 Gallon setting). .....Gallon per "what time unit"? is this Gallons per minute? Gallons per second? or has nothing to do with rate?

3) How does knowing what "type" (Std/Ext) of flow meter change the FM (Flow Meter Type) parameter I need to choose? As it looks like the only valid setting for the 5600SXT is "t0.7" (assuming a 3/4" Turbine flow meter).

4) RC "Fixed Reserve Capacity" is this volume of "grains" remaining? or volume of "gallons" remaining?

5) My particular 5600SXT mounts on a 10"diameter resin tank and has a sticker with these values written "Injector 1" "Drain Flow 2.4 GPM" but I have discovered by reading forum threads I need to know: "Brine Flow Control" rate before I can calculate any BW, BD, RR, BF times. Besides Brine Flow Control rate what other constants do I need to know about my system before I can even calculate any of these BW, BD, RR, B times? How do I find these constants?

6) Here is a list of constants I have come up with can you let me know if I am on the right track?
-NT "Number of Tanks" is the Number of Resin/Media Tanks NT=1 or NT=2
-H "Water Hardness" is the value in grains (the manual does not say grains so I am assuming) test my water to get this value.
-C "Unit Capacity in grains" (parameter "C") I read in a forum I should enter 75% of the claimed max softening capacity if I want to save tons of salt. Example 1.5 cuft of resin is sold as a 48k softener but I should enter only 36 if I want to use only 6lbs of salt per cuft of resin ( 9 lbs of salt will be used to regenerate 1.5cuft of resin in this example).
-Need to know what my "Brine Flow Control rate" is in order to set BF "Brine Fill" correctly. Example if I need 9lbs of salt for regeneration I need to figure out how much time in minutes will put 3 gallons of wter in my brine tank. As each gallon of saturated brine holds 3lbs of salt. Example if my Brine Flow Control rate is 0.5 gallons per minute then I would need to run BF Brine Fill for 6 minutes to get 3 gallons of water to my Brine Tank.


6) "Brine Flow Control rate" is this value used to calculate both Brine Draw (BD) and Brine Fill (BF)? (I am assuming the Brine Flow Control rate is the same in both directions). BD time must do way more than just suck brine out of the tank as most people have this set for 60 minutes. BF is used to control the amount of salt as BD can only draw in the amount of gallons that was placed in the brine tank (BF).

Please correct me and add additions where my explainations are not sufficient. Thanks

 

[Bannerman]

1) Is the Flow Meter on the 5600SXT-10 (mount on a 10x54 tank) a 3/4" Turbine or 1" Turbine?

Most likely, a 3/4" Turbine, but could alternately be equipped with a 3/4" Paddle Wheel meter (FM: T0.7 vs FM: P0.7). Suggest posting a low resolution photo showing your unit's flow meter located on the outlet connection which is the left connection when facing the controller from the front.

Gallon per "what time unit"? is this Gallons per minute? Gallons per second? or has nothing to do with rate?

The FM measures the gallons of soft water exiting from softener to determine when regeneration will be required. For a softener containing 1.5 ft3 resin, the Flow Meter will be the type 'A' Standard Range.

RC "Fixed Reserve Capacity" is this volume of "grains" remaining? or volume of "gallons" remaining?

Reserve Capacity will typically be programmed as gallons, or a percentage of the Capacity setting. Generally recommended to program the Reserve to represent the usual number of soft water gallons utilized in a 24-hr period. If unknown, this is often estimated to be 60 gallons per person, but some estimate 75 gallons /pp, so 120 up to 150 gallons for 2 ppl, 180 up to 225 gallons for 3 ppl, etc.

I need to know: "Brine Flow Control" rate before I can calculate any BW, BD, RR, BF times.

No. The Brine Line Flow Control (BLFC) is a flow restrictor which controls the flow rate of water entering the brine tank. The BLFC will influence only the Brine Fill minutes setting whereas the injector size will influence the Brine Draw time setting. BW is usually programmed as 10-minutes, but maybe reduced to 6-minutes if the incoming water does not contain visible debris or sediment. A RR setting of 6-minutes will usually be sufficient.

A 5600 SXT control valve is usually equipped with a 0.5 gpm BLFC, but best to verify as alternate possible BLFC restrictors include 0.125, 0.25 & 1.0 gpm.

As 3 lbs salt will be dissolved for each gallon water entering the brine tank, each 1-minute of Brine Fill will then equal:
- 0.375 lbs for a 0.125 gpm BLFC
- 0.75 lbs for a 0.25 gpm BLFC
- 1.5 lbs for a 0.5 gpm BLFC
- 3 lbs for a 1.0 gpm BLFC

NT "Number of Tanks" is the Number of Resin/Media Tanks NT=1 or NT=2

The Fleck SXT digital controller is utilized on many Fleck control valves including twin tank models. The appropriate number of tanks setting for a 5600 is NT =1.

H "Water Hardness" is the value in grains (the manual does not say grains so I am assuming) test my water to get this value.

Your supply water hardness will need to be tested. The Hach 5B Total Hardness test kit is the usual recommendation for both a professional and DIYer. The 5B reports hardness as Grains Per Gallon, which is the same measurement setting utilized by the softener.

Depending on the amount of hardness, the hardness setting may need a further compensation adjustment since a single tank softener utilizes hard water for regeneration, which will increase the amount of capacity that will be depleted each cycle beyond the programmed setting.

In addition, if your water source is a private well, the softener's hardness setting will need to include additional compensation for any iron or manganese that is present in the raw water, which will not be removed prior to the softener.

.

-C "Unit Capacity in grains" (parameter "C") I read in a forum I should enter 75% of the claimed max softening capacity if I want to save tons of salt.

Not necessarily. The salt setting will determine how much resin capacity will be regenerated.

Example 1.5 cuft of resin is sold as a 48k softener but I should enter only 36 if I want to use only 6lbs of salt per cuft of resin ( 9 lbs of salt will be used to regenerate 1.5cuft of resin in this example)

Regenerating 36,000 grains Capacity in 1.5 ft3 resin (48,000 grains total hardness removal capacity) will require 8 lbs salt per ft3 (12 lbs total salt), to achieve a maximum hardness reduction efficiency of 3,000 grains per lb (36,000 gr / 12 lbs).

A 6lb/ft3 salt setting (9 lbs total) will regenerate 31,500 grains capacity, thereby increasing hardness reduction efficiency to 3,500 grains per lb, but with reduced soft water quality due to higher hardness leakage through the resin bed.

In comparison, to regenerate 100% of the resin's capacity (48,000 grains) each cycle, would require 30 lbs salt (1,600 gr/lb efficiency).

Because increased salt efficiency will result in lower soft water quality, and the need for more frequent regeneration, to achieve the best balance of efficiency, water quality and useable capacity, the usual recommendation will be to program a 1.5 ft3 softener with a 36,000 grain Capacity setting, thereby requiring only 12 lbs salt (8lbs/ft3) each cycle.

"Brine Flow Control rate" is this value used to calculate both Brine Draw (BD) and Brine Fill (BF)?

The BLFC controls only the brine fill rate, not the brine draw rate. The brine draw rate is controlled by the injector size. The BLFC is directional, so it will only restrict flow during brine fill, as it is designed to permit brine to flow past it around the perimeter in addition to the hole in the center during Brine Draw.

BD time must do way more than just suck brine out of the tank as most people have this set for 60 minutes.

The BD setting actually controls 2 cycles, Brine Draw and Slow Rinse.

Slow Rinse flow through the injector creates a vacuum on the side port, which will draw the brine from the brine tank. The brine will typically be transferred from the brine tank to the media tank within 1/4 of the Brine Draw setting, so within ~15-minutes of a typical 60-minute BD cycle.

Once there is little brine remaining in the brine tank, the air check valve at the bottom of the pickup tube will close to prevent air from being drawn during the remaining 45-minutes. During this time, Slow Rinse will continue to slowly push the brine through the resin. The sodium from the brine will cause the hardness minerals (mainly calcium and magnesium) which are adhering to the resin surface, to be released. The sodium will then adhere to the resin surface, replacing the hardness minerals, which will be slowly flushed to drain along with the chloride and any excess sodium remaining from the brine.

When the BD setting is insufficient to result in inadequate slow rinse time, the soft water supplied to fixtures directly following each regeneration, will contain excessive sodium and chloride, and so will typically taste quite salty.

While most people expect the Rapid Rinse cycle which follows BD is utilized to rinse away the brine, the actual intended purpose for RR is to recompact the resin that was loosened during the earlier Backwash cycle. This reduces the space between the resin granules, which will increase water contact with the resin, thereby reducing the amount of hardness leakage which can pass through the resin bed.