Geeking out on Fleck 5600SXT settings

[GEWaterSoftenerDude]

Hi,

I just got rid of an old GE water softener from a big box store that lasted me 20 years. I did some investigating and decided to get something that will last me without the major maintenance the GE one did. I came to the conclusion that the Fleck 5600SXT was the right one to get. I have been reading the forums here and have read a lot about the proper settings to get it set up. I think I may have it right, but would like to get the experts' recommendation here to see if what I have is good. The defaults that came were kind of wonky and I knew it by how much brine was in the tank (way too much). I changed all the settings to hopefully get close. Its a 48K (10x54) with a 15"x17" brine tank and have an 11 hardness on well water. I have 5 people in the house. Here is what I think I have set up at this point:

System info (not programmed)
salt lb/cuft = 6 ; 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 = 11 ; including any compensation
People = 5 ; gallons affects reserve calc
Estimated gal/day = 300 ; 60 gal per person typical calc
Estimated days/regen = 9.39 ; 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 = 31.0 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 11 ; Hardness-- compensate if needed
RS = rc ; rc says use gallons vs percent
RC = 300 ; Reserve capacity gallons
DO = 28 ; Day Override
RT = 2:00 ; Regen time (default 2 AM)
BW = 10 ; Backwash (minutes)
Bd = 60 ; Brine draw minutes
RR = 10 ; Rapid Rinse minutes
BF = 6 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = P.07 ;

Please let me know if this is good or recommended changes. We like the water decently soft, but also want some efficiency on the salt. Is 6lb/cuft good or should it be 7.5 or 8?

Thanks in advance!

 

[GEWaterSoftenerDude]

Also, I have 100lbs of salt (2 40lb bags + 1 20lb bag) in the tank and the water fills to just below or at the salt level, or about 12 inches. Does that seem correct or is it too much? The brine certainly empties during BD, but it seems to fill up a bit more than I expected. Based on my calculations, with no salt, the water should fill to nearly 3.3" (calculated as (15 * 17)/231 * (6BF *.5 BLFC)). But with all that salt, I'm guessing it would show a much higher level, but I didn't think that much... seemed high to me. I thought with all of the air pockets between the salt it would maybe double or a bit more.

 

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[Reach4]

I would add a little high hardness compensation. I split the difference with 7.

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
Compensated hardness = 12 ; including any compensation
People = 5 ; gallons affects reserve calc
Estimated gal/day = 300 ; 60 gal per person typical calc
Estimated days/regen = 9.18 ; 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 = 33.1 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 12 ; Hardness-- compensate if needed
RS = rc ; rc says use gallons vs percent
RC = 300 ; 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 = 7 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = ____0.7 ; https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/img_fleck5600sxt_flow-png.31592/

Also, I have 100lbs of salt (2 40lb bags + 1 20lb bag) in the tank and the water fills to just below or at the salt level, or about 12 inches. Does that seem correct or is it too much? The brine certainly empties during BD, but it seems to fill up a bit more than I expected. Based on my calculations, with no salt, the water should fill to nearly 3.3" (calculated as (15 * 17)/231 * (6BF *.5 BLFC)). But with all that salt, I'm guessing it would show a much higher level, but I didn't think that much... seemed high to me. I thought with all of the air pockets between the salt it would maybe double or a bit more.

Seems OK to me.

1. There considerable space occupied by the salt, so maybe a 2.5 factor.
2. the brine does not suck down to the bottom of the tank, but instead to about half way down the air check valve. To compute the rise, measure from that point and not from the floor.
3. That 15x17 is not the measurement at the bottom part of the tank. That tank is tapered for stacking. If doing calculations, you should be using dimensions at about the middle of the low-water mark and high-water mark.
4. The corners of your tank are rounded, if you want to compute closer. Also compensate for the wall thickness if you really want to get into it.
5. Brine will occupy about 15% more space than water used to make the brine.

 

[GEWaterSoftenerDude]

Great...thank you so much for your response and numbers... I will give this a shot!

One last question...I noticed the wash/rinse went to 5 minutes. My manual says if you lower it, it could affect the life of the resin. Is 5 going to be a problem?