New Install.. Help with Fleck 5600 SXT settings

[Beast]

I recently bought a water softener and just installed the unit.

Everything went well with the install and the water softener is working but I did have a few questions and I'm hoping to get some answers and input as I'm a newb in all this.

I added 5 Gal of water with 3 40lb bags of salt to begin with then did a manual regeneration. After all that completed, the water in the brine tank was half way up the tank and something like 5 inches above the salt. Is this due to my BF time as shown below?

My Water Softener Specs (click link)

I have a Fleck 5600 SXT 48,000 Grain with 10% Crosslink resin as well as 1.5 cu.ft Carbon upflow Tank. I also have a 20" Big Blue sitting in front. This is City Water water.

I tested my water hardness with the HACH 5B Hardness Test Kit.

Here are my current settings that I'm sure need tuning

BLFC: .50 GPM 1.5LB
DF: GAL
VT: dF lb
CT: Fd
NT: 1
C: 48x1000
H: 10
RS: rC
RC: 225 (2 adults plus 9 month old baby. Also have a Nanny that comes for 8hr daily on weekdays)
DO: 14
RT: 2:30
BW: 10
BD: 60
RR: 10
BF: 14 (My novice self thinks this is why there is a lot of water in the tank?)
FM: P0.7

What are the best settings for my scenario?

 

[Reach4]

System info (not programmed)
salt lb/cuft = 8 ; 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 = 2 ; gallons affects reserve calc
Estimated gal/day = 225 ; 60 gal per person typical calc
Estimated days/regen = 14.5 ; 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 = 36.0 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 11 ; Hardness-- compensate if needed
RS = rc ; rc says use gallons vs percent
RC = 225 ; Reserve capacity gallons (watch actual, maybe modify)
DO = 28 ; Day Override
RT = 2:00 ; Regen time (default 2 AM)
BW = 5 ; Backwash (minutes)
Bd = 60 ; Brine draw minutes
RR = 5 ; Rapid Rinse minutes
BF = 8 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = P0.7 ; flow meter, so you have a paddlewheel.
The above at 8 pound/cubic ft is much more salt efficient than you had. You could go to 6 pounds if you want to be even more salt-efficient with the water a bit less silky. For that, C=30.0 and BF=6.

 

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[Beast]

System info (not programmed)
salt lb/cuft = 8 ; 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 = 2 ; gallons affects reserve calc
Estimated gal/day = 120 ; 60 gal per person typical calc
Estimated days/regen = 27.3 ; 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 = 36.0 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 11 ; Hardness-- compensate if needed
RS = rc ; rc says use gallons vs percent
RC = 225 ; Reserve capacity gallons (watch actual, maybe modify)
DO = 7 ; Day Override
RT = 2:00 ; Regen time (default 2 AM)
BW = 5 ; Backwash (minutes)
Bd = 60 ; Brine draw minutes
RR = 5 ; Rapid Rinse minutes
BF = 8 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = P0.7 ; flow meter, so you have a paddlewheel.
The above at 8 pound/cubic ft is much more salt efficient than you had. You could go to 6 pounds if you want to be even more salt-efficient with the water a bit less silky. For that, C=30.0 and BF=6.

Thanks for the info. So that I have some understanding, I should set Hardness to 11 to compensate for small changes in water?

For RC, what do you mean watch for actual? Should this be calculated off of 4 people? ( Baby plus nanny.. she doesn't shower but she does the babies laundry while here a couple days a week) Is there way to see how much water I'm using on the Fleck 5600 SXT?

Does it matter how much salt is put into the brine tank. I've seen some places suggest the salt should just be right above the water line and other places suggest you could fill the tank before the cap for the float.

Again thanks for the quick input

 

[Reach4]

Thanks for the info. So that I have some understanding, I should set Hardness to 11 to compensate for small changes in water?

Yes.

For RC, what do you mean watch for actual? Should this be calculated off of 4 people? ( Baby plus nanny.. she doesn't shower but she does the babies laundry while here a couple days a week) Is there way to see how much water I'm using on the Fleck 5600 SXT?

The unit is going to alternate a number with the time. That number is the number of gallons the softener expects to get before you are into the reserve. Once into the reserve, you will regen at the next 2 AM.

Anyway, I suggest you write down that number maybe once per week, or whenever you like. By seeing how much that number drops in 7 days or 10 days or 14 days, or whatever you will get your actual usage. So if you find that on average you are using a lot extra or a lot more than 225 per day, you could tweak the number. With your moderate hardness, you will be going about 2 weeks between regenerations if you use 225 gallons per day. If your actual use is 170, it really won't much matter that much what you set the reserve to. On occasion you could regen a day sooner than if you had set it lower. But since you have a nice long time between regens, an extra day does not matter much.

Does it matter how much salt is put into the brine tank. I've seen some places suggest the salt should just be right above the water line and other places suggest you could fill the tank before the cap for the float.

The salt level should keep some salt above the water level. If you tilt the fill, so you could see some water.

Either works. How much fiddling do you want to do? I would think when the unit is new, you might want more watching to go on. In that case, you could tilt the fill and watch. Once you know things are working, feel free to fill it up. You are going to use roughly a 40 pound bag every 2 months. You could fill it to the float well cap. Or something significantly less.

 

[Beast]

Thanks for taking the time to break down and answer my questions. Everything you said makes perfect sense. So I will monitor our usage for the next few weeks and see how much we are using and adjust if necessary.

If I have DO as 7 then that means it will regenerate every 7 days I believe so I won't get to the 2 week point

 

[Reach4]

If I have DO as 7 then that means it will regenerate every 7 days I believe so I won't get to the 2 week point

Oops... I edited the posting above to DO=28. I had the 7 laying around from somebody with significant iron, and with city water, you don't have that.

 

[Beast]

I've updated my settings with your suggestions. I really appreciate it!

 

[Chris_FL]

I apologize for reviving this thread, but my question fits right in here and probably does not deserve it's own topic.

I bought a water softener (Fleck 5600SXT) and installed it yesterday. The water softener is working but I am wondering if an expert could look over my settings and give me their input regarding capacity and efficiency of my setup.

UNIT: Fleck 5600 SXT 32,000 Grain
9" x 48 " resin tank with 8% bead strength resin
3 person household, 3400 sqft, no pool
On average, we use around 200 gal. per day
City Water

The utilities company has told me that our water has hardness value of 12 gpg.

Here are my components/settings for your review:

BLFC: .50 GPM 1.5LB
DRAIN LINE VALVE: 2.0 GPM
INJECTOR: 1.0 GPM

DF: GAL
VT: dF lb
CT: Fd
NT: 1
C: 21x1000
H: 14 (added 2 on top of utilities value for fluctuations)
RS: SF
SF: 10%
DO: 14
RT: 2:30
BW: 8
BD: 60
RR: 6
BF: 4 (calculation: 6lb salt desired = 2 gal of water = 4 min at 0.5 GPM)
FM: P0.7

What do you think, please?

Thank you,
Chris

 

[Reach4]

System info (not programmed)
salt lb/cuft = 6 ; A choice ( efficiency vs capacity)
BLFC = 0.5 ; Brine Refill rate GPM
cubic ft resin = 1 ; ft3 resin = (nominal grains)/32,000
Compensated hardness = 14 ; including any compensation
People = 3.33 ; gallons affects reserve calc
Estimated gal/day = 200 ; 60 gal per person typical calc
Estimated days/regen = 7.14 ; Computed days including 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 = 20.0 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 14 ; Hardness-- compensate if needed
RS = rc ; rc says use gallons vs percent
RC = 200 ; 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 = 4 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = ____0.7 ; https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/img_fleck5600sxt_flow-png.31592/
(Use that link to confirm that you have a paddlewheel.)

 

[Chris_FL]

Hello!

Yes, I definitely have the paddle wheel style meter.

So these would be the ideal settings for my system?
I want to err more on the side of efficiency, is that fair to say?

Thank you so much for your analysis.

Chris

 

[Reach4]

Your numbers were good. The big difference in what I put was using a gallon-based reserve vs a percentage-based reserve. The gallon method would not need adjustment if you were to change H due to new info.

6 lb/cuft is a good higher-salt-efficiency setting with good softening. If you decided to go for a little softer while using a bit more salt, you could go to 7.5 lb/cuft

BF=3 would be too lean for most.
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 = 1
Alternative C and BF pairs:
lb/cuft ; C= ; BF= ; grains/pound of salt
3.000 ; 13.8 ; 2 ; 3073; really lean -- official California style
4.500 ; 18.0 ; 3 ; 2666; leaner than common
6.000 ; 21.0 ; 4 ; 2335; ** salt level used in above, tho note different C number.
7.500 ; 23.3 ; 5 ; 2073; more softness, preferred by many
9.000 ; 25.2 ; 6 ; 1863; more salt
10.500 ; 26.6 ; 7 ; 1691
12.000 ; 27.9 ; 8 ; 1548
13.500 ; 28.9 ; 9 ; 1428; lots of salt

 

[Chris_FL]

Reach4: You are the master!

Thank you, perfectly understood. I'll attach the alternative pairs to my manual.
I am using 6lb/cuft for the moment and have switched to a fixed reserve capacity.

Last question: Why are we using c=20,000 in our settings, if 21,000 corresponds to 6lb (or4 minutes)?
I am sure it doesn't make a big difference, I am just interested in the logic behind your thoughts.

Thanks again,
Chris

 

[Reach4]

https://www.purolite.com/dam/jcr:58133bec-8fe3-45d2-9afe-4a9c16eab21d/Application Guide Purolite Water Softening Resin _01 07 2014_AC.pdf is another source of info.

I think there can be different rounding and margin choices made with different prescription tables. The margin can account for some aging of the resin and other factors.

For you, checking your residual hardness will let you tune things. The number of gallons that the softener controller computes is C/H. Then subtract off for the reserve. So if you find too much hardness leakage in the time before regen, you can increase H or decrease C. If there is less leakage than you can tolerate, you can do the opposite.

 

[Chris_FL]

Understood - I'll start with C = 20k and H = 14 (12 was the utility's guesstimate) and see how it turns out.

Do you have a recommendation for a DIY test kit, please?

 

[Reach4]

Hardness? Hach 5-B.

 

[Chris_FL]

Ordered - thank you again.

Chris

 

[Chris_FL]

Just an update: Tested city water today, solution turns blue at exactly the 12th drop.
And I am 2/3 through my regeneration period with no hardness in the house whatsoever.

Seems to be working as planned.

 

[Reach4]

Nice. When tested, does the softened water turn blue before any drops, or after 1 drop? It's not really important, but it could be useful for comparison when you are 95% through your regeneration period.

 

[Chris_FL]

The softened water immediately turns blue.

So I should watch out for a more "timid" change (maybe after a drop) once I get to the end of the regeneration period, right?
But as long as I get blue immediately, I can drop the H-value or increase the C-value for the next regeneration period.

 

[Reach4]

So I should watch out for a more "timid" change (maybe after a drop) once I get to the end of the regeneration period, right?
But as long as I get blue immediately, I can drop the H-value or increase the C-value.

Remember the H and C values only determine when the regen occurs. But if there is not significant residual at regen, you could modify the settings. However I would wait a cycle or two. Your new resin was totally regenerated to start with. So it might take a while go get to a settled situation.

On the other hand, a bit of residual hardness is not a big deal. Also note that water departments may switch the mix of river water vs well water at various times of the year. So the incoming hardness may vary.

Also note that if your system is in the sun, you want to protect plastics with paint or other protection.