Non Digital Fleck 5600 Econominder Not using much (if any) salt

[Bannerman]

The brine tank performs 2 main functions.

One is to provide space to prepare the appropriate quantity of brine needed to regenerate the resin capacity that is programmed. Think of brine as the 'fuel' needed for the softener to operate.

The second function is storage. The dry salt will remain in storage until it drops into contact with the water where it will be dissolved to create brine.

A softener is an appliance that should require little oversight. A significant quantity of salt available in storage will allow for extended operation and infrequent inspection.

 

[Bannerman]

While the chart indicates a 10" X 44" tank is appropriate for 1.1 ft3 of resin, the chart also indicates 1.35 ft3 in a 10" X 54" tank even as that tank dimension is commonly utilized for 1.5 ft3. As such, I suspect your tank will actually contain 1.25 ft3.

10 lbs salt is appropriate to regenerate 30,000 grains capacity in 1.25 ft3 of resin.

With 1000 gallons capacity (+ reserve allowance) currently programmed before regeneration is to occur, signifies the water hardness could be almost 30 grains per gallon. A true hardness test continues to be needed to determine the actual hardness.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[SidCharming]

Okay.

I am not sure how this measurement or gpm helps the situation.

I will pour back in the salt an wait for the hardness water test and see where I go from there.

again: I haven't changed the unit since purchasing the house in December. So if there is something not working correctly, I haven't identified it yet. But the good of the deal is I cleared and cleaned out the brine tank again (2nd time this year).

I will monitor the salt for the next month and if it does not get consumed, I'll look further into this and also purchase the Hard water test kit.

 

[Reach4]

But the good of the deal is I cleared and cleaned out the brine tank again (2nd time this year).

How much crud did you see? Should not have been much at all. Expect to clean your brine tank after using more than a thousand pounds of salt with a smallish brine tank.

I will monitor the salt for the next month and if it does not get consumed, I'll look further into this and also purchase the Hard water test kit.

I hope that is "I will monitor the salt for the next month and (if it does not get consumed, I'll look further into this) and also purchase the Hard water test kit."

With your kit, you can check the hardness on the cold the next day after a regen, and also as the number of gallons remaining gets low. If the water starts soft, and gets harder, you will want to adjust to regen more often. Pay attention, while there is a problem, to how long you go between regens.

 

[SidCharming]

How much crud did you see? Should not have been much at all. Expect to clean your brine tank after using more than a thousand pounds of salt with a smallish brine tank.

1. I did not see any crud when I cleared the brine tank this time
2. My brine tank isn't small... it's 18" x 38"

Yes, I will watch how much salt is consumed within the next month. also monitoring how frequent the regen happens. Thanks a lot for your help and input. Much appreciated =)

 

[SidCharming]

Just did the hardness test and I got 3 grains of hardness with my softener. 3 drops in the Hach 5B test.

 

[Bannerman]

I got 3 grains of hardness with my softener

What is raw water hardness? That is the value needed to program the softener.

 

[Reach4]

If you suspect more than 30 grains of hardness, it is suggested that you dilute the raw water sample with distilled water

[raw:distilled] [multiply drop count by]

1:1__________ 2
1:2__________ 3​

 

[SidCharming]

Hmmm... I am thinking I didn't explain my value correctly. I used hot water from my faucet and only used 3 drops to change pink to purple. From the video I followed, it means my water has a hardness of 3 currently. I don't think it's 30 hardness.

. Do I still need to do the distilled water portion?

 

[Reach4]

Hmmm... I am thinking I didn't explain my value correctly. I used hot water from my faucet and only used 3 drops to change pink to purple.

1. My suggestion about dilution was for your raw water. I did not know if your raw water is 15 or 60. You may have said so previously, but I did not look back much. Distilled water is often under $1 per gallon. It is useful for various things including a final rinse on eyeglasses or mirrors.

2. Test cold water, after running enough to clear the pipes. The problem with hot is that the WH tank retains water from prior times. So the water you test will be partially from water that pre-dates your latest regen. So your cold may be showing 1 or 0 drops.

One more thing: if you ran for a good while with a non-functioning softener, the pipes and WH may have minerals deposited. Those will come into the water slowly, so that could influence your readings for a while.

 

[Bannerman]

I don't think it's 30 hardness.

I previously said your raw water (directly from the well, before any treatment) could be as high as 30 grains per gallon based on the softener's current settings.

We need to know the raw water hardness to determine the amount of hardness to be removed. Once the softener is programmed accordingly, then testing the softened water can verify the softener is working properly.

The recommendation for using distilled water is to reduce the amount of test reagent used when the hardness amount is greater than 30 gpg. Even if your hardness is > 30 gpg, if distilled water is not available, the test will continue to be accurate.

 

[SidCharming]

Whoa! Why now I do the water test, using cold water, it took 13 drops to change from pink to purple? Meaning 13 hardness! What an unexpected value compared to reading hot water last time using only 3 drops to get purple.

 

[Reach4]

Whoa! Why now I do the water test, using cold water, it took 13 drops to change from pink to purple? Meaning 13 hardness! What an unexpected value compared to reading hot water last time using only 3 drops to get purple.

Yes, unexpected.

So do we presume you are still not using enough salt? Or is your softener is not using the salt to treat the resin effectively, or is the resin shot, or is the resin level low?

Do you have some salt above the water?

It might be a good idea to do the test to see when the drain line gets salty after the BD stage starts. 10 to 20 minutes is expected. You can taste by mouth, or you can use a TDS meter and see a large rise in TDS. The 5600 softeners don't usually have that problem, since they usually all use a 1.05 inch OD distributor tube, so there is not wrong-adapter confusion. There are other ways the brine could be bypassing the resin.

 

[Bannerman]

using cold water, it took 13 drops to change from pink to purple?

To clarify, the 'cold water' sample was raw, not softened?

How many drops to change to Blue fully?

 

[SidCharming]

To clarify, the 'cold water' sample was raw, not softened?

How many drops to change to Blue fully?

I have not spent time figuring out if the kitchen sink is softened or not... but now that you said that, typically I thought I had heard that kitchen/drinking faucet should not be softened. So if cold water is RAW and hot water is treated, the results would make sense.

It took 13 drops to change from pink to purple.. fully

Yes, there is salt above the water level. I heard it going off this morning b/c I changed the recharge time to around when I wake up (5am).

without any certainty, maybe I should test from the outdoor water due that never is softened to see if the 13 hardness is true (validating kitchen is RAW). and then the sink next to the washing machine for softened water?

 

[Reach4]

Yes, there is salt above the water level. I heard it going off this morning b/c I changed the recharge time to around when I wake up (5am).

Remember the unit is in bypass for maybe 1.5 hours. So if you took a shower after you woke up, that would have moved some hard water into the WH and pipes.