Quick question: BF time when decreasing from 40k to either 36 or 32k grain
- Thread starter Loiwin
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Hi all, hope everyone is doing alright. Just wanted to swing an update by. As quoted above, after doing the 2 manual regenerations where I was restoring the full capacity of my 2 cuft softener, it took 22 days for a regeneration to kick in. C = 40, BF = 8, H = 15. Water felt great!
However, after this auto regeneration 22 days later, the water feels a little harder. The gallons generated were 2483 with settings listed above. How do I keep roughly the same number of gallons softened with similar capacity (C = 40) but increase the quality (softness) it my water? Can I keep C = 40 but increase BF = 9? If so how many gallons of water should I add to the tank before doing a manual regeneration?
Does increasing H = 15 to let’s say 17 actually increase the water quality, or does it simply change the number of gallons on the controller before regeneration?
Or would it be better if Lets say, I changed C = 48 and BF = 11, to get a higher salt dose but increased my H to lower the number of gallons regenerated? Previously I had C = 48 BF = 11 but it produced 3517 gallons of softened water which was too much for my family. I’m trying to capacity down but increase water quality. Thank you!
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Bannerman
Well-Known Member
Since it took 22 days to consume 40K grains, then 40,000 / 22 = 1,818 grains day usage.
If the Capacity setting is changed to 48K, then 48,000 / 1,818 = 26.4 so the softener should regenerate approximately every 26 days which is still correctly within the 30-day DO setting.
To regenerate 48K grains will require 16 lbs salt so the brine fill setting will need to be 11 minutes. These settings will reduce hardness leakage through the resin to deliver slightly softer water which will more likely satisfy your expectations.
Each 1 minute change in BF is equal to 0.5 gallons, so increasing BF from 8 minutes to 11 minutes, will result in an additional 1.5 gallons entering the brine tank.
Setting a higher hardness setting changes the calculation of gallons remaining. 40K capacity / 15 gpg = 2,666 total gallons remainung (less the reserve amount which is why 2483 is displayed). When setting 17 gpg, then the total gallons remaining will be 2352 (less reserve). Because that additional hardness capacity was not actually consumed, then there will be higher resin capacity remaining when each regeneration occurs, so using the same salt amount will be the same as using a slightly higher salt setting.
If the Capacity setting is changed to 48K, then 48,000 / 1,818 = 26.4 so the softener should regenerate approximately every 26 days which is still correctly within the 30-day DO setting.
To regenerate 48K grains will require 16 lbs salt so the brine fill setting will need to be 11 minutes. These settings will reduce hardness leakage through the resin to deliver slightly softer water which will more likely satisfy your expectations.
Each 1 minute change in BF is equal to 0.5 gallons, so increasing BF from 8 minutes to 11 minutes, will result in an additional 1.5 gallons entering the brine tank.
Setting a higher hardness setting changes the calculation of gallons remaining. 40K capacity / 15 gpg = 2,666 total gallons remainung (less the reserve amount which is why 2483 is displayed). When setting 17 gpg, then the total gallons remaining will be 2352 (less reserve). Because that additional hardness capacity was not actually consumed, then there will be higher resin capacity remaining when each regeneration occurs, so using the same salt amount will be the same as using a slightly higher salt setting.
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Yes. If you go from BF=8 to BF=9, you could add 0.5 gallons of water to the brine tank 2 hours or more before the regen to start with what you would have had if BF had been 9 previously.
I would go to BF=10 for 7.5 lb/cuft. It is still less than the popular 8 lb/cuft. If the water feels too soft, you could back off to 9. See post #2 on this thread.
Thank you guys. I will actually do one of the 2 options given, either increase C = 48, BF = 11 or keep C = 40 and increase BF = 10. Is there any detriment or wasting resin to keeping C = 40 and BF = 10?
Overall, I do want to keep # gallons regenerated the same (<3000). Which is the better option? Thanks
Gallons on the display after regen will be (C/H-R) where C and H are the softener settings, and R represents the reserve in gallons. If RS=rc, then R is the RC value. When the display counts down to zero, regeneration will happen the next time that RT matches the current time.
Bannerman
Well-Known Member
This will not waste resin or capacity. What it does do is use additional salt compared to the salt amount needed to regenerate 40K Capacity. Since your concern is with the quality of the softened water, then using a little more salt to obtain the water quality you want, would be a reasonable tradeoff.
10 minutes BF X 0.5 BLFC = 5 gallons fill X 3 lbs/gal = 15 lbs salt
40,000 / 15 lbs = 2,666 grains per lb of salt Hardness Removal Efficiency
9 minutes BF X 0.5 BLFC = 4.5 gallons fill X 3 lbs/gallon = 13.5 lbs salt
40,000 / 13.5 = 2,963 grains per lb of salt Hardness Removal Efficiency (approx equal to 48K capacity while using 16 lbs)
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Awesome. I will try BF = 9 and if it’s not to my liking I’ll kick it up to BF = 10. Thank you all
Hardness could have accumulated in the pipes. Over time that hardness gets moved into the passing water and gets used. The water to the second story goes through more pipes. So that's how it could happen.
I see. So in theory, it is possible to happen, although it doesn’t necessarily mean there is problem, it’s just a way it can occur? The sink in my master bedroom on the 2nd floor has a less soft water feel than the bathroom downstairs. It is at the end of the plumbing in the house (I believe). Would it makes sense as to the reason why? Or could it mean a different problem? Thank you,
Do you not have an Hach 5-B? Better than touchy-feely when figuring out hardness.
I do, I guess I could do that. But is this anything that could actually happen or had happened to anyone in your experience? Just seeing if it was a thing...
ditttohead
Water systems designer, R&D
Even small amounts of hardness can make "soft water" feel less soft. http://wcponline.com/2012/03/05/soft-soft-water/ This is an article by Chubb, one of the most brilliant minds in the water industry. This article is a total "101" compared to some of his articles, this maybe why I liked this article so much 
The "Silky" feeling tends to diminish over time as your brain is trained to what should be normal. Like when you get a new car with more HP, after a few months it simply feels "normal".
The "Silky" feeling tends to diminish over time as your brain is trained to what should be normal. Like when you get a new car with more HP, after a few months it simply feels "normal".
Even small amounts of hardness can make "soft water" feel less soft. http://wcponline.com/2012/03/05/soft-soft-water/ This is an article by Chubb, one of the most brilliant minds in the water industry. This article is a total "101" compared to some of his articles, this maybe why I liked this article so much
The "Silky" feeling tends to diminish over time as your brain is trained to what should be normal. Like when you get a new car with more HP, after a few months it simply feels "normal".
Thanks ditto. You were a big help when I first bought my softener. I get the silky feeling diminishing, but I feel like that water is more “silkly” in the downstairs bathroom as compared to upstairs. Just seeing if this was possible depending on where the water exits the plumbing in the house
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