Quick question: recommended maintenance on water softener

[Loiwin]

Hi all,

I’ve installed a 64000 grain water softener with Fleck 5600sxt in 2018. With the help of all of y’all I was able to successfully program the softener for max efficiency. I just got an email to schedule a service from a company that initially installed the softener for me. Among the services they would do are:

Clean the brine tank
Sanitize the softener
Check lines/plumbing
Test water

Which ones are necessary to do and how often? I’d like to try to do them myself. Also if there’s any tips or tricks on how to do them I’d greatly appreciate it.

Fleck 5600SXT Settings:
DF = Gal
VT = dF1b
CT = Fd
NT = 1
C = 40.0
H = 14
RS = rc
RC = 175
DO = 30
RT = 2:00
BW = 5
Bd = 60
RR = 5
BF = 9
FM = usually p0.7

Thank you

 

[Reach4]

Clean the brine tank maybe every 2000 lbs of salt.

City water, or well? If well, I would sanitize the well and softener and plumbing as needed.

Test the water -- you can do that with your own hardness test. Hach 5-B is well-regarded.

Most people don't need the preventative maintenance unless the well has iron.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Loiwin]

Clean the brine tank maybe every 2000 lbs of salt.

City water, or well? If well, I would sanitize the well and softener and plumbing as needed.

Test the water -- you can do that with your own hardness test. Hach 5-B is well-regarded.

Most people don't need the preventative maintenance unless the well has iron.

Hey reach, you’ve been a big help to me before to program my softener correctly. Thanks. I’m on city water but had a few questions:

After seeing a few videos online, the general idea I gather is: remove attachments from softener and bribe tank, remove the salt and water, clean the brine tank with some dish soap and water and wipe it down, then reattach and add salt and run a regeneration?

However, is there’s still water and salt is there an easier way to remove the water and salt? Should I run my softener for a few more months to get the salt level down? Is there an easier way to remove the water?

Do I have to do anything with the float/reservoir tube thing inside the brine tank?

Am I able to reuse any salt or water I removed from brine tank prior to cleaning?

Is it necessary to sanitize the brine tank/softener with bleach and how to?

Do I have to add any water back to the tank after cleaning and if so how many gallons? I believe I’m regenerating about 12-13 pounds per regeneration.

Thanks for any info y’all, appreciate it.

 

[Reach4]

However, is there’s still water and salt is there an easier way to remove the water and salt? Should I run my softener for a few more months to get the salt level down? Is there an easier way to remove the water?

How much salt do you use? Do you use 40 lb per month? If so, you might go 4 or 5 years before cleaning. That is probably more often that necessary.

Before cleaning, let the salt level fall. I would keep some salt above the water level, perhaps by moving salt over to the side. If I went much lower, I might stir the brine more than 2 hours after the last regen and more than 2 hours before the next regen to break up stratification.

Do I have to add any water back to the tank after cleaning and if so how many gallons? I believe I’m regenerating about 12-13 pounds per regeneration.

Then you want to add enough water to rise to the middle of the check valve (where the brine sucks down to during brine draw) plus another 13/3=4.3 gallons.

I don't know about reusing salt. If it looks clean, I guess that should be OK.

Is it necessary to sanitize the brine tank/softener with bleach and how to?

After cleaning and adding water up to the level you are accustomed to, I would. 5 tablespoons (0.3 cups of 5.5% chlorine bleach or maybe 1/4 cup of stronger). Let that sit for more than a few couple hours. I guess you could do that every couple of years, even brine tank cleaning is not yet needed.

 

[Loiwin]

How much salt do you use? Do you use 40 lb per month? If so, you might go 4 or 5 years before cleaning. That is probably more often that necessary.

Before cleaning, let the salt level fall. I would keep some salt above the water level, perhaps by moving salt over to the side. If I went much lower, I might stir the brine more than 2 hours after the last regen and more than 2 hours before the next regen to break up stratification.



Then you want to add enough water to rise to the middle of the check valve (where the brine sucks down to during brine draw) plus another 13/3=4.3 gallons.

I don't know about reusing salt. If it looks clean, I guess that should be OK.

After cleaning and adding water up to the level you are accustomed to, I would. 5 tablespoons (0.3 cups of 5.5% chlorine bleach or maybe 1/4 cup of stronger). Let that sit for a couple hours, or more, and then do a regen. I guess you could do that every couple of years, even brine tank cleaning is not yet needed.

I regenerate about 12 pounds only if salt per 25 days. I calculated out to be about 13 years before cleaning lol, but should I clean this before to be safe? Also, you said 5 (five) tablespoons of bleach? Do I add this to the actual tank where the salt sits or the tall white tube reservoir thing where the float is?

 

[Reach4]

I regenerate about 12 pounds only if salt per 25 days. I calculated out to be about 13 years before cleaning lol, but should I clean this before to be safe?

Maybe 10 years, but if you feel like doing it sooner, won't hurt. Still, two years seems way to soon.

Also, you said 5 (five) tablespoons of bleach? Do I add this to the actual tank where the salt sits or the tall white tube reservoir thing where the float is?

How about 4 in the big part, and 1 in the brine tube?

 

[Skyjumper]

I've never heard of bleaching a softener that is on city water. presumably the water is chlorinated already. I think your water company is trying to sell you services you simply don't need.

in my opinion this is a clear case of if it aint broke don't fix it. leave the thing alone. don't let them pour bleach into your resin.

 

[Bannerman]

Sanitizing a new softener is the usual recommendation. A softener will be conditioning potable water. The softener's internal components will be handled by various people, any of which may have attended the washroom and not thoroughly washed their hands before returning to assemble your softener.

Salt is not 100% pure so depending on the salt source, non salt contaminants may include sand, aviation fuel, diesel soot, insects, bird droppings ...

Even if the salt is certified 99.9% pure, there may be 1 lb non-salt contaminants for every 1000 lbs added.

Recommended to allow the salt level to drop to a minimal amount each 4-5 years to allow sludge and the least amount of salt to be discarded. Wash the brine tank interior, brine well, safety float and brine line with dish detergent solution followed by a weak bleach solution to sanitize. Bleach residue may be rinsed away before manually adding the correct quantity of water back into the brine tank and the tank refilled with fresh salt.

 

[Reach4]

Also, how much sun can be a factor. Algae can grow. The softener and brine tank should be protected from sun.