Softener system, What is this and what do I do with it :)?

[Devans175]

Hello All!
We just moved into a new home and there is what I think is a water softener system. My previous home had an acid neutralizer that looked somewhat similar. I installed it myself with the help of this forum many years ago.

I guess my questions are, how does it work and what do I fill the tank with? Do I just use the bags of salt that you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot?

Oh, and is there a trick to refilling the salt reservoir? It was always a pain in the a** refilling the neutralizer because I always had to syphon water our before I added calcite.

Thank You!!

 

[Valveman]

Moving to softener forum.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

That tank on the left is going to be an acid neutralizer. It is commonly filled with calcite, but you may need something else if you need more acid neutralization than calcite alone can provide. You should get a pH meter. I like the cheap yellow ones that come with packets to make calibration solution. Into a clean jar, combine 250ml of distilled water and one packet. Calibrate the pH meter each time you use it.

Store the pH meter tip in calibration solution, usually using the cap to hold the solution.

 

[LLigetfa]

PDF files could contain malware so I suggest you attach native image files instead as some folks would not open PDFs from an untrusted source.

 

[Devans175]

That is going to be an acid neutralizer. It is commonly filled with calcite, but you may need something else if you need more acid neutralization than calcite alone can provide. You should get a pH meter. I like the cheap yellow ones that come with packets to make calibration solution. Into a clean jar, combine 250ml of distilled water and one packet. Calibrate the pH meter each time you use it.

Store the pH meter tip in calibration solution, usually using the cap to hold the solution.

Thanks Reach, but why is there a reference to salt on the Little Tank Label? Is it an acid Neutralizer and a softener? Does salt go into the black box/tank on the right? ..and calcite is the big tank on the left?

 

[Reach4]

Yes. That is a softener on the right. I did not see it before because I did not zoom the PDF out when I looked at it. I will edit my previous post.

The smaller round tank is a Fleck 5600 timed softener. Softener salt goes into the square brine tank. Keep the salt level somewhere between where some salt is above water and the top. Maybe just add enough to get the salt above water, and check to see if the salt level goes down. It should. That should then give you some confidence that it is working.

Find a Fleck 5600 service manual. You do not have the Economizer. You do not have the SXT.

 

[Devans175]

Yes. That is a softener on the right. I did not see it before because I did not zoom the PDF out when I looked at it. I will edit my previous post.

The smaller round tank is a Fleck 5600 timed softener. Softener salt goes into the square brine tank. Keep the salt level somewhere between where some salt is above water and the top. Maybe just add enough to get the salt above water, and check to see if the salt level goes down. It should. That should then give you some confidence that it is working.

Find a Fleck 5600 service manual. You do not have the Economizer. You do not have the SXT.

OK. I found the manual. It seems to explain the softener function, but not the acid neutralizer side. Probably not important, though. I had a fleck neutralizer at my old house, but it had digital controls. This is going to take some getting used to.

 

[Reach4]

Same basic valve on both, but with a different piston. I would determine how often each regenerates. Make the settings such that the two regenerations do not overlap.

 

[Devans175]

Same basic valve on both, but with a different piston. I would determine how often each regenerates. Make the settings such that the two regenerations do not overlap.

One last question. What calcite supplier would you use. I was getting it from Northeastern Supply for years. They changed their supplier and the new media was a disaster. The backflow washed the media into my sewer lines and clogged them. It was a mess. I assumed it was because the media was more fine, but perhaps it was something else. Any experience with that?

 

[Reach4]

No. I have read of calcite, but never seen it.