Still hard water after replacing resin, distributor o-ring, and full rebuild kit

[dindunuffin]

I have a fleck 5600 sxt with 48000 grains capacity. I replaced the resin recently because the I noticed more and more that the water was getting "sticky" when in the shower. I used 1.5 cubic feet of this product here and I think the problem actually got worse. I notice the resin beads are black and not yellow. Does that matter?

Then I replaced the distributor o-ring. Same thing. Last, I installed this rebuild kit and it also made no difference. I used this guide to program the unit and set my hardness to 200 (actual hardness is around 150, according to this kit).

Should I just switch to city water at this point? I'm starting to absolutely hate this well since it commonly runs dry. From what I know, I should get soft water right out of the box with new resin as long as there are no internal leaks.

 

[TheH2OGuy]

Is the system drawing brine from the salt tank? And how much water is in the brine tank? The hardness is actually 9 gpg. 150-200ppm refers to the total TDS of the water. 17.1 ppm TDS is 1 grain of hard water. IE: 150/17.1 = 9gpg.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bannerman]

The Aldex specifications do state the C-800 resin granules are Black.

The link provided, shows the new piston with a Green cap, which is correct for a Downflow 5600SXT softener. To confirm, is the new piston you installed, equipped with a Green cap?

I have not utilized silicone seals as they are not Fleck OEM.

set my hardness to 200 (actual hardness is around 150, according to this kit).

Test strips are not recommended as they are often not accurate, and the gaps between each hardness amount is too large.

The most frequently recommended hardness tester is the Hach 5B Total Hardness kit. The 5B will precisely indicate hardness directly as Grains Per Gallon. The SXT controller is programmed for gpg, not ppm.

To convert ppm to GPG, divide by 17.1 (200 ppm / 17.1 = 11.7 > 12 gpg)

New resin is supplied at full capacity, so no regeneration will be necessary before it will supply softened water.

City water is often not soft, so a softener will often continue to be utilized.

Remove any covers from your 5600 control valve, then post some photos (low resolution) showing each side including the bypass valve.

 

[Reach4]

The SXT controller is programmed for gpg, not ppm.

The European Installer manual for 5600SXT says "The feedwater hardness can be set from 1 to 1990 °TH, ppm, or grains."

I suspect that ppm might become available if you set DF=Ltr.

--Not that that matters to dindunuffin in Ohio. ;-)

 

[dindunuffin]

Is the system drawing brine from the salt tank? And how much water is in the brine tank? The hardness is actually 9 gpg. 150-200ppm refers to the total TDS of the water. 17.1 ppm TDS is 1 grain of hard water. IE: 150/17.1 = 9gpg.

Yes

The Aldex specifications do state the C-800 resin granules are Black.

The link provided, shows the new piston with a Green cap, which is correct for a Downflow 5600SXT softener. To confirm, is the new piston you installed, equipped with a Green cap?

I have not utilized silicone seals as they are not Fleck OEM.


Test strips are not recommended as they are often not accurate, and the gaps between each hardness amount is too large.

The most frequently recommended hardness tester is the Hach 5B Total Hardness kit. The 5B will precisely indicate hardness directly as Grains Per Gallon. The SXT controller is programmed for gpg, not ppm.

To convert ppm to GPG, divide by 17.1 (200 ppm / 17.1 = 11.7 > 12 gpg)

New resin is supplied at full capacity, so no regeneration will be necessary before it will supply softened water.

City water is often not soft, so a softener will often continue to be utilized.

Remove any covers from your 5600 control valve, then post some photos (low resolution) showing each side including the bypass valve.

Yes the new rebuild kit is exactly the same as before. I think the water is getting a little softer after I regenerated it with a full bin of Morton Iron Fighter (for some reason thats the only salt that actually works).

Does the Hach test kit break down whats actually in the water? Maybe I need an "iron filter" which looks like some kind of secondary softner to remove the iron. The water feels sticky in the shower and gets progressively worse the longer the shower.

 

[Reach4]

Does the Hach test kit break down whats actually in the water? Maybe I need an "iron filter" which looks like some kind of secondary softner to remove the iron. The water feels sticky in the shower and gets progressively worse the longer the shower.

Hach 5-B does not detect iron. It does measure hardness from calcium and magnesium hardness materials, and delivers the number as the calcium equivalent -- which is what the softener expects. But for iron, you should increase your H setting by 5 for each ppm of iron. Plus you should add a bit for high-hardness compensation.

I would treat your resin with Iron Out powder. You can layer that in with the salt, and you can also do a periodic batch treatment. With new resin, it is not time for a batch treatment. We could help you find prior posts on using IO. Note that IO does not smell too good. Not to bad to my way of thinking, but others find it quite repulsive. Citric acid and phosphoric acid smell better. I think IO is more effective per $. Phosphoric acid is typically dispensed as a liquid with a dispenser that has a metering wick. The Morton Iron fighter has citric acid as its main active iron-fighting ingredient, but also has another iron fighter that I don't know the effectiveness.

It would be good to know your iron level. I suggest that you get a lab test that measure iron, manganese, hardness, pH at a minimum. If you have a neighbor with a similar well, that has done such a test, that can be relevant.

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