Water softener not softening

[Hawkins]

So I finally bought a water softener/GAC Filter system. Two tanks - two Fleck 5810SXT's. Installed over the weekend. Programmed appropriately with the retailer but obviously installed myself. Now here's the issue.

I am not getting soft water! I've turned on the cold water to every faucet, regened the unit, and run a total of about 200 gallons through the softener (the meter on the softener is where this number comes from). The result, water with a hardness of 11 gpg which is the same hardness pre-unit. How can this be?

The softener is not in bypass mode (it is in service), it is hooked up correctly with the in's and out's. I just don't get it. What could be causing the water not to soften? The tank has 1.5 cu ft of resin with the gravel bed at the bottom which was provided with the softener. I am just sick to my stomach of the issue here. I've spent a lot of money on a water system and am getting no benefit. The retailer is checking with Fleck but wanted to see what ideas you all had. Picture included to show the set up.

 

[Reach4]

I presume you were not getting soft water even for the first 200 gallons through.

You could trigger another regeneration (hold the extra cycle button in 5 seconds to start). First is backwash. Then BD. During the BD stage, taste the drain water. The salt taste should appear after several minutes. If it occurs much sooner, that points to a particular place for a problem, and shows the flow bypasses the resin.

Alternatively, you could use a TDS meter instead of taste. Salty-tasting water would have a much higher TDS.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Hawkins]

I presume you were not getting soft water even for the first 200 gallons through.

You could trigger another regeneration (hold the extra cycle button in 5 seconds to start). First is backwash. Then BD. During the BD stage, taste the drain water. The salt taste should appear after several minutes. If it occurs much sooner, that points to a particular place for a problem, and shows the flow bypasses the resin.

Alternatively, you could use a TDS meter instead of taste. Salty-tasting water would have a much higher TDS.

Your presumption is correct. I tested the water a lot over the 200 gallons and never got a reduction a hardness. I would have assumed I'd get down to a lower hardness if hard and soft water were commingling but everything was 10 gpg. All tests done by a Hach 5b kit.

I can try this tonight. I bought 3 bags of salt and put in the brine tank. I was surprised to see how much salt was missing this morning after the regen. I had thought it used about 10-15lbs of salt per regen but it looked like I was down an entire bag. (40 lb) Grant it - I have no evidence of this other than visual so I may be wrong on this.

 

[Reach4]

Besides the display switching when backwash is over, the drain line flow will drop when BF begins.

 

[Hawkins]

Besides the display switching when backwash is over, the drain line flow will drop when BF begins.

I am somewhat familiar with the stages. The BW stage is the first 10 minutes, then the next stage is 60 min which is the BD stage (correct?). I know if I start a manual regen and hit the regen button again, it will go to the next stage manually (I did this to check for leaks).

 

[Reach4]

(correct?)

Yep. That will save waiting.

While doing BD, it would be interesting to note the brine level before, and how long it takes to go to minimum (15 minutes is par). Don't do that to exclusion of the tasting, which is the important test.

 

[Bannerman]

Although you said the 'retailer' programmed the softener appropriately, please post what those settings are. While I do not expect the current settings will prevent soft water from being delivered to your fixtures, the settings will impact the amount of salt being consumed each regeneration cycle.

With regard to the absence of soft water, you may wish to view this thread: https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/fleck-5810-sxt-brine-draw-going-down-drain.81211/

 

[ditttohead]

Put the softener into the BD cycle and taste the drain water within the first minute. It should not be salty. If it is, your riser tube is set incorrectly. See this video. This happens sometimes.