I ordered my Fleck Water softener and it brought my very hard well water from 42 grains per gallon down to 3 gpg. Water is now very soft. Fantastic customer support !!
Very well explained, thank you so much, now after I dad all that, I don't feel the water as soft as it was the first two weeks, But you are a very good explainer. 👍
I do see where the softener is in service mode but the numbers still stay at 1800. So is it still softening or what can be done to make the numbers go down as you use water?
Thank-you for taking the time to make this video, it's very helpful. I have a Fleck 5600SE head attached to a filter tank, which is connected to another tank with a water softener bin. Which turbine setting should I use please? It said GEN, but here you say t0.7. It was also set to tc , and not fd. Any advice would be really helpful. Thank-you in advance.
Hey there...bought a used Culligan soft minder twin with this control on it and 4 dashes appear across the screen when plugged in and they stay there after unplugging it. Can't find any info on what this means? Any help would be appreciated thank you...
You're very welcome! If you don't mind me asking, were you using this video to program a newly purchased system, or to re-program a system that you've had for a while?
Thank you for providing such a helpful resource. I am concerned about how much salt my system is using. I have the Fleck 5600sxt cabinet softener. I live alone and since I had it installed 6 weeks ago I’ve gone through about 3 bags of salt. Is this normal? I have all the settings recommended in video with hard whatever setting at 18 which is recommended for my area. Is this typical to go through this much salt?
I am thinking of buying Fleck 5600SXT 48K grains capacity and it is of 1.5 cubic feet unit, Can i just set the capacity to 20K with 7 days regeneration time ? OR set the capacity to 30K with 10 days regeneration ?. I am buying bigger than my usage because large capacity will be needed later for my home ( according to calculations on your site i need water softener with capacity 21K per week)
I need to be able to change the amount of gallons or in my case litres when my softner will do a regen. On all these how to setup your softner, not one will tell me this. My softner is now set on 3900 litres, this is to high, need it to set it down to 3500 litre, how do I do this please, your help would be much appreciated
This is tremendously informative and helpful. I moved into a home that has two tanks with separate valve controls (both are the Fleck 5600SXT). The Day Override was set to "Off," on the first valve control, and on the second control valve, it was set to regenerate after a number of days. Is this how the two valve controls should be used? Will the second valve accomplish the regeneration cycle for the first tank?
Likely the tank with the day override set to 'off' is a softener (if it is it will have an attached salt tank). The valve with the day override set to some number is likely some kind of filter. Usually it would be a carbon filter or perhaps something else. The valve on each tank will regenerate/backwash the tank it's attached to. The one will do it based on water consumed and the other will do it based on time elapsed.
Thanks for the informative video. I have a Fleck 5600SXT with 1f3 (32000 grain) resin. My 15" x 17" brine tank has a salt grid. I'm wondering if your recommended Brine Fill setting of 5 will add enough water to reach the bottom of my salt pellets? If not, what should the minimum brine fill setting be? Thanks!
5 minutes of Brine Fill time will add 2.5 gallons of water to the brine tank. That's likely enough water to get above the salt grid. But if it is not, increase the Brine Fill time to 6 minutes and then change the Capacity value (C) to 25,000 grains to match it. It won't be quite as efficient, but it will still be quite efficient, but more importantly it will work!
Great video. One question, in between the time it shows a number. For me it’s 2700 but for you I noticed it shows a different number. What does this number mean?
Great video. I have a few questions tho. My water softner is air injection Fleck 2510 2 cubic ft of resin. Tank size 12/52. 64,000 grain capacity. My hard water number is 120 ppm magnesium 10 ppm iron 10 with only 2 people in our home. My current program hardness is 34 is that correct?
Great video, very helpful. I had just finished the programming when the blue screen began turning black and smoke came out from the control board. I unplugged and found out the outlet I chose is actually 240VAC instead of 115VAC :( Can I purchase just the replacement control board?
Yikes! Lol. Yep - you can buy the 'powerhead' which is the square part up top that contains the circuit board and the motor that drives the piston. If you'd like to go ahead with that purchase please send us a note through the website (aquatell.ca for Canada / aquatell.com for USA). Thanks.
is there a "recharge now' button, or a 'recharge tonight' mode? my older softerner had both those features which i used quite a bit, esp before you know kids are coming home for weekend, for showers, laundry, etc, i would recharge friday night, so the water will be ready for a heavy weekend of use '
The button on the far left is the 'regeneration' button. If you press it once and release it, this queues up a regeneration at the time you've set for regeneration in the programming. If you press and hold this button (until you hear the drive motor engage), this will force an immediate regeneration. Hope that helps.
You can’t use TDS to measure the hardness of water. Because water softening is an ion exchange process the TDS measurement before and after will be identical. If you want to measure softener performance you need to measure the ‘total hardness’ before and after the softener.
Should the brine tank water level be above or below the salt? Is there a preferred amount of salt that should be in the brine tank at any given time? I have a 64k grain system with 4 people in my household. I have capacity set at 40 x1000 and BF at 8 per your instructions. Thanks in advance for your reply!
The level of water compared to the level of salt isn't important. All you have to make sure is that the Brine Fill (BF) setting is correct and that you have ANY amount of undissolved salt in the brine tank. For your system you've got the capacity and brine fill setting exactly correct. I suggest you fill the brine tank almost to the top with salt, and then just check it every few months to see how the level is.
I thought 40k grain for 2ft3 system goes with 6lbs of salt which equals to 4 minutes of Brine fill? How come we use 8 minutes here (12lbs I assume)? I just bought the same system and am trying to understand salt dosage, thanks!
Hi there. You need to get into the master programming menu. The 9100SXT uses the same controller as the 5600SXT. Have a look at this page: www.aquatell.ca/blogs/aquatell/programming-the-fleck-5600sxt-softener-valve-for-max-efficiency. However, with the 9100SXT when you get to NT set this value to "2". If you still don't get soft water, well, to be honest it could be a whole bunch of things. If you bought the system from Aquatell I'll be happy to help you continue troubleshooting, but if you bought it somewhere else I suggest you go back to them.
I have this same meter, since install the gallon counter has remained at 1450. I’ve watched it for several days and it hasn’t changed. Any idea? Does it count down gallon by gallon or in increments
It should count down by gallon. Check that the meter cable is pushed all the way into the hole it resides in and that it's oriented properly (on cross section it's shaped like a loaf of bread). If that doesn't work, you can put the whole system in bypass, de-pressurize it by running a regen cycle, then remove the turbine and check to make sure it's spinning freely.
after i installed and programed this unit, i saw the number 1901 on the meter..then as the day went on that number went down. i can only assume it was gallons used. however the next morning, (no one used water since night before) , the water meter number appears to have re-set back to 1901? does this do that each night? and it it normal? i cannot find info on this. thanks
The 1901 is the number of gallons of soft water remaining after the system has regenerated. As you use water, this number will count down. Depending on how the programming is set up, you'd usually want this number to get close to zero before another regeneration happens. Every time the unit regenerates you'll get back to 1901 gallons remaining. I suspect your day override setting is set to "1" so that your softener is regenerating every night. Day Override is "DO" in the programming menu. Set this to 7 unless your water has high iron, then set it to 5.
***** thanks , i checked the DO value and its at 14....i will keep an eye on the gals and see if it continues to go down as you suggest...if not i will post back to update whats going on,...thanks..it appears that today the gals HAS actually gone down and NOT re-gen..as it did the night before...i will check again in the a.m. 12/3/
Hold down the circle arrow button on the far left. That will put it into back wash. After it goes into back wash is will run through its settings of rr, bf,bd etc.
Well, you don't really. There are two ways this system can be set up to regenerate. Option 1 is based on the number of gallons processed, and Option 2 is a day override (DO) value where the system regenerates every X days. If you set the DO value to 7 and then force a regeneration on the day of the week that you always want it to regenerate on (let's say it's a Wednesday) then it will continue on regenerating every 7 days from that point, which will always be a Wednesday.
At 1:58 and 5:01 I provide links in the video that take you to a page on our website that shows the Capacity (C) and Brine Fill (BF) settings for softeners of various sizes. These are the only settings that are specific to the tank size / resin volume. If you're having trouble with these settings just tell me what tank size / resin volume you've got and I'll give you the values you need.
aQuatellvideos I am using a 9x40 tank filled with 1cf of C-10 resin. I am having problem removing 30GPG well water because I still have 10GPG. I set the 5600SXT exactly the same way as you show. the timer regenerate every 666 liters ( as I set my timer to liters). I don't understand. I know that 20,000grain / 30gpg should give 666.666 gallons which make about 2,533 liters. If you can help me with this it would be very helpful.
@@rudymustang06 I've only ever used the Fleck 5600 as a softener. The application you're using it for is as an iron filter. Usually what you do for iron system applications, is use the Day Override (DO) setting to force it to backwash every 3 days. So set the DO to 3. For the BW, BD, and RR settings you'll have to ask the retailer. But for sure, you will want the Brine Fill (BF) to be set to OFF or 0 (zero). Otherwise you'll likely end up with water on the floor.
How long does it take for the water softener to take effect? One day after being online, a second test has shown a higher hardness reading. Is it cleaning deposits from the plumbing?
Should be pretty much instantaneous on the cold water side. For the hot water side it will take a while for the soft water to displace the non-softened water in the hot water tank. Probably a couple of days. Yes - the soft water will very slowly dissolve the hard water scale in your pipes, but this is so small an effect that it would not show up on a hardness test. Out of curiosity - how are you testing the hardness? If you're using an aquarium test kit, it won't give you the correct result. Also, make sure you're not using TDS as a proxy for hardness. You need to be using a drip-style water hardness test kit specifically for drinking water (avoid the dip-strips).
***** I'm using a meter. It's an Extech ExSik II, EC-Sal-TDS. The readings went from 270 to 300, then to 277 ppm over three days. Thanks for your interest. Jeff
ckjk616 Sorry, I forgot to mention that the installation involved quite a few plumbing changes. The copper had to be run to the cold water supply for most of the house along with a 25 foot run to the water heater. When the water was first turned on, as with many plumbing jobs, the water ran brown for quite a while. Also, there is now a whole house water filter just before the softener. I let the water run for quite a while until I couldn't detect any of the discoloration, but this was by eye.
ckjk616 It all makes sense now. The meter you are using is not measuring hardness, it is measuring TDS. TDS is total dissolved solids. It is a measure of the amount of dissolved material in the water. The water softening process is an ion-exchange process - the softener grabs on to calcium and magnesium and in exchange it releases sodium. So, the water softener could be working perfectly, and the TDS will not change. Or, depending on the makeup of ions in your raw water, the TDS could even go up, but your water will still be soft. To confirm the hardness you need to get a water hardness test kit, but I bet everything is working perfectly well.
Why does the clock ALWAYS say 1800. it does not go down like he said while programing. It flashes between the time and then it always is 1800? Are we doing something wrong?
When the softener is out of programming mode, it toggles every few seconds between the time and the number of gallons remaining until the next regen. If your softener stays at 1800 forever, then it's not measuring the water flow through the unit properly, or the softener is in bypass mode.
good videos. i installed a 48 metered 5600 sxt and a few months later the water would only partially soften. 20gpg originally down to 12ish. i tried everything i could think of. finally replace the head and it worked great for 2 months, now it is only partially softening again, 12- 15ish. could this be a problem with the meter possibly.
How are you testing the water? Make sure you're testing the 'total hardness'. This doesn't sound like a meter problem to me. Something else is going on. Sounds more like you've got some untreated water that is bypassing the softening process. Once you've confirmed that you're testing the proper parameter (Total Hardness) you want to force the softener to regenerate. Once that is done, immediately run your cold water faucet for 3 minutes then check the hardness. Should be close to zero.
Reid Thornley . nope. I'm using a softener testing kit. installed about a dozen. last time I tested it was 16 hpg. generally it's 19-20 here. the resin may be set to low, it is a 48k and I havnt checked the replacement head setting yet. this is a doozy that I'm struggling with. it's almost like it's sucking the top water and riser water but it seems to be snug in the oring. could water pressure have anything to do with it.
These 'partially softening' issues are brutal to figure out. Could be a bunch of things. I'd check again to make sure that the control valve is seating on the riser tube properly. You said that the system is using a 'replacement valve'. Is the replacement the exact same kind as the first? Different valves need different riser tube heights. Maybe that's the issue?
thanks, it's about an hour drive so I will have to get to it later, but u have give me some ideas to work with. I'm debating if it could be something with their water line or if it is %100 softener issue. All parts are the same as original item shipped.
so...I have a this unit: store.afwfilters.com/water-softeners/single-tank-water-softeners/5600-softeners/64k-water-softener-with-fleck-5600sxt/ but I need to set the Capacity to 40? Just wanted to be sure since this is a 2 cu. foot of resin.....thanks!
+Mike Veloz Hi Mike. Thanks for your inquiry. With a 2.0 cubic foot unit, you can set the capacity to any value between 40,000 and 64,000 grains HOWEVER you will achieve much better salt efficiency setting the capacity to 40,000 than 64,000. This is because 40,000 grains will only use 12 pounds of salt to regenerate while 64,000 grains will use 30 pounds. It's important that your brine fill (BF) is matched to the capacity value you choose. If you go with 40,000 grains, make sure your brine fill is set to 8 minutes. This is assuming that the brine fill rate on your machine is 0.5 gallons per minute. There should be a sticker on the control valve where the brine line attaches that shows the brine fill rate. But it's almost always 0.5 gpm on the 5600SXT. I hope that helps.
I ordered my Fleck Water softener and it brought my very hard well water from 42 grains per gallon down to 3 gpg. Water is now very soft. Fantastic customer support !!
This was so helpful and easy to understand. Thanks so much!!
Very well explained, thank you so much, now after I dad all that, I don't feel the water as soft as it was the first two weeks,
But you are a very good explainer. 👍
I do see where the softener is in service mode but the numbers still stay at 1800. So is it still softening or what can be done to make the numbers go down as you use water?
Thank-you for taking the time to make this video, it's very helpful. I have a Fleck 5600SE head attached to a filter tank, which is connected to another tank with a water softener bin. Which turbine setting should I use please? It said GEN, but here you say t0.7. It was also set to tc , and not fd. Any advice would be really helpful. Thank-you in advance.
Hey there...bought a used Culligan soft minder twin with this control on it and 4 dashes appear across the screen when plugged in and they stay there after unplugging it. Can't find any info on what this means? Any help would be appreciated thank you...
Really a big help, well done. Thanks
You're very welcome! If you don't mind me asking, were you using this video to program a newly purchased system, or to re-program a system that you've had for a while?
Thank you for providing such a helpful resource. I am concerned about how much salt my system is using. I have the Fleck 5600sxt cabinet softener. I live alone and since I had it installed 6 weeks ago I’ve gone through about 3 bags of salt. Is this normal? I have all the settings recommended in video with hard whatever setting at 18 which is recommended for my area. Is this typical to go through this much salt?
I am thinking of buying Fleck 5600SXT 48K grains capacity and it is of 1.5 cubic feet unit, Can i just set the capacity to 20K with 7 days regeneration time ? OR set the capacity to 30K with 10 days regeneration ?. I am buying bigger than my usage because large capacity will be needed later for my home ( according to calculations on your site i need water softener with capacity 21K per week)
Thanks for sharing. My question is. If we loose power for a day or less do I have to reprogram it again? Thanks in advance
What is the pH level of the water after attaching the water filter?
I need to be able to change the amount of gallons or in my case litres when my softner will do a regen. On all these how to setup your softner, not one will tell me this. My softner is now set on 3900 litres, this is to high, need it to set it down to 3500 litre, how do I do this please, your help would be much appreciated
This is tremendously informative and helpful. I moved into a home that has two tanks with separate valve controls (both are the Fleck 5600SXT). The Day Override was set to "Off," on the first valve control, and on the second control valve, it was set to regenerate after a number of days. Is this how the two valve controls should be used? Will the second valve accomplish the regeneration cycle for the first tank?
Likely the tank with the day override set to 'off' is a softener (if it is it will have an attached salt tank). The valve with the day override set to some number is likely some kind of filter. Usually it would be a carbon filter or perhaps something else. The valve on each tank will regenerate/backwash the tank it's attached to. The one will do it based on water consumed and the other will do it based on time elapsed.
thank u so much l learn lot
Good simple video thanks
Thanks for the informative video. I have a Fleck 5600SXT with 1f3 (32000 grain) resin. My 15" x 17" brine tank has a salt grid. I'm wondering if your recommended Brine Fill setting of 5 will add enough water to reach the bottom of my salt pellets? If not, what should the minimum brine fill setting be? Thanks!
5 minutes of Brine Fill time will add 2.5 gallons of water to the brine tank. That's likely enough water to get above the salt grid. But if it is not, increase the Brine Fill time to 6 minutes and then change the Capacity value (C) to 25,000 grains to match it. It won't be quite as efficient, but it will still be quite efficient, but more importantly it will work!
Great video. One question, in between the time it shows a number. For me it’s 2700 but for you I noticed it shows a different number. What does this number mean?
Great video. I have a few questions tho. My water softner is air injection Fleck 2510 2 cubic ft of resin. Tank size 12/52. 64,000 grain capacity. My hard water number is 120 ppm magnesium 10 ppm iron 10 with only 2 people in our home. My current program hardness is 34 is that correct?
Very helpful
Great video, very helpful. I had just finished the programming when the blue screen began turning black and smoke came out from the control board. I unplugged and found out the outlet I chose is actually 240VAC instead of 115VAC :( Can I purchase just the replacement control board?
Yikes! Lol. Yep - you can buy the 'powerhead' which is the square part up top that contains the circuit board and the motor that drives the piston. If you'd like to go ahead with that purchase please send us a note through the website (aquatell.ca for Canada / aquatell.com for USA). Thanks.
is there a "recharge now' button, or a 'recharge tonight' mode? my older softerner had both those features which i used quite a bit, esp before you know kids are coming home for weekend, for showers, laundry, etc, i would recharge friday night, so the water will be ready for a heavy weekend of use
'
The button on the far left is the 'regeneration' button. If you press it once and release it, this queues up a regeneration at the time you've set for regeneration in the programming. If you press and hold this button (until you hear the drive motor engage), this will force an immediate regeneration. Hope that helps.
Hi, can you give a TDS reading before and after the water has been "softened " please.
I want to know if my water has been softened or not.
Cheers
You can’t use TDS to measure the hardness of water. Because water softening is an ion exchange process the TDS measurement before and after will be identical. If you want to measure softener performance you need to measure the ‘total hardness’ before and after the softener.
very helpful
Should the brine tank water level be above or below the salt? Is there a preferred amount of salt that should be in the brine tank at any given time? I have a 64k grain system with 4 people in my household. I have capacity set at 40 x1000 and BF at 8 per your instructions. Thanks in advance for your reply!
The level of water compared to the level of salt isn't important. All you have to make sure is that the Brine Fill (BF) setting is correct and that you have ANY amount of undissolved salt in the brine tank. For your system you've got the capacity and brine fill setting exactly correct. I suggest you fill the brine tank almost to the top with salt, and then just check it every few months to see how the level is.
I thought 40k grain for 2ft3 system goes with 6lbs of salt which equals to 4 minutes of Brine fill? How come we use 8 minutes here (12lbs I assume)? I just bought the same system and am trying to understand salt dosage, thanks!
I have a 9100 sxt. Twin 32k tank. Setting it at C 32, H 9, BW 10, BD 60, BF 8, RR 10. My water still fills hard. Don't know what to do.
Hi there. You need to get into the master programming menu. The 9100SXT uses the same controller as the 5600SXT. Have a look at this page: www.aquatell.ca/blogs/aquatell/programming-the-fleck-5600sxt-softener-valve-for-max-efficiency. However, with the 9100SXT when you get to NT set this value to "2". If you still don't get soft water, well, to be honest it could be a whole bunch of things. If you bought the system from Aquatell I'll be happy to help you continue troubleshooting, but if you bought it somewhere else I suggest you go back to them.
I have this same meter, since install the gallon counter has remained at 1450. I’ve watched it for several days and it hasn’t changed. Any idea? Does it count down gallon by gallon or in increments
It should count down by gallon. Check that the meter cable is pushed all the way into the hole it resides in and that it's oriented properly (on cross section it's shaped like a loaf of bread). If that doesn't work, you can put the whole system in bypass, de-pressurize it by running a regen cycle, then remove the turbine and check to make sure it's spinning freely.
Great Instructions.. Thank You👍
My gallons remaining is four Dashes - - - - . How do I set that?
after i installed and programed this unit, i saw the number 1901 on the meter..then as the day went on that number went down. i can only assume it was gallons used. however the next morning, (no one used water since night before) , the water meter number appears to have re-set back to 1901? does this do that each night? and it it normal? i cannot find info on this. thanks
The 1901 is the number of gallons of soft water remaining after the system has regenerated. As you use water, this number will count down. Depending on how the programming is set up, you'd usually want this number to get close to zero before another regeneration happens. Every time the unit regenerates you'll get back to 1901 gallons remaining. I suspect your day override setting is set to "1" so that your softener is regenerating every night. Day Override is "DO" in the programming menu. Set this to 7 unless your water has high iron, then set it to 5.
*****
thanks , i checked the DO value and its at 14....i will keep an eye on the gals and see if it continues to go down as you suggest...if not i will post back to update whats going on,...thanks..it appears that today the gals HAS actually gone down and NOT re-gen..as it did the night before...i will check again in the a.m. 12/3/
Pete B
ok its about 1 week and all it fine...:) thanks for help ,unit is working fine so far and wife and i are pleased...:)
How do you regenerate after putting in iron out?
Hold down the circle arrow button on the far left. That will put it into back wash. After it goes into back wash is will run through its settings of rr, bf,bd etc.
Thank you
How do you pick the day you want it to generate?Example Tuesday...Thanks
Well, you don't really. There are two ways this system can be set up to regenerate. Option 1 is based on the number of gallons processed, and Option 2 is a day override (DO) value where the system regenerates every X days. If you set the DO value to 7 and then force a regeneration on the day of the week that you always want it to regenerate on (let's say it's a Wednesday) then it will continue on regenerating every 7 days from that point, which will always be a Wednesday.
Thank you
What is the size of your media tank and how much CF of resin you are using.
At 1:58 and 5:01 I provide links in the video that take you to a page on our website that shows the Capacity (C) and Brine Fill (BF) settings for softeners of various sizes. These are the only settings that are specific to the tank size / resin volume. If you're having trouble with these settings just tell me what tank size / resin volume you've got and I'll give you the values you need.
aQuatellvideos I am using a 9x40 tank filled with 1cf of C-10 resin.
I am having problem removing 30GPG well water because I still have 10GPG. I set the 5600SXT exactly the same way as you show. the timer regenerate every 666 liters ( as I set my timer to liters). I don't understand. I know that 20,000grain / 30gpg should give 666.666 gallons which make about 2,533 liters. If you can help me with this it would be very helpful.
What happens when the salt runs out completely while in service?
If the softener runs out of salt, the regeneration process can't happen properly and your softener will eventually stop softening.
I bought one of these for iron. What settings should I have this on for 180ppm of iron. I can't find anything definitive online for iron systems.
Hi rudymustang06 - where was the system purchased - this can help me to know how to instruct you here.
@@reidthornley on eBay from Performa_softeners titled: Air Injection Iron Fleck Filter Great at Removing Iron Manganese, H2S Whole Home
@@rudymustang06 I've only ever used the Fleck 5600 as a softener. The application you're using it for is as an iron filter. Usually what you do for iron system applications, is use the Day Override (DO) setting to force it to backwash every 3 days. So set the DO to 3. For the BW, BD, and RR settings you'll have to ask the retailer. But for sure, you will want the Brine Fill (BF) to be set to OFF or 0 (zero). Otherwise you'll likely end up with water on the floor.
How long does it take for the water softener to take effect? One day after being online, a second test has shown a higher hardness reading. Is it cleaning deposits from the plumbing?
Should be pretty much instantaneous on the cold water side. For the hot water side it will take a while for the soft water to displace the non-softened water in the hot water tank. Probably a couple of days. Yes - the soft water will very slowly dissolve the hard water scale in your pipes, but this is so small an effect that it would not show up on a hardness test. Out of curiosity - how are you testing the hardness? If you're using an aquarium test kit, it won't give you the correct result. Also, make sure you're not using TDS as a proxy for hardness. You need to be using a drip-style water hardness test kit specifically for drinking water (avoid the dip-strips).
***** I'm using a meter. It's an Extech ExSik II, EC-Sal-TDS. The readings went
from 270 to 300, then to 277 ppm over three days.
Thanks for your interest.
Jeff
ckjk616 Sorry, I forgot to mention that the installation involved quite a few plumbing changes. The copper had to be run to the cold water supply for most of the house along with a 25 foot run to the water heater. When the water was first turned on, as with many plumbing jobs, the water ran brown for quite a while. Also, there is now a whole house water filter just before the softener. I let the water run for quite a while until I couldn't detect any of the discoloration, but this was by eye.
ckjk616 It all makes sense now. The meter you are using is not measuring hardness, it is measuring TDS. TDS is total dissolved solids. It is a measure of the amount of dissolved material in the water. The water softening process is an ion-exchange process - the softener grabs on to calcium and magnesium and in exchange it releases sodium. So, the water softener could be working perfectly, and the TDS will not change. Or, depending on the makeup of ions in your raw water, the TDS could even go up, but your water will still be soft. To confirm the hardness you need to get a water hardness test kit, but I bet everything is working perfectly well.
***** Thanks very much for your help. I appreciate your interest. I'll get a water hardness kit to see where I stand. Thanks again. Jeff
Programmation Fleck
why is there such a big diff in time between brine fill 10 and brine draw 60 min, doesnt this mean it is sucking air dureing 50 mins of brine draw ?
Nope. The brine draw pulls the brine out of the brine tank at a much slower rate than the brine fill fills it.
No - a softener will be equipped with some kind of an air check valve to prevent that from happening.
Why does the clock ALWAYS say 1800. it does not go down like he said while programing. It flashes between the time and then it always is 1800? Are we doing something wrong?
When the softener is out of programming mode, it toggles every few seconds between the time and the number of gallons remaining until the next regen. If your softener stays at 1800 forever, then it's not measuring the water flow through the unit properly, or the softener is in bypass mode.
how do set it to not be in bypass mode or make sure the flow is properly happening?
What about if using it for a carbon filter?
good videos. i installed a 48 metered 5600 sxt and a few months later the water would only partially soften. 20gpg originally down to 12ish. i tried everything i could think of. finally replace the head and it worked great for 2 months, now it is only partially softening again, 12- 15ish. could this be a problem with the meter possibly.
How are you testing the water? Make sure you're testing the 'total hardness'. This doesn't sound like a meter problem to me. Something else is going on. Sounds more like you've got some untreated water that is bypassing the softening process. Once you've confirmed that you're testing the proper parameter (Total Hardness) you want to force the softener to regenerate. Once that is done, immediately run your cold water faucet for 3 minutes then check the hardness. Should be close to zero.
Reid Thornley . nope. I'm using a softener testing kit. installed about a dozen. last time I tested it was 16 hpg. generally it's 19-20 here. the resin may be set to low, it is a 48k and I havnt checked the replacement head setting yet. this is a doozy that I'm struggling with. it's almost like it's sucking the top water and riser water but it seems to be snug in the oring. could water pressure have anything to do with it.
These 'partially softening' issues are brutal to figure out. Could be a bunch of things. I'd check again to make sure that the control valve is seating on the riser tube properly. You said that the system is using a 'replacement valve'. Is the replacement the exact same kind as the first? Different valves need different riser tube heights. Maybe that's the issue?
thanks, it's about an hour drive so I will have to get to it later, but u have give me some ideas to work with. I'm debating if it could be something with their water line or if it is %100 softener issue. All parts are the same as original item shipped.
so...I have a this unit:
store.afwfilters.com/water-softeners/single-tank-water-softeners/5600-softeners/64k-water-softener-with-fleck-5600sxt/
but I need to set the Capacity to 40? Just wanted to be sure since this is a 2 cu. foot of resin.....thanks!
+Mike Veloz Hi Mike. Thanks for your inquiry. With a 2.0 cubic foot unit, you can set the capacity to any value between 40,000 and 64,000 grains HOWEVER you will achieve much better salt efficiency setting the capacity to 40,000 than 64,000. This is because 40,000 grains will only use 12 pounds of salt to regenerate while 64,000 grains will use 30 pounds. It's important that your brine fill (BF) is matched to the capacity value you choose. If you go with 40,000 grains, make sure your brine fill is set to 8 minutes. This is assuming that the brine fill rate on your machine is 0.5 gallons per minute. There should be a sticker on the control valve where the brine line attaches that shows the brine fill rate. But it's almost always 0.5 gpm on the 5600SXT. I hope that helps.
+aQuatellvideos thank you. helps a lot.
+aQuatellvideos also....the control valve sticker says the drain flow is 3.5gpm....should I consider any changes to the settings b/c of this?
+Mike Veloz The drain line flow is not relevant to the efficiency settings we're discussing.
+Reid Thornley ok....I was looking at the sticker on the control valve where the brine line attaches...maybe I am looking at the wrong one.
Something is wrong with the Sound on the Video
The sound seems to be working just fine for me.
Sorry One of my Speakers were unplugged....