Fleck 5600sxt will not draw brine, technician is scratching is head! Help!

[JM1010]

3 year old unit does not draw brine. Instead it PUSHES water towards the brine tank during BD cycle.

We checked the usual culprits:

1) injectors are clean
2) drain flow control & valve fine
3) all orings & flow buttons fine
4) piston assembly, seals & spacers are fine

Problem is not at the brine tank connection as when it is disconnected there is no suction, only water flow in the wrong direction

After verifying everything, I call a tech with 20 years experience. He basically did the same checks and can't figure out why it is not drawing brine.

Anyone knows what else could be causing this?

thanks in advance!

 

[Reach4]

1) injectors are clean

You checked and cleaned both parts of the injector? 5600SXT uses the same injectors as the 5600 (nozzle: 10913 and throat: 10914). What color are your injector pieces?

Clean the DLFC. The water has to flow through that during BD. The flow powers the vacuum production. Alternatively, measure the flow out of the drain during BD. The color of the injector parts determines what the expected flow should be. See the Total Flow graph on page 26 of the rev H 5600SXT service manual. Page 27 translates colors to injector number.

I understand you listed these as having been checked already, but you might want to check again. I suspect you did not measure drain flow during BD during your prior actions.

shows accessing the injectors of a 5600.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[JM1010]

Thanks for your reply. The injectors are yellow. The DLFC has been checked and is clean . Flow is very good during BW. As I mentioned water is flowing to the brine tank during BD.

 

[Reach4]

A #3 yellow injector is huge for a home softener.

How big is your media tank?
What number is your BLFC?

 

[JM1010]

The tank is 40, a fairly large unit and the drain flow is 2 gallon per minute

 

[JM1010]

I am getting very good drain flow during BW but I think it is very low during BD.

 

[Reach4]

The tank is 40, a fairly large unit and the drain flow is 2 gallon per minute

What is a 40? 40 liters of resin, or what?

I am getting very good drain flow during BW but I think it is very low during BD.

From the graph, expect about 1.4 gpm to the drain at 40 PSI water. To measure the flow rate, you can time how long it take to fill a 5 gallon bucket.

 

[JM1010]

48,000 grain confirmed. So If I have good drain flow during BW but no drain flow during BD and both the injectors and DLFC are clean, what else could be causing water to flow to the brine tank?

 

[Reach4]

48,000 grain confirmed. So If I have good drain flow during BW but no drain flow during BD and both the injectors and DLFC are clean, what else could be causing water to flow to the brine tank?

Did you check the injector parts yourself?

No drain flow during BD. That would certainly cause the problem. But what blockage would cause no drain flow during BD, but get normal flow during BF? I suspect the injector screen or a passage connecting the injector screen. Yes. That would match the symptom.

Regarding the injector, with a 54 inch by 10 inch diameter softener tank, a #1 Injector - White would be most common, but I would prefer a #0 Injector - Red if I had the choice.

A #3 Injector - Yellow would be an abnormal choice. It would not cause your symptom, but it would make the softener less efficient.

 

[JM1010]

Thanks again to chip in on this mystery! The screen is clean and so are the yellow injectors. Maybe I should remove those and try to clean the housing with a flexible brush to see if something is stuck behind them. Doing more research, I read that back pressure could be causing this if the filters at both extremities of the resin distributor tube restrict flow. Is there a quick way to try to get them less obstructed maybe by doing some BW/RR cycles?

 

[Reach4]

Thanks again to chip in on this mystery! The screen is clean and so are the yellow injectors. Maybe I should remove those and try to clean the housing with a flexible brush to see if something is stuck behind them.

I have never done this, but I would see if I could run a pipe cleaner through the passages. If you do that successfully, post a photo of the pipe cleaner passing through the passage. https://www.enasco.com/prod/images/products/83/AC083899l.jpg
Maybe a water pick could blow debris out.

When you got into the softener, what kind of crud did you find? Orange rust stuff?

Doing more research, I read that back pressure could be causing this if the filters at both extremities of the resin distributor tube restrict flow.

You mean the "baskets"? I think a clog there would cut back the backwash flow also, as well as the service flow. If you look at page 22 of the service manual (where I snipped from), you will see the flow paths of the various piston positions.

 

[Bannerman]

Regardless of the injector colour, it had been functioning properly for 3 years and then suddenly stopped drawing.

48K grains total capacity, would signify a 1.5 cuft unit. As such, the usual media tank size is a 10" diameter which will normally utilize 2.4 gpg (US) backwash and fast/rapid rinse rate. If that rate is less, then either an alternate DLFC restrictor is installed, or there is some restriction in the DLFC circuit or drain line itself. A drain circuit restriction may prevent BD from functioning properly.

There is a screen within the brine circuit that should be checked as the screen wasn't initially mentioned. BD utilizes a substantially lower flow rate. Slow rinse flow through the injector, creates suction on the brine line to draw brine from the brine tank.

The BLFC button is directional and needs to be installed in the correct orientation.

Since it seems you already inspected the piston, seals and spacers, was silicone grease lubricant utilized when re-installing the parts? Unless sufficiently lubricated, the piston may have difficulties sliding within the seals or may damage the seals.

Although only 3 years old, if the water contains a significant amount of chlorine, that may cause the seals to degrade prematurely. You might wish to replace the seals, spacers and piston.

 

[JM1010]

You're a genious! The problem was not the screen or the injector but the cavity where they sit. I removed them and flush water through the housing and surprise... BD draw seems to be back! What a good feeling! Thanks a million for your help! John

 

[JM1010]

Thanks to both of you for the very qualified recommendations. Hope this can help many with the same kind of problem.

 

[Missy Howard]

I am having a similar issue, except I have suction on my brine line but the water is not being pulled from the brine tank causing tank to be full and spill over during the BD section of the Regeneration. Please help!

 

[Reach4]

t I have suction on my brine line

How do you know that?

The problem could be a leak letting air get sucked in instead of brine.

 

[Snyere]

Did you check the injector parts yourself?

No drain flow during BD. That would certainly cause the problem. But what blockage would cause no drain flow during BD, but get normal flow during BF? I suspect the injector screen or a passage connecting the injector screen. Yes. That would match the symptom.
View attachment 43987
Regarding the injector, with a 54 inch by 10 inch diameter softener tank, a #1 Injector - White would be most common, but I would prefer a #0 Injector - Red if I had the choice.

A #3 Injector - Yellow would be an abnormal choice. It would not cause your symptom, but it would make the softener less efficient.

Reach4, could you provide the link of the manual that shows the positions of the piston. Thx.

 

[Reach4]

Reach4, could you provide the link of the manual that shows the positions of the piston. Thx.

https://83498217-c360-4279-a995-14f...d/a3c37f_8e2b6eb1f7e54b70a991f93802f6f396.pdf from Impact Water Products.

 

[BkE]

I am having a similar issue, except I have suction on my brine line but the water is not being pulled from the brine tank causing tank to be full and spill over during the BD section of the Regeneration. Please help!

Did you test the suction at the end of the brine line tubing, where it is connected to the piece in the brine tank?

I think your softener is drawing air instead of brine because of a failed safety float system. When it refills, the float doesn't go up to stop the flow because water enters through another path. Explains the overflowing. If you have a "Fleck SBV2310" safety float system, your symptoms are clear and indicate that the SBV is drawing air.

If you put your unit on refill cycle, you should not see water entering from the upper part... It should enter at the bottom of your salt tank.

A fleck 2310 SBV looks like this: https://www.amazon.com/Fleck-Brine-Safety-Valve-3-60014/dp/B075MPH1VM

If water leaks somewhere in the middle of this piece, it should be taken apart and reassembled or changed.

 

[Chris Sexton]

Hi, here's one for someone who likes a challenge. My Fleck 5600 is filling the brine tank during Brine Draw and nothing is going to drain. Drain flow is strong tho' on Back Wash etc 1.4 gallons per min. Have checked drain assembly, rebuilt piston, injector looks fine, all is very clean - unit has barely ever been worked. Looking at the diagram it's almost as if the flow during BD is struggling to go into the resin tank and therefore pushing its way past the Brine Valve and into the brine tank. Still, cant understand why nothing goes to drain during this phase - can the resin tank be so gummed up the water doesn't go through? All help gratefully received. The unit is so clean I cant stand to throw it away. But more to the point, I really want to understand why the thing won't do what it's supposed to do!