Hello. I have a new softener installed. Tank size is 12x48, 2cuft. with 5600sxt. The installed injector is #1 according to the label, but the BLFC is not specified. I assume it's .25 but need to verify. My question is: according to Pentair a 12" tank should have a #2 injector but even with the #1 and a 6lb salt dose (2 gal), my brine draw time would only be 6 or 8 minutes. This doesn't seem right to me. With a #2 injector as recommended, it would be even less. What am I missing? Thanks
Injector for Fleck 5600sxt
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Bannerman
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The BLFC flow restrictor, controls the flow rate of water to enter the brine tank.
The injector controls the flow rate for the brine to exit the brine tank, and also controls the flow rate for Slow Rinse which continues to occur after the brine has been transferred from the brine tank to the media tank.
The Brine Draw cycle is actually 2-cycles combined using 1 setting, typically 60-minutes. Brine will be usually transferred from the brine tank within the 1st 15-minutes, and Slow Rinse will occur during the remaining 45+ minutes after the brine tank's air check valve is closed to prevent air from being drawn into the resin tank. The Slow Rinse cycle requires sufficient time to push the brine through the remaining resin while also rinsing away calcium, magnesium, iron, chloride and excess sodium to drain.
Some efficiency maybe gained by using a smaller injector such as your #1, but a smaller injector results in a longer Regen cycle, which is OK when there is sufficient time for the regeneration cycle to be completed before soft water is required.
If equipped with a 0.25 gpm BLFC, that is perfectly OK since the BLFC rate must be less that the injector flow rate. The Brine Fill setting will determine the length of time water will enter the brine tank, so with a 0.25 gpm BLFC, each 1-minute of BF will cause 0.25 gallons of water to enter the brine tank. Because each gallon will dissolve 3-lbs salt, each 1-minute BF change will cause the salt amount to be altered by 0.75 lbs.
The usual tank size for 2 ft3 resin + gravel under bedding is 12" X 52". Since the price of softeners purchased online include shipping, online sellers will often not include heavy gravel under bedding, even as gravel is highly recommended, and so will also often reduce the tank size to further reduce their cost.
The 6 lb salt (total) setting does not appear correct. Salt settings are often stated as lbs per ft3 of resin, so a 6 lb/ft3 setting will consume 12 lbs salt (4 gallons water to enter brine tank) each regeneration cycle, which is sufficient to regenerate 42,000 grains of useable capacity in 2 ft3 resin.
An 8 lb/ft3 salt setting is the usual recommendation as that will regenerate 48,000grains capacity in 2ft3 resin, with higher quality soft water with only 6ppm hardness compared to 10 ppm hardness leakage to eventually occur while using a 6 lb/ft3 setting. FYI, 1 gpg = 17.1 ppm. Although a salt setting less than 6 lbs/ft3 will result in further salt efficiency gains, less than 6 lbs/ft3 is not usually recommended for a single softener due to increased hardness leakage resulting in lower soft water quality.
Compare the 2ft3 row in the chart below for capacity, efficiency and hardness leakage data for each salt setting column.
The injector controls the flow rate for the brine to exit the brine tank, and also controls the flow rate for Slow Rinse which continues to occur after the brine has been transferred from the brine tank to the media tank.
The Brine Draw cycle is actually 2-cycles combined using 1 setting, typically 60-minutes. Brine will be usually transferred from the brine tank within the 1st 15-minutes, and Slow Rinse will occur during the remaining 45+ minutes after the brine tank's air check valve is closed to prevent air from being drawn into the resin tank. The Slow Rinse cycle requires sufficient time to push the brine through the remaining resin while also rinsing away calcium, magnesium, iron, chloride and excess sodium to drain.
Some efficiency maybe gained by using a smaller injector such as your #1, but a smaller injector results in a longer Regen cycle, which is OK when there is sufficient time for the regeneration cycle to be completed before soft water is required.
If equipped with a 0.25 gpm BLFC, that is perfectly OK since the BLFC rate must be less that the injector flow rate. The Brine Fill setting will determine the length of time water will enter the brine tank, so with a 0.25 gpm BLFC, each 1-minute of BF will cause 0.25 gallons of water to enter the brine tank. Because each gallon will dissolve 3-lbs salt, each 1-minute BF change will cause the salt amount to be altered by 0.75 lbs.
I suspect you obtained your softener from an on-line seller.
The usual tank size for 2 ft3 resin + gravel under bedding is 12" X 52". Since the price of softeners purchased online include shipping, online sellers will often not include heavy gravel under bedding, even as gravel is highly recommended, and so will also often reduce the tank size to further reduce their cost.
The 6 lb salt (total) setting does not appear correct. Salt settings are often stated as lbs per ft3 of resin, so a 6 lb/ft3 setting will consume 12 lbs salt (4 gallons water to enter brine tank) each regeneration cycle, which is sufficient to regenerate 42,000 grains of useable capacity in 2 ft3 resin.
An 8 lb/ft3 salt setting is the usual recommendation as that will regenerate 48,000grains capacity in 2ft3 resin, with higher quality soft water with only 6ppm hardness compared to 10 ppm hardness leakage to eventually occur while using a 6 lb/ft3 setting. FYI, 1 gpg = 17.1 ppm. Although a salt setting less than 6 lbs/ft3 will result in further salt efficiency gains, less than 6 lbs/ft3 is not usually recommended for a single softener due to increased hardness leakage resulting in lower soft water quality.
Compare the 2ft3 row in the chart below for capacity, efficiency and hardness leakage data for each salt setting column.
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Thanks for the info. I chose the 6lb salt dose since 40k grain capacity for our water usage is fine with a 14 or so day Regen cycle. My initial question though was why would Pentair recommend a #2 vs #1 injector on a 12" tank? That would give a brine draw time of less than 10 min.
Bannerman
Well-Known Member
#2 injector is the maximum size recommended for a 12" diameter softener tank. Regenerating resin capacity is not an immediate process, but requires the brine to have sufficient contact time with the resin for optimal ion exchange to occur. While a #2 injector often utilized, the smaller #1 injector will further increase the brine's contact time with the resin, thereby allowing slightly more sodium ions to be transferred to the resin, thereby increasing efficiency somewhat.
6 lbs total salt is not sufficient to regenerate 40K of capacity in a 2 ft3 softener.
The salt setting for a 5600 SXT is based on total lbs, not lbs per ft3. To regenerate 40K - 42K capacity in 2 ft3 resin, will require 12 lbs total salt which is the same as 6 lbs per cubic foot of resin.
IF your 5600 is equipped with a 0.25 GPM BLFC, then the Brine Fill setting will need to be 16-minutes, to allow 4 gallons water to enter the brine tank, to dissolve 12 lbs salt.
1. #1 injector would be better than #2.
2. Usually the 5600SXT has a 0.5 GPM BLFC.
3. The BLFC determines brine fill rate, not the injector.
What is your water hardness?
How many people are usually water users in the house?
2. Usually the 5600SXT has a 0.5 GPM BLFC.
3. The BLFC determines brine fill rate, not the injector.
What is your water hardness?
How many people are usually water users in the house?
"According to Pentair, it should be .25 with. #1 injector" Do you have a link, or did that come to you in a dream?
With 0.5 gpm BLFC, you would want about 10 minutes. If you have a 0.25 gpm, 20 minutes would be about right, but I would be skeptical.
With a #1 injector, you would draw the brine in about 14. 6 minutes. That draws brine at about 0.32 gpm.
A #1 Injector is White.
What hardness? How many people???
With 0.5 gpm BLFC, you would want about 10 minutes. If you have a 0.25 gpm, 20 minutes would be about right, but I would be skeptical.
With a #1 injector, you would draw the brine in about 14. 6 minutes. That draws brine at about 0.32 gpm.
A #1 Injector is White.
What hardness? How many people???
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Bannerman
Well-Known Member
To function properly, the BLFC flow rate, must be lower than the injector flow rate.
I am also skeptical of that in the case of the 5600SXT. The 7000 had some thing like that.
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Thanks. I think that recommendation would be suboptimum.
If you used a #2, the brine would get drawn out in about 11 minutes-- faster than optimum. I would actually prefer the #0 Injector - Red, but that would call for a small increase in BD.
I suggest that you get info from the 5600SXT service manual. This includes graphs that show the brine draw rates for the various injectors.
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Bannerman
Well-Known Member
I recalled Ditttohead stating such, which I found in Post #10, of the linked thread. I now see where he revised that statement in post #13 of that same thread, referring to an 0.5 GPM BLFC restrictor being inappropriate for a 10" tank equipped with a 7000 valve.
Regardless of whether or not the BLFC flow rate is to be less than the injector flow rate, I prefer lower flowing BLFC restrictors, as a lower flow rate restrictor will provide more precise control over salt consumption.
Since the BF rate setting is usually whole minutes, each 1-minute change to BF will result in the salt amount being altered by 1.5 lbs with a 0.5 gpm restrictor, 0.75 lbs with a 0.25 GPM restrictor, and 0.375 lbs while using a 0.125 GPM BLFC.
I don't recall an instance where somebody said they had a 5600sxt that came with a BLFC smaller than 0.5 gpm. That does not mean that it did not happen, but 0.5 is common. That does not mean that Dave67 won't check and find that he has a 0.25 gpm BLFC. He could do that by examining the BLFC washer, and seeing that it has a 25 on it, rather than a 50. Or a blue sticker instead of the common black.
With a 10 inch tank, 1.5 cuft of resin, and a 0.5 gpm BLFC, the number of minutes matches the number of pounds/cuft. With a 12 inch tank and 2 cuft, there is not such an easy number.
With a 10 inch tank, 1.5 cuft of resin, and a 0.5 gpm BLFC, the number of minutes matches the number of pounds/cuft. With a 12 inch tank and 2 cuft, there is not such an easy number.
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