Need help programming Aquasure HS48D

[Goody]

This is a brand new 48000 grain unit replacing a 25 year old Kenmore Genius. I sized the unit based upon the water being pretty hard and for future use with more people in the household.

There is a wealth of information in this forum regarding programming but the more I read the more I am unsure what changes I should make, if any, from the manual recommendations.

I have city water. I have tested the water and hardness is around 400 ppm (23-24 gpg). Iron is relatively low around .05. Right now just one person in the household but looking at water usage over the several months it is averaging only about 45-50 gallons per day.

The first setting is asking for gallons used to trigger treatment. In their example they use the marketed capacity divided by the hardness then subtracting household gallons used. I have been reading that in some cases using the marketed capacity is not advised due to the amount of salt required to achieve.

So some of the confusion begins. I thought I should use something closer to 30000 true capacity which would give pretty close to 1300 gallons. At that rate it seems it is almost a month between regenerations. Maybe that is ok.

Then comes the rest of the uncertainty regarding default values for back wash (15), brine time (60), rapid rinse (10), and water fill (12).

Any input on these values would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bannerman]

The unit you purchased, uses a valve that appears to be a clone based on the Fleck 5600 SXT. As it is not a true Fleck valve, I cannot advise on how to adjust program settings.

48,000 grains Total Capacity signifies 1.5 cubic feet softening resin, usually contained within a 10" diameter X 54" tall tank.

The usual recommendation for 1.5ft3 resin to acheive the best balance of salt efficiency, capacity and water quality would be to program 36,000 grains usable capacity which will require 12 lbs salt per regeneration cycle.

As the municipal water is likely free of sediment & debris, Backwash could be reduced to 6 minutes. 60 minutes is usually appropriate for Brine Draw. Rapid Rinse could be also reduced to 6-minutes.

I can't advise on the Fill setting as that will be dependant on the brine fill rate that is to enter the brine tank. There is usually a flow restrictor (Fleck name = BLFC) that will limit the fill flow to a specific rate normally 0.125, 0.25, 0.5 or 1 GPM. That rate X the fill setting = the total volume of water to enter the brine tank. The water volume gallons X 3 = the total number of lbs salt to be dissolved. To dissolve 12 lbs to regenerate 36K grains capacity, will require 4 gallons water to enter the brine tank each cycle.

If the brine fill rate is not defined in the manual or on a label located somewhere on the unit, suggest disconnecting the brine line at the top of the brine tank, advance the controller to Brine Fill and measure the amount of water discharged from the open brine line in 60 seconds.

To measure ppm water hardness, did you use a Total Hardness test kit or a TDS meter? TDS is not hardness. The recommended test method is a Hach 5B to identify grains per gallon hardness.

There will normally be an Override setting to limit the maximum number of days between regeneration cycles if water use has been insufficient to utilize the programmed caoacity. The override setting should be programmed to 30 days to cause regeneration to be performed at least every 30-days.

 

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[Goody]

Thank you Bannerman! I appreciate the great detail! I understand regarding the settings since it is not a Fleck. The HS48D control head is made by Aquatrol.

You are correct with the 1.5 and the dimensions.

I will calculate some numbers using 36000 usable capacity and see how many gallons that equates to in order to trigger a regeneration cycle.

I did try to investigate the BLFC prior to posting but I could find nothing on the tank or the manual. I looked at the port but could only see a white plastic mesh screen. I could not see the actual button to potentially identify by color maybe.

During the unit's first manual cycle to purge air etc... I noted that the 12 minute brine fill seemed to restore the water level to a similar level as to when I initially filled the brine tank with 5 gallons to kick off the pre-op cycle. So it seemed about 5 gallons came in during that 12 minutes.

I will also follow up a bit down the road with a brine fill to bucket measurement. It seems it might be a reasonable value at the moment but a true BF flow rate measurement could help confirm that.

For water hardness I did an initial check on the latest water quality report from the city. That showed a range of 270-430 ppm. Understanding it must be tested on-site I purchased one of those cheapo dunk it multi test strips just to see what it showed. It showed 400. So for now I chose to use 400. I think I will get the Hach kit as you suggest so I can get a final data point. I can get a baseline again from the outside faucets.

Great point about setting it to regen regardless by that roughly 30 day mark.

What you are suggesting for back wash and rapid rinse sounds good!

Thank you again for the response and willingness to help me out!