Wally107
Member
Hey guys...first I'd like to commend all of the experts on this forum. Your willingness to assist us DIY warriors is most appreciated. I poured over this wealth of info, as well as Gary's extremely helpful site, prior to making my recent water softener purchase. I do however have a question about salt dose (and I guess programming in general). Suppose I should start with the details:
4 bedroom house with attached mother-in-law apartment
3 1/2 baths total (1 with jetted 8gpm Jacuzzi tub)
Use 300 gal/day (based on avg of 12 months of water bills) (*NOTE: This does increase during the summer months when college kid is home.)
City water...14 gpg hard (per the Water Dept - I have a feeling it's a tad higher) ...no iron/Mn issues
One of my major concerns was flow...I didn't want to hear anyone whining "my shower's not flowing enough..." I went to almost every fixture, and did the timed/gallon jug method. From what I can determine, we can sometimes hit 11gpm, and (although rare), may hit 13gpm.
Initially, I thought I could get away with a 48K system, however, Gary points out in his tutorial that you need 2 cuft of resin to handle 13gpm. Therefore, I purchased (and just installed) a Fleck 7000SXT 64K - 2 cuft (12X52). Programmed per the instructions that came with the system:
1st backwash: 10 min
Brine draw: 60 min (which I now understand includes a 'slow rinse')
2nd backwash: 5 min
Rapid rinse: 10 min
Brine refill: 40 min (as instructed in the manual for a 64K system)
Safety factor: 20 percent (as recommended in manual for 4 persons)
Day override: 10 days (I know Gary, you recommend 7-9...and I understand why, but manual says 14, so I thought 10 was reasonable...?)
My question - other than the usual "How does my programming look?"...is specifically regarding 'salt dose':
If I understand everything I've read, salt dose is a function of the Brine Fill (correct?) From what I can determine, the 7000SXT has a .25gpm BFLC...so a 40 min fill is 10 gal of water (correct?) If it's 3lbs salt for 1 gal of water...that's 30lbs of salt per regen...correct?
If my math is correct, I'm using 42K in a 10 day period. Assuming: 51.2K (64K minus 20 percent reserve) - 42K = 9.2K of "unused" capacity.
Since I don't want to go longer than 10 days between regen, I suppose my question actually is...should I shorten the Brine Fill time? Or maybe shorten the Brine Draw time?
Thanx again for all your wisdom and help with this!
Wally
4 bedroom house with attached mother-in-law apartment
3 1/2 baths total (1 with jetted 8gpm Jacuzzi tub)
Use 300 gal/day (based on avg of 12 months of water bills) (*NOTE: This does increase during the summer months when college kid is home.)
City water...14 gpg hard (per the Water Dept - I have a feeling it's a tad higher) ...no iron/Mn issues
One of my major concerns was flow...I didn't want to hear anyone whining "my shower's not flowing enough..." I went to almost every fixture, and did the timed/gallon jug method. From what I can determine, we can sometimes hit 11gpm, and (although rare), may hit 13gpm.
Initially, I thought I could get away with a 48K system, however, Gary points out in his tutorial that you need 2 cuft of resin to handle 13gpm. Therefore, I purchased (and just installed) a Fleck 7000SXT 64K - 2 cuft (12X52). Programmed per the instructions that came with the system:
1st backwash: 10 min
Brine draw: 60 min (which I now understand includes a 'slow rinse')
2nd backwash: 5 min
Rapid rinse: 10 min
Brine refill: 40 min (as instructed in the manual for a 64K system)
Safety factor: 20 percent (as recommended in manual for 4 persons)
Day override: 10 days (I know Gary, you recommend 7-9...and I understand why, but manual says 14, so I thought 10 was reasonable...?)
My question - other than the usual "How does my programming look?"...is specifically regarding 'salt dose':
If I understand everything I've read, salt dose is a function of the Brine Fill (correct?) From what I can determine, the 7000SXT has a .25gpm BFLC...so a 40 min fill is 10 gal of water (correct?) If it's 3lbs salt for 1 gal of water...that's 30lbs of salt per regen...correct?
If my math is correct, I'm using 42K in a 10 day period. Assuming: 51.2K (64K minus 20 percent reserve) - 42K = 9.2K of "unused" capacity.
Since I don't want to go longer than 10 days between regen, I suppose my question actually is...should I shorten the Brine Fill time? Or maybe shorten the Brine Draw time?
Thanx again for all your wisdom and help with this!
Wally
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