Fleck 2510sxt question

[Randyacton]

After 3 years of of sitting on all the equipment, I finally got off my butt and installed it all. Here is order after well pump.

Constant pressure valve
Stenner econ fp
Inline mixer
ispring 100m spindown
ispring 50m spindown
BB 30m pleated
BB 5m string wound
Fleck 2510sxt 12×52 Katalox light
Fleck 2510sxt 12x52 fine mesh

Have been up and running for a few days and have a question or two.

1. I have read here that katalox likes to be backwashed daily....how much time should I give for BW/RR? Default on the 2510sxt is 10/10, that equates to about 160 gallons of water, which seems excessive on a daily basis.

2. Can I get a signal from the 2510sxt to send to the Stenner pump? Some of my faucets don't have enough flow to activate the inline Sika flow switch.

3. After setting up the softener, I am showing about 1200 gallons before recharge. That is about 10-12 days for our usage. Is that too long to wait? Should I increase reserve to drop days?

Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[Reach4]

A. Tell us about that "Constant pressure valve".

B. Where is the pressure tank in the list -- just after the mixer?

C. How big is the pressure tank, or even better, make and model.

D. Have you watched the water pressure after the big blue filters during a KL backwash cycle? I am wondering if you get enough flow. If the tank is natural almond color, you can shine a bright light thru in a dark room, and see the bed expansion. How much expansion?

E. How many GPM do you think the KL is being backwashed at?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Randyacton]

A. Tell us about that "Constant pressure valve".

B. Where is the pressure tank in the list -- just after the mixer?

C. How big is the pressure tank, or even better, make and model.

D. Have you watched the water pressure after the big blue filters during a KL backwash cycle? I am wondering if you get enough flow. If the tank is natural almond color, you can shine a bright light thru in a dark room, and see the bed expansion. How much expansion?

E. How many GPM do you think the KL is being backwashed at?

The constant pressure valve has a small pressure tank (5 gal) attached to it. Intent of the valve is to reduce pump cycling by letting it run the entire time water is called for. Once the pressure tank is depleted the valve keeps the pump on until water is shut off.

I have yet to plumb in a pressure gage. Everything in the system, well through softener is 1" and the well pump gives me 15-16 gpm. I would take a guess at 8-10 gpm backwash.

 

[Reach4]

D. Perhaps a Cycle Stop Valve (CSV)

Garden hose thread pressure gauges are readily available. For downstream of the softener, you could monitor a laundry spigot or the WH drain. The pressure at those places would be very close to the pressure into the 2510sxt.

Usually with a non-proportional injection pump, you inject before the water being added to the pressure tank. Without the CSV, the flow is a fairly even GPM, so an on-off driven by the pump power (maybe via a relay) is OK. But for injection into a variable flow, getting the injection right calls for a proportional injection pump and a sensor to tell the pump what the flow rate is.

With the CSV, the flow you are injecting into varies a lot.

The flow to get about a 30% bed expansion is pretty high.

 

[Randyacton]

D. Perhaps a Cycle Stop Valve (CSV)

Garden hose thread pressure gauges are readily available. For downstream of the softener, you could monitor a laundry spigot or the WH drain. The pressure at those places would be very close to the pressure into the 2510sxt.

Usually with a non-proportional injection pump, you inject before the water being added to the pressure tank. Without the CSV, the flow is a fairly even GPM, so an on-off driven by the pump power (maybe via a relay) is OK. But for injection into a variable flow, getting the injection right calls for a proportional injection pump and a sensor to tell the pump what the flow rate is.

With the CSV, the flow you are injecting into varies a lot.

The flow to get about a 30% bed expansion is pretty high.

Yes it is a CSV. Never thought about the flow with the CSV. Before and after are now the same. With just a pressure tank I was getting 16gpm before tank and variable by fixture after tank.

Wouldn't the CSV actually help (albeit slightly) with BW?

If I read the chart correctly, with 2ft resin, I would need about 14gpm for expansion? What kind of time is required at 14gpm?

I am injecting H202 (7%), 3.05 mg/l iron, .06 mg/l manganese and some rotten egg smell. Hoping to end up with 5-10 ppm residual and all of our drinking and cooking water goes through RO.

D. Perhaps a Cycle Stop Valve (CSV)

Garden hose thread pressure gauges are readily available. For downstream of the softener, you could monitor a laundry spigot or the WH drain. The pressure at those places would be very close to the pressure into the 2510sxt.

Usually with a non-proportional injection pump, you inject before the water being added to the pressure tank. Without the CSV, the flow is a fairly even GPM, so an on-off driven by the pump power (maybe via a relay) is OK. But for injection into a variable flow, getting the injection right calls for a proportional injection pump and a sensor to tell the pump what the flow rate is.

With the CSV, the flow you are injecting into varies a lot.

The flow to get about a 30% bed expansion is pretty high.

 

[Reach4]

I would think 9 or 10 gpm would be enough for backwash, figuring your well water will be about 15C. I think maybe 13 gpm would be better.

"Before the CSV" would refer to a date, rather than a position in the piping.

I am not going to attempt to analyze your H2O2 numbers. I think you would want to have a boiler drain out of the KL so you could sample for H2O2 and adjust for the residual.

 

[Randyacton]

I would think 9 or 10 gpm would be enough for backwash, figuring your well water will be about 15C. I think maybe 13 gpm would be better.

"Before the CSV" would refer to a date, rather than a position in the piping.

I am not going to attempt to analyze your H2O2 numbers. I think you would want to have a boiler drain out of the KL so you could sample for H2O2 and adjust for the residual.

Sorry for confusion, was not looking for any analysis, was just trying to show that I am trying to combat a relatively minor issue and a proportional pump may not be necessary.

I checked water temp after the softener recharged and got 10.8c.

Had the day off today so I plumbed a pressure gage before and after all sediment filters.

CSV is set for 55psi and gage on CSV is reading 55psi. Gage prior to filters reads 50psi and gage between BB and Katalox reads 50psi.

I did what you suggested and shined a light on tank while backwashing. The Katalox did not move at all.

Would this suggest an issue with the fleck valve?

 

[Reach4]

Would this suggest an issue with the fleck valve?

I would not put a 5 micron filter in front of a KL tank. I am not even sure about a 30 or 50 micron filter.
The KL should act like a 5 micron filter itself.

So I would try removing the 5 micron cartridge, and leaving the housing empty. Make sure you have a spare o-ring on hand when you open the filter housings. Sometimes you cannot put it back.

 

[Randyacton]

I would not put a 5 micron filter in front of a KL tank. I am not even sure about a 30 or 50 micron filter.
The KL should act like a 5 micron filter itself.

So I would try removing the 5 micron cartridge, and leaving the housing empty. Make sure you have a spare o-ring on hand when you open the filter housings. Sometimes you cannot put it back.

I will try that, thank you.

I just ran several fixtures and watched pressure. Both gages sit at about 40 with any faucet, toilet, etc. When I run backwash, gage before filters is 25 and gage after filters is 10.

 

[Randyacton]

I am starting to think that the CSV may not be set correctly or there is a blockage somewhere in the system.

I removed the 5 micron as you suggested and bypassed the spindowns. Started a backwash cycle and got the same thing.

One gage reads 25 and the other increased slightly to 15.

 

[Reach4]

With no water being used, all gauges should read the same unless there is significant height difference. So that compares calibration.

Maybe set the CSV and the pressure switch 5 psi higher, and see if that helps. Typical pressure gauge raises both the cut-in and cut out about 10 psi when you turn the nut on the big spring 3.5 turns CW.

It is also possible that your pump cannot deliver 10 gpm at 45 psi.