New forum member here. I recently installed a Fleck 5600SXT unit with a 48K capacity resin tank to replace an older, smaller 1 cu-ft Autotrol unit that was no longer up to the task. The installation also included a new brine tank. The new system has been in place just under four weeks.
I'm here to request some advice and assistance. I watched numerous installation videos prior to replacing the system and believe I hooked everything up correctly. For what it's worth, I decided to include the basket at the base of the flow control unit. The one mistake I made was performing the initial regeneration without changing any settings in the control unit.
I started by pouring about 2.5 gallons of water into the empty brine tank, then added two 50-lb bags of salt pellets. After the initial regeneration, the water level was far above the salt - probably due to an incorrect (too high) initial BF setting. I added a third 50-lb bag of salt, but still the water level was above the top of the salt.
I then found these forums and changed the control valve settings to the following:
Fleck 5600SXT Settings:
DF = Gal ; Units
VT = dF1b ; Downflow/, Single Backwash, black cam
CT = Fd ; Meter Delayed regen trigger
NT = 1 ; Number of tanks
C = 33.1 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 15 ; Hardness [based on checks performed with test strips that you place under running water]
RS = rc ;
RC = 300 ; Reserve capacity gallons
DO = 14 ; Day Override
RT = 2:00 ; Regen time (default 2 AM)
BW = 10 ; Backwash (minutes)
Bd = 60 ; Brine draw minutes
RR = 10 ; Rapid Rinse minutes
BF = 8 ; Brine fill minutes [might have been 8, 10, or 12 initially - not sure]
FM = p0.7 [confirmed I have the dome-style housing]
The fill rate on the brine line is rated at 0.5 GPM.
Using these settings gets me a starting capacity of 1900 gallons, which is about 6-7 days of use in my house. I initially had the hardness set to 10, which provided a larger capacity before regeneration, but found that when I tested the water from the tap on the last day before regeneration (using simple test strips), the hardness was as high as it was before replacing the softener system - roughly 15 gpg - suggesting that the system was no longer softening the water passing through.
So - here's where I am looking for confirmation or assistance.
1) My mind tells me that the reason the water was reading hard at the tap before regeneration is that the resin ran out of "capacity" and needs to be regenerated more frequently. Is that correct? If so, do I just need to adjust the hardness setting, making it higher, so that a regeneration triggers after fewer gallons? Other than more frequent salt use, are there other downsides to more frequent regenerations?
2) After the first regeneration (about two weeks into use), using the above settings, I looked in the brine tank and the water level there was still above the salt level by an inch or two. After a second regeneration, and another bag of salt, the water level and salt level are both about even now - about 19 inches from the bottom of the tank, which is one of the tapered square-side designs.
- Is this a problem that needs to be addressed?
- Should I remove some of the water somehow, such as with a wet vac, or else add salt?
- Should I change my settings and manually regenerate once or twice with lower refill rates, to effectively lower the water level?
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer. I'm hoping to enjoy years of good service from this system and hope I haven't messed things up too much right off the bat!
I'm here to request some advice and assistance. I watched numerous installation videos prior to replacing the system and believe I hooked everything up correctly. For what it's worth, I decided to include the basket at the base of the flow control unit. The one mistake I made was performing the initial regeneration without changing any settings in the control unit.
I started by pouring about 2.5 gallons of water into the empty brine tank, then added two 50-lb bags of salt pellets. After the initial regeneration, the water level was far above the salt - probably due to an incorrect (too high) initial BF setting. I added a third 50-lb bag of salt, but still the water level was above the top of the salt.
I then found these forums and changed the control valve settings to the following:
Fleck 5600SXT Settings:
DF = Gal ; Units
VT = dF1b ; Downflow/, Single Backwash, black cam
CT = Fd ; Meter Delayed regen trigger
NT = 1 ; Number of tanks
C = 33.1 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 15 ; Hardness [based on checks performed with test strips that you place under running water]
RS = rc ;
RC = 300 ; Reserve capacity gallons
DO = 14 ; Day Override
RT = 2:00 ; Regen time (default 2 AM)
BW = 10 ; Backwash (minutes)
Bd = 60 ; Brine draw minutes
RR = 10 ; Rapid Rinse minutes
BF = 8 ; Brine fill minutes [might have been 8, 10, or 12 initially - not sure]
FM = p0.7 [confirmed I have the dome-style housing]
The fill rate on the brine line is rated at 0.5 GPM.
Using these settings gets me a starting capacity of 1900 gallons, which is about 6-7 days of use in my house. I initially had the hardness set to 10, which provided a larger capacity before regeneration, but found that when I tested the water from the tap on the last day before regeneration (using simple test strips), the hardness was as high as it was before replacing the softener system - roughly 15 gpg - suggesting that the system was no longer softening the water passing through.
So - here's where I am looking for confirmation or assistance.
1) My mind tells me that the reason the water was reading hard at the tap before regeneration is that the resin ran out of "capacity" and needs to be regenerated more frequently. Is that correct? If so, do I just need to adjust the hardness setting, making it higher, so that a regeneration triggers after fewer gallons? Other than more frequent salt use, are there other downsides to more frequent regenerations?
2) After the first regeneration (about two weeks into use), using the above settings, I looked in the brine tank and the water level there was still above the salt level by an inch or two. After a second regeneration, and another bag of salt, the water level and salt level are both about even now - about 19 inches from the bottom of the tank, which is one of the tapered square-side designs.
- Is this a problem that needs to be addressed?
- Should I remove some of the water somehow, such as with a wet vac, or else add salt?
- Should I change my settings and manually regenerate once or twice with lower refill rates, to effectively lower the water level?
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer. I'm hoping to enjoy years of good service from this system and hope I haven't messed things up too much right off the bat!