Settings Advice for Softener system Clack WS1 with iron/hardness

[Sturnbow]

Hi everyone - first timer for this forum and first time owning a house with a water softening system. Just bought a house in Florida with the following from a well water test:
Hardness - 9 grains per gallon
Iron - 2.0 mg/L

Looks like we have a system with a Clack WS1/1.25 controller, measured the tank which is 10" in diameter and partially buried, so impossible to measure height but 36" above ground. Two adults in the house.

Shortly after moving in, we started noticing iron staining in the water, checked the brine tank and it was basically out of salt so we added 4 bags. Afterward, we didn't think the existing settings were doing a good job keeping the iron out of the water and was pretty slippery/slimy to boot.

Below are the current settings - would love advice as to whether changes should be made to lessen slick feeling water and ensure hardness and iron are at proper levels.

Refill: Set to POST - refill brine tank after final rinse
Program code: P14 =Downflow, 1st backwash 8, Brine/Slow Rinse 60, 2nd Backwash 6, Fast Rinse 6
Ion exchange capacity: 44.0 x 1000
Ibs. salt: 10
Gallons Capacity: Auto (reserve capacity automatically estimated and gallons capacity automatically calculated from grains capacity and water hardness)
Regeneration Time: Normal - to occur at a preset time.

Installer Display settings:
Hardness: 20
Day Override: currently set at 4 days (was 14 days before we increased it to try and address the problems as it seemed like after 5-6 days, iron red tinge in water)
Next Regeneration Time: 2:00 AM

User Display Settings:
Capacity Remaining - every time we have looked it has the same number - 2200 GAL

Any suggestions? Many thanks!

 

[Treeman]

DYI homeowner here. I have a Clack WS 1 on my softener, but it has been 4 years since I learned the programming details, so I cannot help without a bit of study. I'll just offer some generic advice to get started and hopefully an expert will come along.

- If your capacity remaining is always on 2200 gallons, then something is not working in your valve. Sometimes the interior valves orifices get clogged (especially with iron difficulties). They can be accessed and cleaned (no experience with this yet). Tons of info thru Google and Youtube.
- The pros here start getting antsy when trying to manage iron above about 1 ppm with a softener (you have 2 ppm). It can be done, but is inefficient. Most experts state to recharge at about 4 to 7 days when managing iron with a softener. Yours at 14 days was way too long for 2ppm iron. There is a chance that your resin is fouled from the iron. There are procedures to "cleanse" the resin using iron out. A search here will locate the technique. But, it may be too late in your case.
- I manage 1ppm iron successfully with my softener. I have a Res-Care feeder that adds phosphoric acid to the brine tank to assist iron management. Others use citric acid, Iron out, etc. with periodic resin cleanses.

This will get you started with some ideas.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

If the capacity remaining always reads 2200, I would suspect either the turbine/paddlewheel, sensor cable, or the circuit board. That would be the things to look for on Fleck, and I have to assume it would be the same choices on Clack WS1.

It is also possible that you don't have a sensor, and the unit is not correctly programed to tell the controller that.

 

[Sturnbow]

Thank you so much - appreciated. We added some iron out and it seems to have helped and did a manual regeneration to help clean out the resin tank. Still need to address the capacity remaining at 2200 gallons and if the other settings seem OK or off.

 

[TonyH]

Hi everyone - first timer for this forum and first time owning a house with a water softening system. Just bought a house in Florida with the following from a well water test:
Hardness - 9 grains per gallon
Iron - 2.0 mg/L

Looks like we have a system with a Clack WS1/1.25 controller, measured the tank which is 10" in diameter and partially buried, so impossible to measure height but 36" above ground. Two adults in the house.

Shortly after moving in, we started noticing iron staining in the water, checked the brine tank and it was basically out of salt so we added 4 bags. Afterward, we didn't think the existing settings were doing a good job keeping the iron out of the water and was pretty slippery/slimy to boot.

Below are the current settings - would love advice as to whether changes should be made to lessen slick feeling water and ensure hardness and iron are at proper levels.

Refill: Set to POST - refill brine tank after final rinse
Program code: P14 =Downflow, 1st backwash 8, Brine/Slow Rinse 60, 2nd Backwash 6, Fast Rinse 6
Ion exchange capacity: 44.0 x 1000
Ibs. salt: 10
Gallons Capacity: Auto (reserve capacity automatically estimated and gallons capacity automatically calculated from grains capacity and water hardness)
Regeneration Time: Normal - to occur at a preset time.

Installer Display settings:
Hardness: 20
Day Override: currently set at 4 days (was 14 days before we increased it to try and address the problems as it seemed like after 5-6 days, iron red tinge in water)
Next Regeneration Time: 2:00 AM

User Display Settings:
Capacity Remaining - every time we have looked it has the same number - 2200 GAL

Any suggestions? Many thank

For iron, you should add 4 or 5 gpg per 1 ppm. So you would add 8 or 10 gpg
to your water harness. So it shold be 28 or 30gpg.I have WS1 valve installed 6 years ago.
I always use Rescare resin cleaner.