SXT 5800 settings after finding rust in UV light (salt level too high?)

[newbobda]

Hello!
Since my last post, I installed my whole system and things have been going well for the last 6 months since we moved in.
I have noticed that my UV light was leaking a bit, I undid it and cleaned it and re-tightened the nuts, but I noticed some rust on the metal spring inside the lamp.
I have been warned also about too much salt that it could cause problems. (hot water heater etc)

Now i am wondering if my setting are good.
I have the following set-up : Pressure tank -> Iron system(filox) -> Water softener -> Sediment Filter -> UV
My water has
200ppm of hardness
Iron 0.80mg/L
Manganese 0.047mg/L


My settings for the softener are :
2 adults 2 kids
10x54 tank
.125gpm brine line flow control
1.5 cu ft of resin

DF GAL
VT 5800
RF dF1b
CT Fd
C 33
hardness at 20 (I have only 12grain of hardness and the iron should be out of the water before it reaches the softener, should i lower that?)
RS SF
SF 15
DO 7
BW 10
BD 60
RR 6
BF 28
FM t0.7

Thanks for the help!

 

[Bannerman]

hardness at 20 (I have only 12grain of hardness and the iron should be out of the water before it reaches the softener, should i lower that?)

If there is actually no iron or manganese remaining in the water after the Filox filter system, then a 13 gpg hardness setting should be appropriate. The additional 1 gpg hardness setting amount above 12 gpg is to compensate for the additional capacity consumed while regenerating with hard water.

A higher than needed hardness setting, will not cause the soft water to contain a higher amount of 'salt', but will increase the amount of salt consumption, due to the unit regenerating more frequently than needed.

Softeners are designed to remove hardness. Because the minerals that cause hardness (mainly calcium & magnesium) will be exchanged with sodium, the amount of sodium added in the soft water, will be directly proportional to the amount of hardness being removed. (See this brief writeup: How much sodium is in Softened Water)

You didn't specify the pH level of your raw well water. If your well water is acidic (ie: pH < 7.0), then the acidic water will likely be contributing to the metal corrosion.

Although Filox is rated to be effective within a pH range of 6.5 - 9.0, iron reduction media will function most optimally when the pH level is greater than 7.0, and often greater than 8 for removal of manganese.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

Very similar to yours, except using a different method for setting the reserve.

5800SXT System info (not programmed)​	​	​	​	​
salt lb/cuft​	:​	7.5​	;​	A choice ( efficiency vs capacity)​
BLFC​	:​	0.125​	;​	Brine Refill rate GPM​
cubic ft resin​	:​	1.5​	;​	Same as (nominal grains/32,000)​
Raw hardness​	:​	13.0​	;​	including iron etc​
Estimated gal/day​	​	240.0​	;​	60 gal per person typical calc​
Est days/regen​	​	10.3​	;​	presuming days each use reserve capacity​
​	​	​	​	​
​	​	​	​	​
Fleck 5800SXT Settings:​	​	​	​	​
DF​	=​	Gal​	;​	Units​
VT​	=​	5800.0​	;​	Valve type​
RF​	=​	dF2b​	;​	Downflow, Double Backwash​
CT​	=​	Fd​	;​	Meter Delayed regen trigger​
C​	=​	34​	;​	capacity in 1000 grains​
H​	=​	14​	;​	Hardness grains after comp factor​
RS​	=​	rc​	;​	rc says use gallons vs percent​
RC​	=​	240​	;​	Reserve capacity gallons​
DO​	=​	30​	;​	Day Override (typ 28 if no iron/Mn)​
RT​	=​	2:00​	;​	Regen time (default 2 AM)​
B1​	=​	6​	;​	Backwash 1 (minutes) [3...10]​
Bd​	=​	60​	;​	Brine draw minutes​
B2​	=​	4​	;​	Backwash 2 (minutes)[3...10]​
RR​	=​	6​	;​	Rapid Rinse minutes [5...10]​
BF​	=​	30​	;​	Brine fill minutes​
FM​	=​	T0.7​	;​	​

 

[newbobda]

If there is actually no iron or manganese remaining in the water after the Filox filter system, then a 13 gpg hardness setting should be appropriate. The additional 1 gpg hardness setting amount above 12 gpg is to compensate for the additional capacity consumed while regenerating with hard water.

A higher than needed hardness setting, will not cause the soft water to contain a higher amount of 'salt', but will increase the amount of salt consumption, due to the unit regenerating more frequently than needed.

Softeners are designed to remove hardness. Because the minerals that cause hardness (mainly calcium & magnesium) will be exchanged with sodium, the amount of sodium added in the soft water, will be directly proportional to the amount of hardness being removed. (See this brief writeup: How much sodium is in Softened Water)

You didn't specify the pH level of your raw well water. If your well water is acidic (ie: pH < 7.0), then the acidic water will likely be contributing to the metal corrosion.

Although Filox is rated to be effective within a pH range of 6.5 - 9.0, iron reduction media will function most optimally when the pH level is greater than 7.0, and often greater than 8 for removal of manganese.

Thanks for the write up,
my ph is 7.8, when I got the water tested after a couple of weeks of the system running, the guy told me there was no iron /maganese left.
I just tested the TDS and it shows 223

Very similar to yours, except using a different method for setting the reserve.

5800SXT System info (not programmed)​	​	​	​	​
salt lb/cuft​	:​	7.5​	;​	A choice ( efficiency vs capacity)​
BLFC​	:​	0.125​	;​	Brine Refill rate GPM​
cubic ft resin​	:​	1.5​	;​	Same as (nominal grains/32,000)​
Raw hardness​	:​	13.0​	;​	including iron etc​
Estimated gal/day​	​	240.0​	;​	60 gal per person typical calc​
Est days/regen​	​	10.3​	;​	presuming days each use reserve capacity​
​	​	​	​	​
​	​	​	​	​
Fleck 5800SXT Settings:​	​	​	​	​
DF​	=​	Gal​	;​	Units​
VT​	=​	5800.0​	;​	Valve type​
RF​	=​	dF2b​	;​	Downflow, Double Backwash​
CT​	=​	Fd​	;​	Meter Delayed regen trigger​
C​	=​	34​	;​	capacity in 1000 grains​
H​	=​	14​	;​	Hardness grains after comp factor​
RS​	=​	rc​	;​	rc says use gallons vs percent​
RC​	=​	240​	;​	Reserve capacity gallons​
DO​	=​	30​	;​	Day Override (typ 28 if no iron/Mn)​
RT​	=​	2:00​	;​	Regen time (default 2 AM)​
B1​	=​	6​	;​	Backwash 1 (minutes) [3...10]​
Bd​	=​	60​	;​	Brine draw minutes​
B2​	=​	4​	;​	Backwash 2 (minutes)[3...10]​
RR​	=​	6​	;​	Rapid Rinse minutes [5...10]​
BF​	=​	30​	;​	Brine fill minutes​
FM​	=​	T0.7​	;​	​

Yes pretty close to mine, is there a reason for 2 backwash vs 1 backwash?
also the DO what does it do exactly?

Thank you both for your help

 

[Reach4]

is there a reason for 2 backwash vs 1 backwash?
also the DO what does it do exactly?

Day Override sets an upper limit for days between regeneration.

2nd backwash re-shuffles the resin before it being compacted.

 

[Bannerman]

Yes pretty close to mine, is there a reason for 2 backwash vs 1 backwash?

A second BW will often be recommended when using a salt setting that is less than 6 lbs per cubic foot of resin. The 2nd BW will occur following the Brine Draw/Slow Rinse cycle, which will cause the resin at the top of the tank which is fully regenerated with the low salt amount, to be then distributed throughout the entire tank.

Since an 8 lb per ft3 salt setting will provide the best balance of salt efficiency, useable capacity and high soft water quality, 8 lbs/ft3 is usually recommended.

For your 1.5 ft3 system, 8 lbs/ft3 = 12 lbs salt total, will regenerate 36,000 grains useable Capacity, resulting in a maximum salt efficiency of 3,000 grains per lb (36,000 / 12).

Your current settings result in regeneration occurring when 33,000 grains Capacity have been depleted. With a 0.125 gpm BLFC X 28-minutes BF, 3.5 gallons water enters the Brine tank each cycle, which will result in 10.5 lbs salt (7 lbs/ft3) becoming dissolved.

While 3,142 gr/lb efficiency (33,000 / 10.5 lbs), is somewhat more efficient than the 8lb/ft3 setting, but hardness leakage will also rise slightly higher resulting in slightly lower quality soft water compared to the 8lb/ft3 setting, and regeneration will occur more frequently with 33,000 gr useable capacity vs 36,000 grns.

 

[newbobda]

A second BW will often be recommended when using a salt setting that is less than 6 lbs per cubic foot of resin. The 2nd BW will occur following the Brine Draw/Slow Rinse cycle, which will cause the resin at the top of the tank which is fully regenerated with the low salt amount, to be then distributed throughout the entire tank.

Since an 8 lb per ft3 salt setting will provide the best balance of salt efficiency, useable capacity and high soft water quality, 8 lbs/ft3 is usually recommended.

For your 1.5 ft3 system, 8 lbs/ft3 = 12 lbs salt total, will regenerate 36,000 grains useable Capacity, resulting in a maximum salt efficiency of 3,000 grains per lb (36,000 / 12).

Your current settings result in regeneration occurring when 33,000 grains Capacity have been depleted. With a 0.125 gpm BLFC X 28-minutes BF, 3.5 gallons water enters the Brine tank each cycle, which will result in 10.5 lbs salt (7 lbs/ft3) becoming dissolved.

While 3,142 gr/lb efficiency (33,000 / 10.5 lbs), is somewhat more efficient than the 8lb/ft3 setting, but hardness leakage will also rise slightly higher resulting in slightly lower quality soft water compared to the 8lb/ft3 setting, and regeneration will occur more frequently with 33,000 gr useable capacity vs 36,000 grns.

so in your view, a second backwash would not be necessary?

Day Override sets an upper limit for days between regeneration.

2nd backwash re-shuffles the resin before it being compacted.

So my current setting makes it a minimum of 1 regen per week?

 

[Reach4]

So my current setting makes it a minimum of 1 regen per week?

Yes.