New Water Softner

[Art_xyz]

I just installed a new Sears Softner. It is a 33,000 grain capacity. My water hardness is 16 gpg; iron is less than 1. There are only 2 of us in the house. I calculate the softner will regenerate approx every 11 days.
My questions: 1) Am I correct with the 11 day estimate? 2) If so, is 11 days ok, or should I set it to regenerate more frequently (say 5 days)?
Thank you.
Pete Kloeber

[daveroconnParticipant]

Your water supply is very hard. At 11 days you will exceed the capacity of the the softener using 200 gallons each day. This means you will start to break hardness through. I would recomend to use 70% of the rated capacity as the limit. Try a 7 day regeneration and if you notice your water not maintaining it’s softness then you can always go to a 5 or 6 day regen. Please read this article it will explain the practicle usage of water softeners.

Respectfully David F. Walling
Water softeners

[peterkParticipant]

Thank you for your prompt reply. I may have misled you concerning the 11 day regernation time. I only estimated the regeneration time will be around 11 days. The softner is a demand type and automatically regenerates when needed. I was curious if the 11 day estimate is correct? And should I manyually set it to regenerate more often — around 5 days?

[GaryPurolite1Participant]

Dave understood your regeneration frequency. His point was to set the softener to 70% of its capacity. The capacity of the softener is based on the salt dose. If you can find in the instructions how to determine the capacity and set a salt dose then assume that if you use 200 gallons per day (national average daily usage is 100 gallons per day). Set the unit to give 16,000 grains of capacity. Thats less than 70% but will give a regeneration every 5 days. Plenty even if you use more than that. The unit will regenerate after 1000 gallons has been used. You might want to set it a little higher if you are planning a really big party with lots of “stay overs”.

[peterkParticipant]

Thanks Gary.
I set the hardness to 16, but the instructions do not show any way to adjust the capacity. The instructions do show how to set “maximum days between regernations.” I can also set “salt efficiency” that will operate the unit at salt efficiencies of 4,000 grains of hardness per pound of salt or higher. I will admit I am new to this. I assumed a “demand initiated regeneration” (D.I.R.) unit would regenerate as needed to not allow it to exceed rated capacity. The only other info i can provide is the “rated capacity” shown on the unit:
Grains @ Pound of salt
13,000 @ 2.6
22,000 @ 5.2
30,000 @ 9.6
33,000 @ 13.9
I am not sure what to do with this info however.

Thanks again.
Pete K

[peterkParticipant]

Gary:

One final question — since I have a “Demand Initiated Regeneration (DIR) softner and cannot adjust the capacity setting, could I set the “hardness level” higher to accomplish the same goal of less time between regenertion?

Thank you.
Pete K.

[GaryPurolite1Participant]

Yes, you can fool the control by putting in a higher hardness number. It is monitoring based on the gallons of throughput and the hardness setting. If you can adjust the salt dose to 5.2 then the control will recognize a 22,000 grain capacity. If you set the hardness at 16 it will then regenerate every 1,375 gallons (22,000 divided by 16). If you set the hardness at 30 it will then regenerate every 733 gallons (22,000 divided by 30).

[daveroconnParticipant]

Gary call me old fashioned but this is why I like the plain Jane automatic water softener (i.e., Fleck). They are just so simple to modify to suite your specific applications. Just remember we are dealing with 16 gpg hard water.

Respectfully David Walling

[GuestParticipant]

If your Sears softener is a demand system, set the hardness for the total compensated hardness level of your water. The system does not need to be “fooled” ie:setting the capacity, in order to operate properly. The computer will atoumatically adjust the salt doseage according to the amount of resin that needs to be regenerated. This will vary according to your water consumtion. This is how these systems can achieve higher salt efficiencies than the Fleck valves and still maintain soft clean water.

[GaryPurolite1Participant]

Dave,

You are so right. However, since mass merchandisers are primarily selling the metered units and so many water dealers are doing the same we’ve got to help find ways for people like
peterk to make the best of what they have. I’m a “plain Jane” proponent myself, like you, because a timeclock operated unit is far easier for an enduser to work with and far easier for us in the field to service.

H2OGuy makes a good point. You don’t need to fool the computer. Give his way a try and then try fooling the computer and whichever way gives you what you want, do that.

[peterkParticipant]

Thank you H2OGuy

[daveroconnParticipant]

These are things that I have always included in my inservice. Water treatment is not rocket science it always comes down to what works for any given water treatment application. It has and always will be trial and error, what works for one type of water may not necessarily work for another and never assume anything. Let the end result of the settings you choose for your water softener tell you how to go about adjusting the control head.

Respectfully David F. Walling
Go Diamondbacks!!!!

[Author]

Posts