Fleck 5600 SXT: Settings and Manual Guide

What the 5600 SXT is, and who makes it

Fleck is Pentair's line of control valves, and Pentair publishes the 5600SXT manuals. The 5600SXT is a downflow valve that screws onto the top of a single resin tank. The "SXT" part is the electronic timer on the front.

The same SXT controller family also runs Fleck's 2510SXT, 2750/2850SXT and 9000/9100/9500SXT twin-tank valves. The buttons and menus work the same way, but the cycle step codes and times differ by valve, so use the manual for the valve you actually have.

Online listings for Fleck softeners quote a grain capacity. That rating comes from the resin tank the seller pairs with the valve, not from Fleck. Fixr prices 48,000-grain softeners at $600 to $1,500 for the equipment alone.

Operating limits from the manual

Setting the time of day

1. Press and hold Up or Down until the programming icon replaces the service icon and the display reads TD.
2. Use Up and Down to set the current time.
3. Press Extra Cycle to save. If you walk away, it drops back to normal after about five seconds anyway.

Set the clock after every long power outage. Pentair says outages longer than 8 hours may wipe the time setting.

User programming: hardness, regen time and day override

This is the menu you'll use. While the unit is in service and the clock does not read 12:01 PM, press and hold Up and Down together for five seconds. Press Extra Cycle to step through the items:

• DO, day override. The most days the unit can go without regenerating, even if the meter says it doesn't need to.
• RT, regeneration time. Pick a time nobody uses water. Pentair's user guide says to choose a period of low or no water use.
• H, feed water hardness. Enter the hardness of your untreated water, from 1 to 199.
• RC or SF, reserve. Either a fixed reserve or a safety factor, depending on how the unit was set up.
• CD, current day. Only shows up on day-of-week setups.

If you stop pressing buttons for 60 seconds, the control drops out and throws away your changes. Get the hardness number from a real test, not a guess. Our hardness setting guide covers how to read your test and what to enter.

Master programming: change it only with a reason

Master programming holds the setup that matches the valve to the tank: valve type, control type, unit capacity, reserve type, cycle step times, meter type and more. Pentair's SXT manual suggests contacting your water dealer before you go in here.

To enter it, set the clock to 12:01 PM, press Extra Cycle to leave the clock screen, then hold Up and Down together until the programming icon appears and the display reads DF. The regeneration steps you'll see are BW (backwash), BD (brine draw), RR (rapid rinse) and BF (brine tank fill). Each step can be set from 0 to 199 minutes, and a step set to 0 is skipped. If you leave it alone for 5 minutes, the control quits and discards your changes.

The one master setting people most often need is the control type. Meter immediate regenerates as soon as the calculated capacity runs out, while meter delayed waits for the programmed regen time. For a house, delayed is the usual pick, because nobody wants a backwash in the middle of a shower. See how often a softener should regenerate for how the capacity and hardness settings decide the schedule.

Manual regeneration

• Right now: press and hold Extra Cycle for five seconds while the unit is in service. It starts at backwash. Each further press skips to the next step.
• Tonight: press Extra Cycle once. The service icon flashes, and the unit regenerates at the programmed regen time. Press it again to cancel.

Fleck SXT error codes

Pentair's user guide says to unplug and replug the unit for cam or cycle errors and call for service if they come back. For a regen failure, run a manual regeneration first. A memory error needs a master reset and full reprogramming, so write your master settings on a piece of tape inside the cover before you ever need them.

Power outages

The SXT keeps your programmed settings indefinitely, but it only holds the time and day for at least 8 hours without power. After an outage the clock flashes until you press a button. If the power drops in the middle of a regeneration, the valve stays put and finishes the cycle when power comes back. A regeneration missed during an outage runs at the next scheduled regen time, often a day late.

Fleck 5600 SXT repair: the common problems

Pentair's troubleshooting table covers most service calls:

• Hard water. The bypass is open, the salt ran out, the injector screen is plugged, the brine tank isn't filling enough, or the hot water tank is still full of old hard water.
• Too much water in the brine tank. A plugged drain line flow control, a plugged injector, or debris in the brine valve or brine line flow control. See brine tank full of water.
• Won't draw brine. The same plugged parts, an internal leak, or line pressure under 20 psi.
• Won't regenerate. Lost power or a bad timer. Our softener not regenerating page walks through it.
• Uses too much salt. The salt setting is wrong.
• Pressure loss. Iron buildup in the line or the valve.

Pentair says not to use granulated or rock salt in these units. The European user guide recommends clean salt such as pellets. The injector screen is a small part, and grit from cheap salt is exactly what plugs it.

The diagnostic screen helps here. Hold Up and Extra Cycle for five seconds in service to see flow rate, peak flow, hours since the last regen and gallons used. If you open a tap and the flow reading stays at zero, the meter isn't counting, so a metered control will never decide it needs to regenerate.

Installing a Fleck 5600 SXT

The short version from Pentair: set the tank level, plumb in the bypass, put 1 inch of water in the brine tank above the grid plate, flush the lines in bypass, then ease the bypass into service to fill the resin tank. Plug the transformer in, program it, and run the startup sequence: backwash until the drain runs clear (up to 10 minutes), check that it draws brine, run rapid rinse for about five minutes, check the brine fill, then add salt. Keep solder heat at least 6 inches away from the drain line flow control. Our water softener installation guide has the full plumbing steps, and the bypass valve page covers the Fleck bypass.