Built Fleck 48,000 Water Softener System with 5600sxt Digital metered Valve 1" Yoke

My wife and I have wanted a water softner for roughly 12 years. We constantly have calcium scale buildup on our faucets, shower doors, dishwasher, washing machine, you name it. However the high cost to purchase and have one installed kept us from buying one. Recently I decided I was going to buy one of the big box store types and install it myself. To be honest I have done quite a lot of plumbing throughout my life, so I knew I could do it. After reading reviews on those softners I wasn't convined it was the way to go. I resorted to looking at full professional softners "Used" on facebook marketplace. During that search I saw an ad for new softners for sale and ended up here on Amazon. I was amazed to see the units were the exact units local companies were charging close to $5k to install. Under $800 to my door. How can I beat that? Even the used systems on facebook were that price or close to it. A quick investigation of my plumbing showed me I needed to install a loop for the softner, and I watched a few videos on youtube to get an idea of what other parts I needed for the install. Just a few hundred dollars more and I had my system installed and up and running. I'm now two regenerations in and we are starting to get soft water. If you have plumbing skills, or a good friend with some plumbing skills this can be done. The amount of videos online alone walk you through pretty much everything you need to know. We are very happy I made my late night purchase of this water softner.

This system works great. A plumber wanted to charge me 2200 to install basically the same system ( a commercial 5800). Check out you tube videos on installation and programming. Really simple. Some parts are useless and I’m glad I got rid of them like the videos explained. It came with a 1 inch female threaded yoke. This is frustrating as most residential is 3/4. I just used a 3/4 inch barb to 1 inch thread converter. Make sure you use a good tape and paste like blue monster. I got leaks if I didn’t. I installed a pre filter before as I have a dug well and get a little silt once in a while. If You have a septic don’t run the drain hose into it. Bad for the system. I ran a long way to a crawl space under the house. 30~ feet. It worked fine at that distance. Ups can’t read and shipped it on it’s side. I had to clean resin out of the center hose in the resin tank. Make sure to get a seal lube as they don’t ship any with it. I Have good experience with plumbing and construction but not a professional. It took me about 2-3 hours total as I had to run a 15 amp outlet to it as well. I noticed an immediate improvement in the hardness. Skin feels better. Dishes don’t scale. Better for my water tank and radon system. Water tastes better as well. Not that thick pasty taste like before. My hardness has it purging every 3000 gallons so I’d like to see how that goes as it hasn’t purged yet.

I bought this water softener after comparing it against other products. I found the value to be a good choice. I hired a plumber to install it because this is not my strong suit. I also purchased a whole house water filtration system to install at the same time, so I cannot comment on the "Flavor" of this product. The install was clean and everything worked well. I noticed the salt consumption appeared to be less than expected, which is a good thing. About 3 months in, I noticed a water leak in one of the components (The flywheel meter). I tried to tighten the screws associated with the part (Big Mistake!) I stripped the embedded nut and it leaked even more. I contacted the seller (A Plus Water) and informed them of the issue. They were great! They shipped me a replacement part and it only took me about 20 minutes to swap out the parts (Super easy DIY). No more leaks. Overall I believe this is a great value and I am happy with my purchase, and even happier with the customer service A Plus water provided!

Moved into a new home and had a soft water loop installed. Figured I would install one myself as I did in the past. Found the reviews and ratings on this unit and decided to buy it. Although it takes up a much larger footprint that your typical water softner, like GEs etc from the big box stores, I decided to give it a try. After having soft water in my last home for 17yrs, then having regular city water for a short time, people don't typically understand once you have it, you never want to go without soft water. So, lets get to the review. First of all, the price was right, and shipping took about 14 days. The packages arrived at different times. It says that on the brine tank box, but who knows when the next box would show up with the rest of the parts. That was 2 days later. First thing I noted was that they provided a pre-filled brine tank with the lid secured to prevent spillage. Next, they also provided the upgraded; metal bypass valve setup. I will get to this in a minute, because this causes several issues now compared to the standard valve. The instructions, well, they stink. Like others have mentioned, you end up scouring Youtube looking for videos that will help you understand which parts and methods of assembly apply to your unit. This is another strange thing, my valve unit is labeled an 5800LXT on the sticker. And the instructions for the 5600SXT you find on Youtube are sort of helpful, but you need to end up figuring out several things on your own. Like how the salt tank tower and parts are connected and are held in place. Could find this info nowhere, but being mechanically inclined, figured it out finally. Also, the waste valve is in a different location, the opposite side of the head, not next/around the side of the brine connector like most videos shows. Maybe it is a good thing and they improved the valve, but it makes for more confusion. The instructions provided were useless is the short of it. Now, back to the great metal upgraded valve. This is where my entire time and frustrations lie. Took me two days and a few trips to the big box home store to get adapters/fittings and the most important part, pipe dope. Well, it has female threaded inlets, instead of the male threads on it. What does that mean? Instead of just getting a Sharkbite flex water line with a rubber gasket (see photo that attach to my PEX water lines I use on the one end, very convenient and 2yrs later works with no leaks still, new home builds use this) back to the water lines. You can attach it right to the valve, you now need to go find a 3/4 to male to male adapter. Lowes happened to have them, not Home Depot in my area. They are brass. $8/ea. Another issue I have is that my water loop is about 5ft off the ground? Why? I don't know, but I required a 24in and a 18in connectors for the more expensive metal reinforced connector tubes from the loop to the water valve on the unit. I couldn't just use a single 3/4in Sharkbite from the water line directly to the valve head due to height. Now I have like 40in of stainless lines, which ends up being very heavy on the plastic valve the metal bypass attaches to. So I had to rig a bungy and put it around the two water lines that happens to be next to my drain for the system in my plumbing so it will not pull down on the rubber gasket/inlets on the unit and break something, see photos of that. 2yrs later, still holding and working fine. Maybe I will design a nicer metal one that looks better, but now it works and I'm confident it won't pull the thing off the gasket. Back to the metal magical valve. Since I had a Sharkbite and then an extension with rubber gaskets, they all assembled easily. Sharkbite was a breeze. Paid $9 for a PEX cutter, trimmed it and cleaned it well. Popped it on, no issues with those connections. Sharkbite is genius and it doesn't leak, you can trust these things. But if you want a hard plumb pro job and have PEX, just plan on $400 for a a plumber to do that. I called, the cost is ridiculous and any real savings you get from buying through Amazon/online is gone if you have to pay some overpriced plumber nearly the same cost as this unit. So hope you can figure this out on your own, otherwise, plan on a $1000+ water softener. Also, I have had no issues with the lines that have a Sharkbite connector or with rubber extension braided lines with gaskets on them. I used some teflon tape on the 3/4in adapters and they didn't leak. But the new metal amazing bypass valve with female threading is another story! OMG, since the valve has a 1in inlet female connectors, I had to use 2 brass adapters that goes from the 3/4 water lines to 1in valve head (see photos, what a rig). The video you see of the plastic inlet/bypass unit is not the same as the metal. So this is your predicament now. Also, since I had to use 2-24in lines as extenders that connected to the valve and sharkbite 3/4in lines, this required the adapters as well. Why standard sizing isn't used at the manifold/metal inlet is a terrible design. Most water lines in a home are 3/4in, it makes no sense why there is even a 1in inlet. All I know is that it now created this adapter/pipe extension rig for mine to connect. As a DIYer setup it worked in the end. But not pretty. So the valve might be better overall as a design, but it makes for some headaches in my case and multiple trips to the store to get it to work. Plus, my long connection from the loop to the valve head. I'm not a plumber and never worked with PEX, so if I wanted something different, it was going to cost me. So I continued onward. Now, I should have known this with the large 1in size brass adapter with no rubber gasket, but I only had teflon tape on hand, so I tried that first for the adapter connection. I then connected my extension tube and then the adapter to the metal valve on the head. Then, I put the valve in bypass mode and slightly turned my water back on to the house, sure enough, multiple drip leaks on the 3/4-1in brass adapter piece. They were slow, but not good! So much for teflon tape. I tried to re-tape the adapter with a thicker wrapping of it and got it down to a single very slow, every 5 minute drip on one of the inlets. But this made me very nervous obviously. So, I decided to go run up to HD and get some pipe dope. I bought the RectorSeal T plus 2, and several other brands, like regular putty, one dope in a tube etc. Just to be safe. But I went/started with the RectorSeal T plus 2 that is in a 4oz. can, it is a white paste with a small brush attached to the lid. I came back home, disassembled the brass adapters (see photos of end look) took the teflon taper off, then used the pipe dope on the male threads as it directs. I re-assembled the adapters to the head and extension piece, turned the water back on and no leaks. It has been 2 days (updated 2yrs now) the brass to metal valve head adapter is has not leaked. Finally I feel confident that the pipe dope, due to the fitting size, was required. It is too large for teflon, plus the metal to metal connector with no rubber gasket is a problem. So keep this in mind. Also, there is no such thing as a 1in male flex water line that goes from 3/4 to 1in; male by Sharkbite. It doesn't exist, if so, they are like $120, no joke. I was about to hire a plumber if the pipe dope didn't work just to finish the job and hard plump it up. The metal valve does seem like an upgrade, but it causes an entire connector issue and makes a once simple connection in most videos a giant PITA. Especially if you need to make an extension as I did for the connection. Of course, use the right sealant on them. Pipe dope from the start. Don't even bother with teflon tape. Never again am I'm using that garbage. Another thing with this unit, it should be a simple plug and play. Well, try finding where the AC/DC adapter plugs in!! I kid you not, I thought I was blind or missing something, it is hidden by the brine line on the back of the main circuit board, very hard to see. But found it after several minutes by following wires on the control head and eliminating where it could possibly be. Next, the programming. This is easy, go into program mode, set the time, hardness, recycle time, like 2AM overnight, and forget about it. Put your salt in and get the brine tank assembled and connected, and just watch and make sure you are getting soft water in the next day or two. Then ensure you are using about 1 bag of salt a month. I've completely forgot about this thing since, never touched it except to add salt every few months, like two bags at a time. When you first plug it in, the valve makes a noise and resets, set the time, hardness, salt level and runtime, and save the settings with the manual run/recycle button. After that is done, just press and hold the manual recycle/run button on the bottom right for 5 seconds, and it starts a first cycle. It is plug and play. Guess after 15yrs, they figured it out like other softener brands have! I've had other Pentair products, like pool filtration, salt pool systems etc..they are in general not reliable for more than a few years. So we will see how this thing does in the long run. Also, make sure you run all the water in your house, hot and cold valves wide open to purge all the nasty brine solution and initial rinse of the cycle. Took a good 10 minutes of running everything to purge all the piping in the house and hot/cold lines until it has runs clear. Nobody tells you that!! Now that I ran two manual cycles, then it has run the scheduled overnight cycles, by day 2, all the water lines in the house are producing nice soft water. The unit now has the reserves ready for use and we have soft water once again! Thank you soft water Gods!! BTW, I have a Rennai tankless water heater setup. That doesn't seem to be an issue at all. Normally a hot water tank would have to turnover the water in the tank/mix to get soft hot water as well. No issues after two days, I can feel the soft water immediately now and huge difference. Overall, for the price, I don't think it gets much better when you compare it to the big box store units at the same price. The only real complaints I had was the multiple trips to the store for parts, the footprint of this unit, completely terrible instructions, the metal valve and adapters needed. I think I have about $100 into the PEX cutter, Sharkbite, extensions, adapters and pipe dope total. Then about 3-4hrs of my time. Still better than the $400 a plumber will likely charge you. Skip the teflon tape, you will thank me. Finally, as it should be, it is a truly set it and forget it unit. Make sure to test your water hardness, then just monitor the salt level once a month and add a bag of salt. That is all we require in our area. $6/mo plus the extra water for cycling/making soft water is inexpensive to save your plumbing and keep water stains from ruining all of your appliances, pipes, dishes, cups, shower glass etc.. That is how it should work and the Fleck is doing a fine job thus far. Sorry, long review, but hope this helps some people along with the photos to get an idea of the connection issues. Once setup, it requires basically zero maintenance. Also, lastly, I will say, it seems my water pressure has been fine. With PEX, our water pressure is 80psi inbound in the house, the softener doesn't seem to have causes any water pressure loss and flows well. Shower heads are still blasting water upstairs. Good luck.

I highly recommend this product. We had this softener for around 10 years. Set it and forget it other than adding salt. Use the green bags or salt with rust repellent and no more rusty water. We deal it quickly and get a rusty tub if we forget about adding salt. Shows how well it works. If ours died I would replace it with the same one in an instant

Follow up to previous review. Unit not working since I purchased. My plumber had a difficult time trying to connect with PentAir who apparently makes part of this softener. My plumber finally spoke w/PentAir and said it would need a new motherboard. OK, no problem...that happens sometimes. Called Tim w/LiquaGen who is friendly & really wants to make things right. He said it would be better to replace the top valve with the computer unit on it, however he said they would have to put a $250 hold on my credit card until they got the part back from me. This seems really strange to me since it is THEIR unit that is defective. He assured me that $250 would be put back once they received the part. Not the point. So I called and spoke with a man at PentAir who told me it's their policy to put the hold on the money. I said to him, that really isn't my problem, I just want a softener that I paid $600 for to work...he was EXTREMELY RUDE & ARROGANT, yelling at me over the phone and told me if I didn't like this practice, TOUGH - he could care less! WOW! He was yelling through the phone! He then tried to berate me...I was shocked. He proceeded to tell me that their softeners run $3,000 and I'm getting it at a bargain - insert skeptical face emoji here - there was no point to continue to be subjected to that kind of treatment. I was calm, respectful, but said I should not have to have a $250 hold on my credit card for a part that is defective in the first place. He then was yelling that their company has lost too much money because people did not send back that part. Again, not my problem...after that debacle of a phone call, I called Tim back, and as hard as Tim was trying to rectify this, he wasn't budging off the $250 hold...because of PentAir's policy. Is it a big deal about the $250 hold...yes and no. Obviously they have had issues with this part since the one man said they "have lost thousands of dollars because people don't return the valve"...I don't want to cut my nose off in spite of my face, but I'm seriously considering returning the whole unit for a refund. I know others have said they really enjoy this product. From the reviews I have read concerning this type of model, I am sure when it works, it probably is really good. My major complaint is with PentAir & LiquaGen more than Fleck...LiquaGen to Tim's credit is trying and he was reaching out to me to help get this resolved...that other man, if given the choice, will not do business with them again. I'm not sure if those two companies are somehow connected...I guess at this point, it really doesn't matter. Lastly, the instructions that came with the softener were not even for that unit. I see from other reviews, others have had issues with the instructions or lack thereof. Small potatoes compared to this... My plumber said this whole thing should taken 2 hrs...instead here we are. I will give one more review after this hopefully gets resolved.

I bought one 2017 not easy to hook up no instructions at all, did ok softening the water 8 years it died I tried everything to repair,

Other than it overfills my brine tank (glad I put in the overflow drain line) with water during the regeneration cycle, it's an amazing piece of worthwhile equipment. I use potassium instead of sodium for the softener and it doesn't miss a beat. I honestly can't tell the difference in the taste or apparent water"softness" using one or the other. The system was fairly easy to install and plumb in if you are a DIY'er. I used 3/4" PEX for the tap-in to my main house water supply I dug up to find. I made a 3-valve bypass "manifold" (required plumbing code) in the ground, were I cut into the main feed line. I put a large plastic box over it (like whats used for in-ground sprinkler systems). This is somewhat redundant as the the 5600SXT has an included valve body on the back-end of the manifold but I fee much better having a backup plan. Setup is easy and the included paper copy directions are just "ok" I found better information on YouTube and by calling the distributor (ABC water) Home Depot sells a braided flex line that is about 18" long (you need two) and has 3/4" sharkbite on one end for PEX or Copper line, the other end is a swivel-nut (male) 1" NPT, Which you need to hook up your manifold to your inlet and outlet water lines. Very handy and worth the money. Very clean looking setup and I have both tanks pushed back against a corner in my garage, next to my clothes dryer. Just enough room to get to it once every couple of months to add potassium. The foot print is less than that of my dryer- if you're concerned about space.

#1 the best part of ordering from Aplus Water LLC is the customer service, Heather is The person that helped when my shipment had some damage, as you can imagine I just spent a good chunk of dough on this equipment and seeing the condition the boxes showed up in got me just a tad irritated, after a few pics and a call to Aplus they shipped out what was needed to correct the shipping companies neglect .Thanks to heather we are up and running, I ordered 2 water softeners and an iron filter system. all three units are easy to program, easy to install with some basic plumbing knowledge and a trip to the hardware store, and our water looks clear, is softer, and doesn't have that mineral taste or smell anymore👍👍👍😎

Not hard to install. Took me and my helper 3.5hrs with very basic plumbing skills. Could be even faster if I can get all the parts and tubes ready before I start. Overall very good prod. And it did work very well

This is an excellent deal. A family member works for a water service provider and highly recommends Fleck products for quality and durability. Comes fairly complete, you just need to add water hook up lines and 1/2in drain lines. There is an excellent video on YouTube produced by the vender that walks you through s step by step install process. Anyone with comfortable, but amateur plumbing skills can easily install the system, but a plumber indicated it would be about $200 if we wanted him to do it. We did run into one small hiccup with a piece being sent that was for a larger system rather than the one we had. A quick message to the vender generated a personal call to apologize for the oversight and a new piece was on the way with absolute minimum delay. I feel very comfortable that any help or after sales support we may need will be prompt, couteous and professional. I felt very comfortable in recommending them to any potential buyer.

Water is definitely softer. Only drawback is the output connectors. They are 1" pipe thread. The nice and simple connector that is shown in the (very informative) installation video was not included and nothing of the sort was available in the several plumbing supply places I searched. I eventually made a series of connectors work, but it looks like the bride of Frankenstein's monster. Pro-tip - Order the connector from the supplier along with the softener.

The water softener installed quickly and easily following the written and YouTube instructions. We had soft water in hours.