Clean Water Systems Pro-OX 5700-E Installation manual

Clean Water Made Easy
www.cleanwaterstore.com
5700-E Softener Installation &
Start-Up Guide
Thank you for purchasing a Clean Water System! With proper
installation and a little routine maintenance your system will be
providing filtered water for many years.
Please review this start‐up guide entirely before beginning to
install your system, and follow the steps outlined for best
results.
Questions?
Call us toll-free: 1-888-600-5426 or 1-831-462-8500
Email us: [e-mail]
See more information on our website: www.cleanwaterstore.com/resources

Clean Water Made Easy
www.cleanwaterstore.com
Table of Contents
Packing List ............................................................................................................................................................ 2
Pre-Installation ...................................................................................................................................................... 4
Best Practices for Piping & Drain Installation........................................................................................................ 4
How Your Softener Works..................................................................................................................................... 5
Fig 1: How Your Softener Works ....................................................................................................................... 5
Fig 2 - Typical Softener 5700-E piping installation with ball valve and hose bib after the filter along with
pre- and post-filtration if necessary:................................................................................................................. 6
Fig 3: 5700-E from the rear showing the inlet and outlet end-connector fittings 1” or 1-1/4” NPT in Noryl
plastic. Brass end-connectors are also available for connecting to copper tubing. ......................................... 7
Fig 4 5700-E Bypass/Service Mode Knob Positions......................................................................................... 7
Installation Instructions......................................................................................................................................... 8
Attaching the brine line tubing to the brine tank & the 5700-E brine valve....................................................... 11
Fig 8 5700-E Brine Line Installation ............................................................................................................. 11
Initial Manual Backwash...................................................................................................................................... 23
Maintaining Your 5700-E Softener System ......................................................................................................... 24
Troubleshooting the 5700-E Softener................................................................................................................. 27
More Troubleshooting Tips ................................................................................................................................. 29
Brine Solution Not Being Sucked In During Regeneration .............................................................................. 29
System Not Backwashing Adequately............................................................................................................. 29
System Not Programmed Correctly –PROGRAM SETTINGS........................................................................... 29
Brine Tank Not Filling With Enough Water ..................................................................................................... 29

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Packing List
Model Size: 24K Grain Softener:
Quantity Description
1 5700-E backwash control valve & bypass valve
1 Pipe connector kit (either 1”or ¾”)
1 8” x 44” filter tank with distributor tube
1 Media funnel
1 3/4 cubic foot box of softening media (resin)
1 18” x 33” black brine tank
Model Size: 32K Grain Softener:
Quantity Description
1 5700-E backwash control valve & bypass valve
1 Pipe connector kit (either 1”or ¾”)
1 10” x 44” filter tank with distributor tube
1 Media funnel
1 1 cubic foot box of softening media (resin)
1 18” x 33” black brine tank
Model Size: 48K Grain Softener:
Quantity Description
1 5700-E backwash control valve & bypass valve
1 Pipe connector kit (either 1”or ¾”)
1 10” x 54” filter tank with distributor tube
1 Media funnel
1 1 cubic foot boxes of softening media (resin)
1 ½ cubic foot box of softening media (resin)
1 18” x 33” black brine tank

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Model Size: 64K Grain Softener:
Quantity Description
1 5700-E backwash control valve & bypass valve 1
1 Pipe connector kit (either 1”or ¾”)
1 12” x 52” filter tank with distributor tube
1 Media funnel
2 1 cubic foot boxes of softening media (resin)
1 18” x 33” black brine tank
Model Size: 80K Grain Softener:
Quantity Description
1 5700-E backwash control valve & bypass valve 1
1 Pipe connector kit (either 1”or ¾”)
1 13” x 54” filter tank with distributor tube
1 Media funnel
2 1 cubic foot boxes of softening (resin)
1 ½ cubic foot box of softening media (resin)
1 18” x 33” black brine tank
*NOTE: All Fine Mesh Resin Softeners will come with a box of gravel

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Pre-Installation
1. Review your packing list and make sure you have received all the parts before beginning installation.
Please ensure that all parts are included before scheduling a plumber or installer to come to the site.
2. If you are going to be turning off the water to the house and you have an electric water heater, shut
off the power to the water heater before beginning installation in case water heater is accidentally
drained.
3. Pick a suitable location for your filter system on a dry level spot where it won’t be exposed to freezing
temperatures. A minimum of 20 PSI is required. Maximum pressure is 90 PSI.
4. Get all of your plumbing parts together before beginning installation. Installation typically takes 3 to
5 hours. However after installation the Softener must be allowed to run through a complete
backwash and rinse cycle (also called ‘regeneration’). You don’t have to be present for this first
backwash necessarily, but it does take 90 minutes.
5. After the system is installed and running, your water may be discolored, or full of sediment/rust,
particularly if this is older piping that has been exposed to iron or manganese for some time.
Typically this clears up over a day or two, but can persist for weeks if the pipe is old galvanized iron
pipe that is corroded.
Best Practices for Piping & Drain Installation
1. See typical installation (see Fig 2). The softener is installed after the pressure tank.
2. Make sure to connect the IN pipe to the 5700-E inlet and the OUT to the outlet (see Fig 3). As you
face the 5700-E control from the front, the water enters on the right and exits on the left. From the
back (see Fig 3) the water enters on the left and exits on the right. The inlet and outlet are attached
to the bypass valve which is marked with arrows as well.
3. Make sure there is a working gate or ball valve before the 5700-E Softener and also one after as
shown in the diagram (Fig 2). The pressure gauges are optional but a hose bib (a faucet that you can
attach a garden hose to) is strongly recommended after the softener and before the second ball
valve. This makes it easy to rinse your new softener on start-up and gives you a place to test the
water before it enters your household plumbing.
4. If you will be using copper piping, do not sweat the copper pipe directly on to the 5700-E control
valve. Avoid heating up the 5700-E control valve plastic with the torch.

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5. You do not need unions to install your 5700-E control. If you need to remove it, the 5700-E has quick-
release couplings that make it easy to put the softener on by-pass and remove the filter system from
the piping.
6. The drain line tubing (not supplied) is connected to a drain from the drain outlet using flexible ½” ID
tubing. Note that the drain can run up above the 5700-E control and into a drain, it does not have to
drain down, as the filter backwashes under line pressure from your well pump. Most plumbing codes
require an air-gap connection, so that if your sewer or septic tank backs up, it cannot cross connect
with the drain tubing.
How Your Softener Works
See Fig 1. In the softener, water enters the top of the tank and flows down through the media and up the
distributor tube. Hardness minerals are drawn to the resin beads in the softener. During backwash, the
water flow is reversed and water flows down the distributor tube and up through the media, lifting and
expanding the softening media, and removing any trapped particles. After the backwash stage, salt brine is
automatically drawn in from the brine tank which then slowly rinses through the softening resin for 1 hour,
allowing the hardness minerals to be swapped out with harmless sodium or potassium ions. This entire
automatic process, called ‘regeneration’ takes about 90 minutes. Typically the softener filter is set to
regenerate every 14-21 days, during the middle of the night when no water is being used.
Fig 1: How Your Softener Works

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Fig 2 - Typical Softener 5700-E piping installation with ball valve and hose bib
after the filter along with pre- and post-filtration if necessary:

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Fig 3: 5700-E from the rear showing the inlet and outlet end-connector fittings 1”
or 1-1/4” NPT in Noryl plastic. Brass end-connectors are also available for
connecting to copper tubing.
Fig 4 5700-E Bypass/Service Mode Knob Positions

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Installation Instructions
1. Unscrew by hand the entire 5700-E control valve from top of tank if it was shipped screwed on. Place
distributor tube in tank if not already inside tank. If not already done, make sure blue cap is on top of
distributor tube, or wrap the top of distributor tube with electrical or duct tape. The idea is we do
not want any media to go down the distributor tube.
2. Next add the softening resin using the media funnel provided. Tank will be approximately 2/3 to the
3/4 full. NOTE: If you are using a softener with fine mesh resin, you will want to first add the gravel
provided before adding resin
3. Remove cap or tape from top of distributor tube. Be careful not to pull up distributor tube when
removing cap or tape.
4. Attach plastic top screen to the under-side of the 5700-E control valve. It is a funnel-shaped plastic
screen that snaps on to the control valve and prevents resin from being backwashed out to drain
during the regeneration cycles.
Plug or tape top of distributor tube
when adding media to prevent media
from entering. Remove when
finished.

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5. NOTE Regarding Teflon tape and pipe sealants: It is OK to use Teflon tape and pipe sealant on the
water pipe connector threads, where you attach your pipes or plumbing to the 5700-E. DO NOT USE
any Teflon tape or pipe joint compound on the tank itself or on the threads where the 5700-E threads
into the tank.
6. Install the 5700-E backwash control-timer valve on to the top of the filter tank by hand, do not over-
tighten. Tighten with hands, there is no need for a pipe wrench or other wrench.
7. See the bypass image below. Note the pipe connectors, while the other end is what gets attached to
the control valve. The 5700-E valve is usually shipped in by-pass position. Leave in bypass position for
now.
5700-E By-Pass (1) & Pipe Connectors (2)

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8. Lubricate the by-pass valve o-rings on the pipe connectors only with some vegetable oil or silicone
grease and connect the bypass assembly to the 5700-E control by sliding the bypass valve firmly into
the body of the 5700-E. DO NOT USE OIL OR PETROLEUM GREASE ON ANY PART OF THE 5700-E
CONTROL VALVE. O-rings are OK to lubricate but not the main tank threads.
9. Make sure the by-pass valve is in the bypass position (above) when starting the installation. Follow
the IN and OUT arrows on the bypass valve and control valve for proper connection of water piping.
Leave in the BY-PASS position for now.
10. Now install your water pipes to the 5700-E bypass end connectors. Our preferred method is to wrap
the pipe threads with 2 or 3 wraps of Teflon tape, then apply a thin coating of white non-hardening
Teflon joint compound paste (available at all hardware stores) before attaching the pipe fittings.
Make sure the inlet is installed to the 'In" pipe connector on the bypass valve and outlet is on the
“Out” connector. Note: Arrows on bypass valve should be visible from the top of the bypass valve.
11. Connect some flexible tubing from the drain connection on the 5700-E control valve to a suitable
drain such as a septic tank or drain to a sewer. It is OK to run the drain line up and over the Softener,
up to 4 feet above the top of the tank. If the drain line will be more than 20 feet, and especially if
your system is a 2.0 or 2.5 cubic foot size, use larger diameter tubing such as ¾” or 1”. Note that it is
desirable to be able to run the drain line into a bucket in order to test the backwash flow rate in the
future. This is why hard piping the drain line is discouraged, however, if you do use hard PVC piping
for the drain line, and you are able to remove the hard PVC drain piping and attach flexible tubing
should you ever desire for testing purposes, it is OK to use rigid PVC pipe for the drain. Make sure the
drain tubing is firmly clamped to the barbed fitting with a hose clamp to prevent leaks.
12. Next, connect the solution tank to the 5700-E control valve with the black tubing, provided with the
brine tank.

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Attaching the brine line tubing to the brine tank & the 5700-E brine valve
13. Insert 3/8” diameter tubing into the brine tank connection. Screw the nut with the sleeve and Ferrell
attached to prevent leaking.
Fig 8 5700-E Brine Line Installation
14. To connect the brine tank, begin by sliding the plastic brine injector nut on to the brine tubing by
putting the tubing through the non-threaded side of the nut. Next, slide the black (or clear)
compression ring on to the tubing with the narrower diameter going on first. Then slide the taller,
white compression ring on to the tubing with the wider diameter going on first. The two compression
rings should lay flush against each other on the tubing. Slide them in to the brine injector nut and
place the brine tubing into the brine valve. Finally, push the brine injector nut, which now has the
compression rings inside of it, on to the threading of the brine valve and rotate the nut clockwise,
screwing it on to the brine valve. Tighten it down to finger tightness. The tubing should be firmly
attached and not slide out if pulled on.

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15. Add approximately 5 gallons of water to the brine tank, and then fill the brine tank with salt, using
about 300 lbs, or 6 50-lb bags. It is OK to use any kind of water softening salt, however we find that
extra coarse salt works better than pellets. You do not have to add water to the brine tank again
after this first time during the start-up.
16. See the over-flow barbed fitting on the side of the brine tank. You do not have to connect this to a
drain. If the safety float were to malfunction, there is a small chance that the brine solution will drip
out of this fitting. If this would cause a big mess where you have installed the softener, hook some
tubing to this and run to a bucket, floor pan or floor drain. Normally no brine will leak out of this
fitting.
17. Now you are ready to turn on the water to the system. Turn on the water and leave on bypass and
check for leaks. Leave the ball valve after the softener closed, so water is still off to the house, but
connect a garden hose and open up the hose bib after the softener and allow the water to run. This
will help to clear out any foreign material that may be in the pipes from the piping installation. If you
do not have a valve installed after the softener and you do not have a hose bib, you will need to turn
the water on inside the house to let the water run. Use a bathtub or laundry sink or other fixture that
does not have an aerator screen.
18. Leave the water running out of the garden hose at a slow rate. Now you can turn the bypass valve to
the service position. First open the Inlet Side of the bypass valve. Second slowly open the Outlet Side
of the bypass until it is in the full service position. Make sure you are turning the bypass valve knobs
in the correct direction which is counter-clockwise as you face the bypass valve knobs.
19. Now turn on the garden hose to full force and let the water until it turns relatively clear. The water
may have some color at first.
20. You are now ready to plug in your Softener 5700-E control valve and start programming. Your valve
does require some modifications to the programming specific to your application.
21. Plug your 5700-E control valve into an outlet. After being plugged in, the screen may display
“WAITING PLEASE” while it finds the service position. Next you will need to program the system to
work as a Softener. There are a few settings that must be changed before the system can be put into
service.

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Normal Operation
Time Mode: Home screen will
display days and hours left until the
unit regenerates.
Meter Mode: Meter mode tracks the number of gallons used instead of
regenerating on a specific time. In
this mode immediate regeneration
will occur once the unit hits its
target calculated number of gallons
based on hardness settings.
Timed Meter Mode: Timed Meter Mode tracks the number gallons used, like the
Meter Mode, but waits until its set
time to regenerate instead of
immediately. A buffer period is
factored in to prevent you from
running out of soft water. The
water droplet to the right of Current Time signifies the unit tracking water flow.
We recommend T for the operation of your softener, to backwash by gallons, but
also with a day limit. Change the setting, then press the down arrow to proceed to
the next step.

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Meter & Timed Meter Menus
The following menus will allow you to change the current time, unit hardness, and
calendar day override settings within the Meter and Timed Meter Modes.
Current Time settings: Press
the gear to begin menus.
Current time and period of
the day will be flashing.
After pressing the Regen
button, only the hour portion
will be flashing.
Use the up and down arrows
to adjust the time. Press the
gear again to switch to the
minute portion. Note, once
the timer passes a 12 hour period it will automatically change A.M. to P.M.
Unit Hardness settings: Hard-25
will be flashing.
Pressing the Regen button will
allow changes to hardness to be
made. The unit has a range of 1-
99 grains per gallon.

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Meter and Time Meter Menus continued..
Calendar Day Override setting:
Allows user to set a time to
regenerate by if the unit hasn’t
met its set meter amount
within that time period.
Pressing the Regen button
allows you to change the days.
Default setting is 0 days, but
can range from 0-99 days. The
recommended setting for a
softener is 14 days, depending
on usage.

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Time Menus
The following menus will let you change the Current Time and the Regeneration
Day for Time Mode only.
Current Time settings: Press
gear to begin menus. Current
time and period of the day will
be flashing.
After pressing the Regen
button, only the hour portion
will be flashing.
Use the up and down arrows to
adjust the time. Press the gear
again to switch to the minute
portion. Note, once the timer
passes a 12 hour period it will automatically change A.M. to P.M.
Pressing the gear again brings
you to the Regeneration day
setting.

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Time Menus Continued..
Using the up and down
arrows, you can set the
number of days you wish to
have between regenerations.
The unit has a range of 1-99
days. Default setting is 7 days.
The recommended setting for
a softener is 14 days,
depending on usage.

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Advanced Menus
Within the Advance Menus the Regeneration Mode, Regeneration Cycle Period
Lengths, and Unit Capacity are adjustable.
To enter, press both
the Gear and Regen
button at the same
time. All mode types
will be flashing.
Press the Regen button
again to select the
mode type you wish to
be in. Use the up and down arrow to scroll through the modes.

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Advanced Menus Continued..
After selecting the mode, the
time of day the unit is set to
regenerate will appear.
Pressing the Regen button will
allow the time to be changed.
Use the up and down arrows to
adjust the hours and A.M. and
P.M. settings.
Pressing the gear again will bring
you to phase 1, Backwash. BW
will be present and P1-10 will be
flashing.
Total minutes spent in backwash
will be flashing. The unit can be
programmed for 0-99 minutes.
The recommended setting for a
softener is 10 minutes
Next menu displays brine draw
settings. BD will be present and P2-
60 will be flashing.