Pinellas County, FLFleck 5600 & 5600SXT manual & owner's quick guide
The Fleck 5600 is the valve half of Pinellas County is running, and Pentair's books for it are written for installers. This is the owner's 10-minute version. First, figure out which head you have: a big timer knob and a program wheel (classic 5600), or a digital display with buttons (5600SXT). Both are below. I'm Matt — I service these all over Clearwater, Largo, and St. Pete.
1. The bypass — learn this one first
On the back of the valve is a bypass block. Fleck fitted a few styles over the years:
- Metal bypass (the classic): one flat lever on top, with an arrow on it, and the words SERVICE and BYPASS stamped into the body. Turn the handle until the arrow points at the word you want. That's Pentair's whole instruction, and it's a good one.
- Plastic handle-style: two small handles. Both handles along the pipes = service. Both across the pipes = bypass.
- Plastic knob-style: two knobs. Turn both clockwise until the holes in the knobs face up = bypass.
Leaking or running nonstop? Put it in bypass first — softener isolated, house still has water — then sort out the rest. Full emergency walk-through here.
Watch the Fleck metal bypass animation — tap SERVICE / BYPASS and watch the lever swing
2. The clock
Timer-knob 5600: press the red time-set button and turn the 24-hour gear until the current time lines up with the time-of-day arrow. That's it — but if the clock is wrong, the unit regenerates at the wrong hour, usually mid-shower.
5600SXT: time of day is a basic user setting on the display. If it lost the time in an outage, reset it and confirm the regeneration time still says 2:00 a.m.
3. Start a regeneration by hand
Timer-knob 5600: turn the manual regeneration knob slowly clockwise until you hear/feel the program switch lift — the motor takes it from there. Always let the motor stop at each step before nudging it further.
5600SXT: press and hold the Extra Cycle button for five seconds — it starts a regeneration right away. (Press it once, briefly, to step an already-running cycle forward.)
Manual regeneration on an empty salt tank is a wasted cycle — if the tank's empty, fill it first and give it a couple of hours.
4. The settings — the program wheel and the hardness number
Timer-knob 5600: the program wheel is set by matching people in the house against grains of hardness — lift the “people” dial and turn it so your household size lines up with your water's hardness. Clearwater water runs about 14 grains. Your install settings are on the card at your unit; the wheel positions were figured from your water test, not guessed.
5600SXT: capacity, hardness, and reserve live in the Master Programming menu — installer territory. Your numbers are on your settings card. A couple of grains of hardness either way is harmless; capacity and salt settings are not knobs to experiment with. If your water source changed, call me and we'll re-test and re-set it properly: (727) 342-0091.
5. Salt
Pentair's own owner's manual says it plain: pellet salt only — not rock salt, not snow-melt. Keep the tank covered, check it monthly, keep salt above the water line. And if the tank looks full but the water's hard, poke the salt with a broom handle — a hollow crust (a salt bridge) is the oldest trick in the book.
The full official manuals (free PDFs)
- Fleck 5600 Service Manual — the timer-knob valve, complete (28 pages, Pentair)
- Fleck 5600SXT Downflow Service Manual — the digital valve, complete (32 pages, Pentair)
- Fleck SXT Owner's Manual — Pentair's homeowner book for SXT controllers: routine care, bypass, brine tank, clock (8 pages)
That little owner's manual is the honest exception in this business — Pentair actually wrote one for homeowners. Notice what it does: it teaches you the routine care and tells you installation, setup, and troubleshooting belong to your water professional. Around here, that's me.
Back to the manuals library · Emergency & bypass help · Lessons
On my install — or not
Not my install? I service Fleck valves I didn't sell, and I'll teach yours at your unit on the Know Your System house call. On my install? Your settings are on file: (727) 342-0091.
Aqua Pro Services · Licensed & Insured · (727) 342-0091
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