Iron Pro 2 Review – Combination Water Softener & Iron Removal 64k

by Curtis Grossi | Last Updated: March 19, 2024

Our editors independently research, select, and recommend the best products. Some of these may be affiliate based, meaning we earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if items are purchased.

Intro

Many communities are supplied with water drawn from wells that have relatively high calcium, magnesium, and iron content, and often either a water filter or a water softener on its own doesn’t provide the quality of clean water you’re looking for.

Now, instead of having to buy two separate systems, you can have both combined into one top quality, reliable whole-house system. The Iron Pro 2 offers the best of both worlds; water softening and iron removal.

The iron filter also removes manganese, so no more hard water and no more red, brown, or black stains in your laundry and crockery, no more worrying about the effects of scale buildup on your appliances and pipes.

Check Price at Amazon

The high capacity 64,000 grain ion-replacement resin in the water softener replaces scale-forming, foam inhibiting calcium and magnesium with non-scaling sodium from salt crystals, producing soft water for washing and cleaning, while also removing discoloring iron and manganese from the water, providing clean water for your laundry.

The meter-based regeneration system is more economical than timer-based regeneration, so you can be sure that your water won’t start discoloring before regeneration takes place.
With the Fleck 5600SXT digital controller, setting up the system is simple and you can set regeneration to occur when it is most convenient for you, not the system!

With a 30-day satisfaction guarantee backed by a 5-year warranty on the valve and a 10-year warranty on the tank, you can buy the Iron Pro 2 system with confidence.

Who is Fleck

LW Fleckenstein’s ‘Fleck Closure’ valve, more commonly known as the ‘Fleckenstein valve’, was patented in 1955. Fleck is a trusted and respected name in water treatment, as is Pentair Water, who now manufactures Fleck valves and can provide technical support.
US Water Systems owns Fleck Systems, which sells Fleck softeners and parts, including backwash filters and replacement valves, and provides sales support.

Important Features

The Iron Pro 2 Combination Whole House Water Softener and Iron Filter offers a number of features that make it a very attractive prospect for improving water quality in your home.

1. Fleck 5600SXT Digital Control

This is a digital version of the tried and tested Fleck 5600 valve, housed in a non-corrosive fiber-reinforced polymer body. The touchpad digital control provides you with ease of operation, fewer moving parts and a host of useful information at your fingertips.

2. Turbine-Electronic Flow Meter

The Fleck 5600SXT control system uses a turbine-electronic flow meter instead of a timer or manual flow meter, giving you a more accurate measure of the amount of water treated by the system, making for a more efficient rate of regeneration.

3. Four Modes of Operation

The digital electronic control system allows for one of four modes of operation, depending on which one is most convenient for the user:

• Immediate meter regeneration – regeneration will take place when the volume of water set on the control has been treated;
• Delayed meter regeneration – regeneration will only take place at a preset time, after the required volume of water has been treated;
• Delayed time clock regeneration –regeneration will take place after a preset amount of time has elapsed; or
• Day of the week regeneration – regeneration will take place weekly on a certain day of the week.

4. 48-hour Memory Backup

If the power supply to the system is accidentally unplugged, or in the event of a power failure, the digital control will retain the remaining water volume data, the ongoing date and time, and the operational mode settings for over 48 hours, so there will be no need to reset it if power is restored within that period.

5. LCD Display with Backlight

The handy LCD display with backlight allows you to read information about the state of your system at any time of day or night. The readout alternates between time of day, the remaining volume of water that can be treated, and the number of days to regeneration.

6. 64,000 Grain Capacity

The 64,000 Grain capacity of the Iron Pro 2 system gives a longer lasting water softening phase. The system removes hardness chemicals up to 75 grains per gallon (GPG), ferrous (clear water) iron up to 6 to 8 ppm and manganese up to 6ppm, as well as sediment, sand and some ferric iron (rust).

7. Fine Mesh Resin

The Iron Pro 2 Combination Water Softener and Iron Filter contains special fine mesh resin that made to treat water with high iron levels from 0.5ppm through 5ppm. This resin will last longer in the presence of iron and reduce common fouling caused by iron particles.

8. Double Backwash

The regeneration cycle is designed to provide a double-backwash (one slow and one rapid backwash), improving the efficiency of the regeneration process.

9. Safety Float System

The brine tank contains a safety float that prevents over-filling and there is also an overflow outlet that can be linked to the backwash drain.

Water Capacity, Pressure, and Temperature Range

The Iron Pro 2 system can treat up to 16GPM (60.6l/min) of water at a hydrostatic pressure of 300psi (20.7 bar), but the recommended service flow is not more than 13 GPM (49.2l/min), that is, suitable for a household size of five to seven people.

The system has a backwash flow rate of 5GPM (18.9l/min) and an operating pressure range of 20psi (1.4 bar), the minimum for the regeneration valve to operate correctly, through to a maximum of 125psi (8.6 bar).

If the system is installed outdoors, it must not be exposed to freezing temperatures of less than 34°F (1°C) but must be screened from direct sunlight to avoid UV damage. It has a maximum operating temperature of 110°F (43°C) and so it must be installed before any water heating device.

Water and Salt Consumption

The system uses between 60 and 120 gallons (227 and 454 liters) of water per regeneration, depending on the quality of the source water.

The unit will consume approximately 30lbs (13.6 kg) of salt for every 64,000 grains of hardness treated, or at each regeneration cycle if this occurs before the full capacity of the system has been used.

The 64,000-grain rating of the system divided by the measured hardness of the source water indicates the volume of water, in gallons, that the system can treat between regeneration cycles. The system will regenerate automatically after 14 days even if the preset volume of water has not yet flowed through the system.

Power Rating Consumption

The Iron Pro 2 system plugs into a 120V 60 Hz power supply point and is rated at 15W.
The system is available for a 220V–240V 50-60Hz power supply.

Size, Dimensions and Shipping Weight

The Fleck 5600SXT 64,000 Grain Water Softener tank itself is 52” (130cm) tall but with its digital readout head it needs about an extra 7.5” (18.75cm) to 10” (25.5cm) clearance, and it has a 12” (30cm) diameter. It takes 2 cu. ft. (54 liters) of high capacity resin.

The cylindrical brine tank is 18” (45cm) in diameter and 33” (82.5cm) tall. The shipping weight of the system is 145 lbs without the resin installed and 200 lbs with the resin.

Price Range

You can find the Iron Pro 2 Combination Water Softener and Iron Filter with the Fleck 5600SXT 64,000 Grain Water Softener in the US$700 to US$800 range, excluding installation.

Check Price at Amazon

Warranty

The Fleck 5600STX head and valve is provided with a 5-year limited warranty, and there is a 10-year warranty on the fiberglass resin tank.

Reviews

There are not a large number of reviews to be found for this product, but those that are available indicate a high level of satisfaction with the system and its performance.

The main concern relates to understanding the installation and setup instructions, but once those have been mastered (with the help of youtube videos perhaps), the performance of the system is generally much appreciated.
A word of caution is that any water used during the regeneration cycle period will be un-treated and that is why most people set regeneration to take place in the early hours of the morning when no-one in the house is using water.

Another tip is to feed off garden water supplies before the system, as that water generally does not need to be softened.

How To Program Fleck 5600SXT (Video)

Conclusion

The Iron Pro 2 Combination Water Softener and Iron Filter is a whole house system that is suitable for areas where hardening chemicals as well as discoloring iron and manganese are present in the water supply (see all our whole house water softener reviews here).

The fine mesh ion-exchange resin provides up to 64,000 grains of hardness and iron removal, and the results speak for themselves. The digital control panel with a backlit LCD screen allows flexibility in operation as well as providing useful information at the touch of a button.

It also allows you to set the regeneration cycle of the system to a time that is most convenient to you and your household, so you can avoid hard water getting into pipes during the regeneration cycle.

The high-quality Fleck 5600SXT valve has a 5-year warranty for long term peace of mind. Once you have the Iron Pro 2 Combination system installed in your home, you’ll wonder why it took you so long to get it!

Check Price at Amazon

Curtis is the founder and owner of softeningwater.com. He is the lead guy concerning all the water-softening accessories in this site's guides and reviews. If he is not writing a reviews, guides or any other useful tips, you will find him testing them to find out their suitability. He is passionate about softening water. You will find him extremely helpful and always willing to educate the general populace all there is concerning water and its effects on their health and appliances.