High Efficiencies...

OK. I've done half a dozen AG's so far and my efficiencies have all been from 83% to 97%. I've been reading all of the posts from folks having troubles with low eff and I am just a wee bit curious as to what I am doing different - maybe some of you who have been doing this for some time can provide some enlightenment. I have done single infusion, double infusion, and even a double decoction (danke, Kaiser). My basic mash plan is to start with a water/grain ratio based on the grains used; 1.0 for grain bills around 10 lbs, 1.25 for larger grain bills and 1.5 for grain bills with a large amount of wheat - determine infusion amounts; I like to do a protein rest at 125F with wheat, otherwise I do a sacch rest at 150-154F, mash out at 168F - and then using an absorbtion ratio of .5 qt/lb determine sparge quantity from a boil amount of 7.5 gal. Sometimes I only do a single sparge because I may end up with 20-21 qts of runoff and sparging 13 lbs with 4-5 qts makes the grain bed too hard to thoroughly liquify. I do my own crush with a Barley Crusher at the default setting and am obviously getting a good crush. I built Flyguys 10 gal MLT which give good temp control...Any one see anything I may be doing different?

Your water is probably good for brewing. My water is not. It is so hard and full of bicarbonates, without serious work efficiency stinks.

My water is from a well; good chemistry but a little hard. I've checked the mash ph and it is 5.5 each time. Starch test at the end of the sacch rest shows complete conversion...

Do you know the pH of your well water?

I had a test done this spring and the ph was neutral. Don't have the test results here but I think it was 7.2 maybe?

I only do single infusion mashes using 1 qt water per lb grain. I tried thinner mashes, and found a difference in the character of the beer, but no change in efficiency.
I used to get 73 - 75% efficiency until I started doing a mash out and paying attention to the sparge temperature. With the mash out, and heating the sparge water to 180F, my efficiency jumped to 84 - 85% (That's fly sparging. I drop 5% if I batch sparge.)
This isn't rocket science. Without the mash out, and sparging with 170F water, my sparge temp stayed in the mid to upper 150's. Now it's jumped to 165 - 170.