Limescale and magnets - are they worth buying?

debtdesperado

Thank you all - that is really helpful.

Thanks Mayflower - my boiler is a combi so I think I might have to look into getting a softener.

Otherwise I think a quarterly unscrew and rinse the taps with viacal/zero will probably be a the other option!

Thank you!

michaels

I looked in to this a while ago - wikipedia seemed to have some fairly authoritative things to say on the matter.

Ionkontrol

michaels wrote: »

wikipedia seemed to have some fairly authoritative things to say on the matter.

The same wikipedia that ANYONE can modify the entries. Hmmmm.

Mayflower10cat

debtdesperado wrote: »

Thanks Mayflower - my boiler is a combi so I think I might have to look into getting a softener.
Thank you!

You're welcome! We'd not long been here & the combi suddenly died - tiny amount of mucky looking hot water coming out. Boilerman discovered it was the heat exchanger/heat exchange plate (Sp??) totally furred up inside with scale. It's a vital bit of a combi and wasn't a cheap repair, about £300. Apparently the all important 'in-line conditioner' cartridge hadn't been replaced since the boiler was installed four years previously..................:eek: Annoyingly the repair was about half the cost of installing a water softener. So from bitter experience , please as a minimum install the 'inline conditioner' I mentioned, whilst you save up for a softener.

ritesh

Have you thought water softeners that do not require electricity such as kinetico 2020c?

squeakyclean226

We've had dreadful limescale problem in the past. I've been very sceptical about 'devices' that claim to soften the water without using salt, but in the efforts of being 'eco-friendly' I thought I'd spend a bit of time (and money) investigating. Having tried the magnets previously with absolutely NO effect I plumped for a Hydropath 'HS38' that gets attached to a cold water inlet pipe and uses electricity to somehow stop the scale sticking to the pipes. I can't claim I properly understand how it works, despite being show a lengthy expalination! However I've had it installed for about 4 months now and the limescale problem does seem to be getting better actually. I've just noticed that my taps and shower heads don't need a weekly soak in vinegar to sort them out. Hopefully it's doing the same to the pipes and heating elements in my appliances.

Anyway, if you wanted to give it a try I know you said you can't have electics in the bathroom, but mine is fitted on the pipe where the cold water comes into the house - maybe that's another option for you? Good luck anyway, I know what a pain it can be!

alanobrien

These magnets have been used in Koi pools in japan for years to help break down algea. whether they have a significant effect on potable water is another thing altogether and I wouldnt believe to much of whats written in Wikipedia, its opinion rather than verifiable fact.

rrf494g

The magnets don't claim to remove the limescale! They claim that immediately after flowing passed the magnets, the limescale (which is dissoved in the water) is less likely to deposit on the metal pipes, and more likely to flow straight through the appliance. I bought a dish washer once that had such a device fitted to the water inlet pipe, so the manufacturer thought it was worth the extra. The electric versions simply use electro-magnets instead of permanent magnets. Do they work? There is some evidence that since magnetism and electricity are two sides of one "effect" (remember o level physics?) - that the dissolved limescale (which is an electrical charged ion) may be electrically discouraged from combining with other oppositely charged ions and causing scale build up - BUT - in very hard water areas the effect, in my view, would be swamped by the mass of scale that is coming through the system.

Imp

I fitted one of these to the feed to my combi boiler. It seemed to make a difference.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/68371/Plumbing/Boilers-and-Accs/Polyphosphate-Combi-Care-Scale-Inhibitor

NicolaL_2

I know, I know, I know. The science behind these magnet devices is complete hooey and the companies behind them sold snake oil in the Wild West.

But, and it is a very big but, we've had one of the electro-magnetic devices for twenty years and it has made a huge difference. Before its installation we needed to descale kettles regularly. The same applied to the heat exchanger on the gas boiler.

So for us it does work. It doesn't soften the water but it does prevent the build-up of calcium deposits.