Scale Inhibitor Fitting

[ESplumber]

Hi All,Ive been asked to fit a inline electrolytic scale inhibitor by a mate.i know they are meant to be fitted after the stopcock for the property and before the system branches but the poles who did the renovation to the flat removed the old one and never fitted a new stopcock! and where the water comes into the property and what the guys before did with the pipework will make it a real pig to fit one and truth be told i can see too much potential for it going wrong.So my question is if i fit it to the feed going into cold water storage tank? and will it still be as effective?
Thanks!

[grahamep]

Electrolytic scale inhibtors are claimed to have an effect that 'does not rapidly dissipate' so can be used to treat water that will be stored in tanks.

[Kings]

Do these things work as well as they claim?

At least if you fit one to the tank supply then it should serve the tank and everything that comes out of it.

[ESplumber]

thats what I'm thinking,directly below the CWST he's got a solar heating HWSC so it should treat that.

[grahamep]

Originally Posted by Kings

Do these things work as well as they claim?

When I lived/worked in a hard water area I called one of the more reputable boiler manufacturers to ask about scale inhibitor requirements for combi boilers. Tech advice was that they thought there was no difference between magnetic/electronic/combimate and that any one was as good as another. The science for the magnetic ones is well proven but the effect is temporary. As for the claimed permanence of the electronic ones, one would assume that the manufacturers of the magnetic ones would have filed a complaint with trading standards if there was nothing to back up the claims.

[ste b]

This is a new one on me lol, yeah i only a learner, having read a little on these things, after reading your post about where to fit the scale inhibitor i have learned something new today,everywhere i read says it need to be fitted as close to the incoming mains supply before any tee offs, not my words i just saying what i read, is there no way you can fit it m8, if not just give it a try its not gona kill anyone is it, i dont think......lol,

cheer for the little lesson..........

[ESplumber]

wouldnt mind trying if it was just a customer but its a mate and the way the poles left the pipework where i would need to put the stopcock/scale inhibitor is a mess and i can see it all ending in tears!best not to s@!t on your own doorstep!

[grahamep]

Talked to a service engineer from one of the major boiler manufacturers this morning. Always good to learn something new. He said that the only scale reducer he has found to be effective is the aquadial unit. Apparently Which? or somesuch did one of their projects and were unable to determine whether or not the magnetic/electrolytic/RF units were or were not effective. They did not have enough evidence to commit either way.

[Mike Jackson]

We've fitted several different versions of scale reducers. The only ones that have caused problems were fernox quantomats. The owners would forget to top up the powder in the bowl. We had loads of calls for scaled water/water heat exchangers while we were fitting those. We've had no calls to boilers fitted with electrolytic or magnetic scale inhibitors.

Mike

[grahamep]

Well I hope I manage to share your experience Mike. Had one with a magnetic scale up recently and I am hoping it is an abberation as I have fitted loads of these things and don't want to face a corresponding number of disgruntled customers. One trusts that the fact there has been no serious challenge from trading standards is some indication that these things are at least partially effective.

Been thinking a bit more about this. Perhaps, Mike, both experiences are valid. You have stated elsewhere that you find a Baxi more tolerant on an old system than say a WB or a Vaillant. Perhaps their plate heat exchangers are also more tolerant. I have seen older combis with no anti-scale device that have never had a problem. As flow rates and the pressure to have a more immediate response at the point of use have both increased this in turn would lead to a finer matrix allowing a greater exchange area in a given space and a lower primary water volume.

So perhaps the real answer is that the type of anti-scale device you can get away with depends partly on the boiler you are using.

I would also like to point out that the hardness of water in Reading, which is where I spoke to the engineer, is more than three times that of Hastings.