Your views

[Gray0689]

Any I have fitted never looked to see if any difference to be honest
And I think from the little response we don't really care either IMHO

 

[Derrick229]

I wouldnt say 4 pages is a 'little response'

It took that long to actually get a personal view

Gray0689

I guess you are one of the guys that fit and forget em, along with the customer

 

[Gray0689]

Why the big interest
There is company's spending who knows how much to develop these things so I'm guessing they must work to some extent

 

[eco_mark]

"I have seen boilers that have had em fitted, never seen any difference in the kettle"

Scale inhibitors don't stop scale forming, they just cause it to form a different crystaline structure ... one that is much less likely to stick to pipework. So you will still see it in the kettle, especially if you don't completely empty/fill each time.

Since fitting,my kettle scales up just as much,but the scale doesn't seem to stick to the bottom as much,so gets washed away.Is this what's supposed to happen,or should there be no scale at all?

Yep, that's exactly what should happen with those inline scale inhibitors. They don't remove existing limescale, or stop it forming, because they don't chemically alter the water (like a softener).

"Personally I cant see them working, what happens to anything these magnetic types catch or filter out?"

Limescale isn't iron based, so isn't magnetic, so won't be 'caught' by the magnetic kinds of inhibitor. Again, the magnetic ones claim they change the crystaline structure (ions *are* susceptible to magnetic fields) and are just an inhibitor - not a filter or a cure.

people have told they have to be changed on a regular basis (on the paper work, it says a life time, what ever that means)

I guess, as always, follow the manufacturers instructions Some say they need no maintenance, some say they have a lifetime of 5 years. On non-magnetic ones, lifetime will often depend on the amount of zinc in the inhibitor, for example, and how hard your water is. The magnetic ones will probably last forever though as the magnets aren't being 'used up' by creating the field.

What happens to any debris these things are supposed to remove ?

As you'll know now, they don't remove debris ... it isn't a filter.


And as for my personal view, yes - I believe they work. I live in a very hard-water area (East Anglia) and have seen scale build up on cold-water float valves in cisterns and F&E tanks. There is a tide-mark on the ball. Recently I went to a job involving a faulty float valve and thought that valve/ball must have only been a few years old because it was (visually at least) in very good condition. It turns out it was 15-20 years old, as old as the house, but then I noticed a scale inhibitor on the main cold feed which was also installed at the time the house was built. All other things being equal, I'd have expected this float valve to have lots of build up on it, and the ball to have a ring of scale around it. Anecdotal, yes.

 

[Derrick229]

eco_mark

Thanks for your personal view

 

[stevetheplumber]

im in a hard water area and havent seen a heat exchanger scaled up for years used to get it on old twin heat exchangers but not now we use the plate ones in most boilers

 

[stevetheplumber]

My personal view is that they do work. I base this on the fact that the few I have removed have been caked up internally so they are catching something?

since they work be changing the electrical atraction of the disolved hardness so its not deposited,id say that proves they dont work

 

[armourer]

I think we are talking about a different sort. The one I was on about does not plug in and is just a tube cut inline with a filter system in the tube.
As I said they appear to work.
Although like I said unless they are changed every 6 months they probably cause more problems than they solve.

 

[stevetheplumber]

i wasnt aware you could remove hardnes from water with a filter i was mostly refering to the magnetic ones which change the electrical atrration of the molecules so they dont deposit only a full water softner removes the hardness

 

[JayDee]

Okay, any manufacturers you can recommend ?

So, I fit one to the cold feed of a combi ? :redface:
Do I need to fit it to the hot tap ? (in the kitchen and the bathroom ?):redface:
The hot feed to the shower ? :redface:
The cold feed to the shower ?:redface:

On a combi system?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Simply because these electrolytic inhibitors only charge the molecules in the water for a short period of time, as the water flows through, the molecules get charged and stick to each other. Then, after 30 seconds or so, there is no electrolytic effect remaining. This is the reason why they are single appliance protection only.

These devices work by having two metals inside, usually copper and zinc, that forms an electric charge when there is water present. This charge causes the calcium carbonate molecules to cling to each other in a different chrysaline form that does not stick to plate HE's, tap nozzles etc.


As for protecting Kettles, this would be no use what so ever, as the protection is really time dependant. The kettle being filled from a tap with protection would only have elecrolytically(is this a real word?) charged water for about 30 or 40 seconds. It may have some effect over a couple of minutes, but, I cannot see it being able to stop scale formation in kettles.

Any manufacturer's product will do. They are all essentially the same. Pay about 35 to 50 quid for a 15mm one. (At our house, the combi's electolytic device is doing a good job on keep the bathroom tap nozzles clear, but, the kitchen on the other side of the house has noticably more scale deposits on the sink tap.

 

[mike_s]

so which do people think are best for protecting combi's? inline electrolytic or magnetic scale reducers?
I was reccomended a magnetic in plumb center as it had a lifetime guarantee.
Which do the job best and how long do the electrolytics last?
I see some manufacturers, such as Fernox produce both types, and I'm not talking about magnacleans or heating sludge removers, I'm not sure how the magnetic inline scale reducers work.

 

[Derrick229]

Well since I started this post, I have been back and checked on the boiler I did put it on, all is fine, I have been back to another house that installed a boiler, I didnt install it on this oone, I cant see any differece in the heating side of the water, boith have the same PH readings
So my conclusion is, foit them if you want to give a customer aasurance, but dont lose sleep if you dont fit em