Descale washing machine

I don't "put a tablet in every wash" as the oh-so-slightly patronising actor/plumber in the C**gon advert advises me to. I live in a hard water area. I'm worried about limescale though. The machine is a front-loading Zanussi, 2 years old.

Can I/should I use something like fernox DS3, diluted down and put into the machine and run a programme with it empty ? I wouldn't put the power directly in like a washing powder - will definately dilute it down first !

i have lived in a hard water area for 25 years and we are now on our 3rd washing machine. 1 hotpoint, 1 aeg and now a miele. I have replaced brushes, belts and switches but I have never ever ever had the slightest problem with the element. have i been lucky or is the limescale thing a marketing ploy for the tablets?

Yeah I'm not sure either. I thought most washing powders contained softeners. Would expect DS3 to be OK if you dilute it correctly. The indicator in it might stain the plastic tray if you put it in the powder dispenser, so you should try diluting it down, setting the machine on a normal cycle and adding the concentrated liquid once the powder has been diluted down.

After living for 46 years (old grumpy fart I'm called by the kids !!) in a hard water area, I have never known any washing machine / kettle/ dishwasher/ tap/ bath/ immersion heater pack up due to limescale. O.k. it might block your shower rose after a period (boil in vinegar water, you'll smell like you work in a chippy !!) and decrease your other appliances efficiency, but kill them ? nope

I have just had first hand experience with our 6 year old Bosch washing machine.

It started tripping the RCD from time to time, this became more and more regular until it eventually tripped 2 to 3 times per wash. The machine itself was superb, quiet, efficient and good controls. I had decided to buy a Meile washing machine, the new Bosch ones seem to be cheaper and not as good. Due to pressure of a mounting washing pile, 2 kids and grandma living with us and Meile unable to deliver one for 8 days I was pressured into looking further into the problem and I'm glad I did.

I disconnected the element and did a wash cycle all ran fine except the times were inaccurate and greatly extended. So the element was clearly the problem. Locating the element was more difficult, I tried all the normal parts suppliers and left online enquiries. By chance I went on the Bosch site and to my absolute amazement they had online diagrams of my machine and furthermore online ordering. I placed my order at 11pm on Tuesday night and at 08:00 on Thursday morning it was delivered, genuine Bosch heater £32.07 brilliant. The biggest problem was removing the old heater, it took about 10 minutes due to the limescale. I removed a good mug full of limescale through the heater aperture. I was concerned about the effects of the debris on pumps etc so I poured in descaler and left it fizzing for an hour or so and then rinsed it through pouring water into the drum and draining from the pump filter, the sludge that came out was frightening. New element in, wires connected, covers on and the job is complete, washing machine back to it's former glory.

One of the well known online spares company called today, they had found the part £107, I commented that that was expensive and the girl said "Genuine Bosch always is, it's quality" I now know different!
Well done Bosch - 11 out of 10 for price, efficiency and quality.

My worry now is to stop the limescale build up, my current plan is every month or so, mix up a couple of litres of descaler and pour it in the drum, after a couple of hours run a rinse cycle unless anyone has any better ideas.

Regards - John

Why not do as I did and instal a water softener it will look after all
your appliances and you will recoup the outlay in about a year.You
will find the results fantastic.I live ine one of the hardest water areas
in the country and limescale is a major problem.

What sort of cost is involved in both the unit and running? do you have to isolate softened water and drinking water supplies i.e. can you drink the softened water or not ? (sorry if thats a dumb question). What make / model did you use?

Thanks - John

I have one too (live on the chalk of the South Downs, water very hard).

You can drink the water, it tastes better and makes better tea and coffee. It contains marginally higher levels of sodium (I believe it is sodium bicarbonate like people take for indigestion) so is not recommended for people with high blood pressure heart disease, or babies. If you eat crisps or ketchup or burgers they contain a lot more.

It will cost you some hundreds of pounds to buy one, maybe even a thousand. Running will cost a few pounds a month in sacks of salt tablets or granules, but this will be more than saved in using less soap, washing powder, hair conditioner; fabric softener; descaler; new showers etc.

If you get one, go for one with an internal water meter (not a time clock) that automatically starts the refresh cycle dependent on volume of water that it has treated.

I don't know how to tell the difference between a good one and a bad one. Try to get a good guarantee. If you buy one from a local retailer see how many hundreds extra he charges you than your local builders merchant does. Weigh this against the possibility that he will provide servicing if it goes wrong, and compare this to the cost of buying a new one after ten years instead.

Find a local supplier who will deliver sacks of salt to your door every few months as it is a bit tedious carrying them home from the DIY shed.

You can easily fit one yourself, close to the rising main with access to a drain, and where you can easily get at it to tip sacks of salt in. It is as easy as plumbing in a washing machine (and very similar to do).

If you have a combi I understand the guarantee will not be upheld if you feed it from a softener; I think they are afraid it might go wrong and leak salt into the water (I have never known it happen)

Plumbing nor problem and I have a good space in my boiler cupboard with reasonable access to the rising main so I'll probably research this option a little more.

Thanks for the help - John

Sorry been away for the weekend. Nice reply from JohnD. Just to add
that not everyone enjoys the taste of softened water and so it is
advisable to instal a hard water tap which can be branched off before
the water softener intake. My dogs prefer the hard water!!
My outlay was £450 for the softener which was from a local manufacturer,
£38 for 150Kg of salt (roughly a years supply) and £12 for a Branch Connector which fits into the pipework after the riser. As John said the
plumbing is quite straight forward providing the pipework is reasonably
accessible and plumbing not being my thing I found it rather easy to do.
Believe me you will never regret having one.