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For me to put an LED into the circuit do I need a resistor and if so at what valves
Magnetic Water softener
- Thread starter AquaHydroChem
- Start date
The current through the LED will need to be limited to the rated current of the diode,
Yes this is normally achieved with a resistor in series with the LED
R = V / I where R is resistance in ohms, I is current in amps and V is volts. V equal the supply voltage minus the forward voltage of the LED Vf at the current selected.
Yes this is normally achieved with a resistor in series with the LED
R = V / I where R is resistance in ohms, I is current in amps and V is volts. V equal the supply voltage minus the forward voltage of the LED Vf at the current selected.
- It says 4.7µF!
- Before the photo was posted you were told it was almost certainly a 4.7µF capacitor
That's not a 0, its a - sign, telling you which is the negative lead.
Are you saying that you connected a 12V battery charger directly across an LED?
you may be saddened to hear that magnetic water conditioners are useless. Some people think they work, perhaps in the way that some people think you can cure rheumatism by wearing a copper bracelet or ward off colds by wearing garlic round your neck.
chuck it in the bin.
If you actually want a water softener, start saving up for an Ion Exchange resin softener (the sort of thing Permutit make, where you put in a sack of salt every couple of months to regenerate the resin). I live in a very hard water area and find mine fantastic. Towels, hair and skin wash softer, no scale round the bath or WC or in the tanks and cisterns, glass washes clear without lime watermarks, very little soap or washing powder required.
If you want to prevent scale in your boiler or washing machine, I hear the Polyphosphate dosing cartridges work OK, you put new crystals/balls in them at intervals as they slowly dissolve in the water. I do not have experience of these.
chuck it in the bin.
If you actually want a water softener, start saving up for an Ion Exchange resin softener (the sort of thing Permutit make, where you put in a sack of salt every couple of months to regenerate the resin). I live in a very hard water area and find mine fantastic. Towels, hair and skin wash softer, no scale round the bath or WC or in the tanks and cisterns, glass washes clear without lime watermarks, very little soap or washing powder required.
If you want to prevent scale in your boiler or washing machine, I hear the Polyphosphate dosing cartridges work OK, you put new crystals/balls in them at intervals as they slowly dissolve in the water. I do not have experience of these.
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I'll tell you only if you promise not to lath
I connected 2X 2K resistors in parallel to the LED and it works fine
Put a diode in place before the circuit board as it was blowing fuses before
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I think they are just as good as each other but could not find one
Polyphosphate additives do work - however in the case of washing machines are expensive and useless.
That Calgon advert where the bloke claims yet another washing machine damaged by scale - all lies.
Even if the element does fail, for most machines its less than £20 for a new element.
Calgon tablets - £5 for a box of 15, use one a day = £120 per year literally washed away. In 2 or 3 years you've paid for a new machine already.
Electronic and magnetic devices - all snake oil. No manufacturer or vendor of them has any real evidence that they work, or even a proper scientific explanation of how they work.
That Calgon advert where the bloke claims yet another washing machine damaged by scale - all lies.
Even if the element does fail, for most machines its less than £20 for a new element.
Calgon tablets - £5 for a box of 15, use one a day = £120 per year literally washed away. In 2 or 3 years you've paid for a new machine already.
Electronic and magnetic devices - all snake oil. No manufacturer or vendor of them has any real evidence that they work, or even a proper scientific explanation of how they work.
I see an opportunity here for a new Russ Andrews product!
A special audio-grade magnetic water softener, with silver-plated cryogenically treated OFC cables.
You fit it to the washing machine feed, and then when you wash the curtains in your listening room you get a lower noise floor, better sound staging, clearer vocals and tighter bass.
A special audio-grade magnetic water softener, with silver-plated cryogenically treated OFC cables.
You fit it to the washing machine feed, and then when you wash the curtains in your listening room you get a lower noise floor, better sound staging, clearer vocals and tighter bass.
But what about hard rock music fanatics ?
They can buy the Russ Andrews rhodium plated cryogenically treated OFC chain mail curtains.
Only £499/m.
Only £499/m.
Your circuit board is an oscillator. You have two transistors in there, probably bipolar, connected in a standard astable configuration commonly known as a multivibrator. I can't tell you what the frequency is because there are no visible markings on the two capacitors in the centre.
If it still works, it generates a square wave which then feeds your coil through a 680 ohm resistor. The resulting magnetic field might just be enough to pick up a paper clip.
The LED is only there to tell you that the thing has power. It plays no part in generating the square wave.
Does it still oscillate? If the frequency is within audible range, you could try putting a speaker in place of the external coil. If it isn't, you'll need an oscilloscope. Whether it oscillates or not, the thing is a piece of junk. Sad but true.
If it still works, it generates a square wave which then feeds your coil through a 680 ohm resistor. The resulting magnetic field might just be enough to pick up a paper clip.
The LED is only there to tell you that the thing has power. It plays no part in generating the square wave.Does it still oscillate? If the frequency is within audible range, you could try putting a speaker in place of the external coil. If it isn't, you'll need an oscilloscope. Whether it oscillates or not, the thing is a piece of junk. Sad but true.
Passing the water through a magnetic field may have some effect.
It is un-likely to reduce the hardness but there is a belief that there is an effect on the way lime scale is formed when the water is heated.
A friend has a home made "softener" made using the magnets taken from an old computor floppy drive placed either side of a length of copper pipe. The pipe has been slightly flattened to create turbulance in the water as it passes through the magnetic field. He says since fitting it that there is far less lime scale deposited in his kettle. One assumes the limescale is instead fine particles and so goes into the tea or what ever the hot water is used for.
It is un-likely to reduce the hardness but there is a belief that there is an effect on the way lime scale is formed when the water is heated.
A friend has a home made "softener" made using the magnets taken from an old computor floppy drive placed either side of a length of copper pipe. The pipe has been slightly flattened to create turbulance in the water as it passes through the magnetic field. He says since fitting it that there is far less lime scale deposited in his kettle. One assumes the limescale is instead fine particles and so goes into the tea or what ever the hot water is used for.
i think that the theory is that the magnet causes the "limescale" atoms to stick together into clumps which make it easier for filters to stop them etc..
There's some plausible looking stuff about magnets and calcium carbonate (aka limescale) precipitation here:
http://ulisse.sissa.it/chiediAUlisse/domanda/2005/Ucau050404d002
Some of it is in Italian so I can't be sure whether it's genuine scientific data or just adverts.
You decide. 
If you believe it then bernardgreen would appear to be on the right track --
Unfortunately for AquaHydroChem, the magnetic field strength needed to affect the crystal structure of the limescale is around half a Tesla, which is a lot. It's certainly more than you'll ever get from that piddling little oscillator. To put things in perspective, the field strength inside an MRI scanner is 1.5 Teslas.
http://ulisse.sissa.it/chiediAUlisse/domanda/2005/Ucau050404d002
Some of it is in Italian so I can't be sure whether it's genuine scientific data or just adverts.
You decide. If you believe it then bernardgreen would appear to be on the right track --Unfortunately for AquaHydroChem, the magnetic field strength needed to affect the crystal structure of the limescale is around half a Tesla, which is a lot. It's certainly more than you'll ever get from that piddling little oscillator.
To put things in perspective, the field strength inside an MRI scanner is 1.5 Teslas.
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