water descaler/softener??

[novascotia]

can anyone gove me any adivce on these please. I live in a hard water area and have seen the ones where you wrap a coil round the pipe and this supposedly descales your system.
I have been looking on the net and they seem to range on price from £90 to £400 but they sll look the same apart from manufacturer
many thanks in advance
also which is the best for prolonging the life of a combination boiler please the descaler or the softener

 

[croydoncorgi]

'Lime fighters' and similar clamp-on gadgets are NOT water softeners and do not claim to be. What they do is cause a TEMPORARY change in the hardness in the water so it's less likely to plate-out inside the boiler immediately downstream from the gadget. The effect only lasts a few minutes at most and will NOT make the water feel / behave / taste any different whern you use it.
I used to think that these gadgets were 'snake-oil' sold to gullible idiots. But when boiler manufacturers started insisting on them being fitted, I joined the idiots!

If you want soft water, get a softener which uses ion-exchange to actually change the chemicals in the water (from calcium to sodium, in fact).

 

[kevplumb]

get a combi mate

only thing that works up here and our water eats boilers alive

 

[oilman]

What they do is cause a TEMPORARY change in the hardness in the water so it's less likely to plate-out inside the boiler immediately downstream from the gadget. The effect only lasts a few minutes at most and will NOT make the water feel / behave / taste any different whern you use it.

I used to think that these gadgets were 'snake-oil' sold to gullible idiots. But when boiler manufacturers started insisting on them being fitted, I joined the idiots!

Listen to kevplumb, Combimates use silicon polyphosphate which has a known effect. Croydoncorgi's a nice chap and he has it correct with snake oil sold to the gullible. Shame, but it seems drinking such treated water turns you into an idiot.

WHERE DID THE BOILER MAKERS GET THE STUPID IDEA THESE THINGS WORK? (wonder what their endorsement fee is?)

 

[kevplumb]

loads mete i have to to argue with the customer if it dont work

i rest my case

 

[croydoncorgi]

OTOH, even if I only clean my teeth with water that's got Siliphos in it, what effect does it have on me???

Also, magentic anti-limescale gadgets may be like snakeoil in many rrespects but fact remains that I've NEVER come across a combi plate / plate heat exchanger with a limescale problem where a gadget had been fitted. However.... even with the hard water in London, scaled up 2ndary HXs are relatively uncommon. It's usually the primary side blocked up with oxide scale flakes from the rads!

 

[kevplumb]

john i accept that you agree with the man


i have to say spheres to you mate

in this respect
you know your stuff x you may be lacking in this respect
]

deefa #
previous post says it all