Does magnetic water conditioner work?

[ruff]

Scott W or anybody else.

1. Does the magnetic water conditioner work?
2. Anybody here uses it and and can tell us more about it?
3. Does it prevents scaling etc? If it does, why use a water softener?
4. When would you recommend using it?

http://interlinksupply.com/index.php?item_num=AT20


And while we're at it, does the electronic descaler work?
http://interlinksupply.com/index.php?item_num=AT21

 

[dgardner]

There is lots of contoversy on the subject of magnetic water conditioners. I personally have not come across any scientifically valid study that found them to work as advertised. Here is one study done by the Army Corp of engineers:

http://www.wbdg.org/ccb/ARMYCOE/PWTB/pwtb_420_49_34.pdf

If you don't feel like reading the entire document, here is their conclusion:

<dir><dir>5 CONCLUSIONS </dir></dir>The results of this study do not indicate any clear advantage for any of the three devices tested versus a control for the inhibition of mineral scale formation or the corrosion of copper. The test protocol was designed to simulate the method of production of hot water used in many larger institutional type settings that employ a shell and tube heat exchanger for the production of hot water. The findings do not support the claims of the manufacturers regarding the ability of their respective devices prevent mineral scale formation in hot potable water systems. The amount of mineral scale formed for the control versus device heat exchange tubes was relatively constant, and proved to be an effective insulator of heat transfer across the tube surface. The scale formed was found to be a type of calcite (calcium carbonate), and had the same crystalline structure for each heat exchange tube. There was no discernible effect on the crystalline structure of the scale formed by any of the tested devices.

Save your money..... (that's me - not the Corp....)

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

The company for which I was formerly employed sold a few hundred of them. Customers reported roughly 1/3 of the time and improvement in scale control, 1/3 reported no improvement, and 1/3 could not tell any difference. In consulting a former competitor that also sold them, their experience was similar. Both companies eventually stopped selling them as an unproven concept that held too high a potential for dissatisfied customers.

I have not seen any working form of water conditioner that does not employ a consumable component. If you are looking for something more compact than a traditional brine water softener, try looking at a Siliphos based unit. They are quite compact, but the trade-off is a treatment cost per gallon being higher than a brine type softener.

 

[Shane T]

I used one for years before I softened water available. It made a noticeable difference in how often I had to clean out the t-jet filters.

 

[John Olson]

It is NOT a water softner or conditioner. It removes nothing. What it does is sends a low magnetic current through the machine that is supposed to keep the minerals from attaching to the metal in the water system. it actually make the water harder that your putting down as ALL the minerals are now passing through and onto the customers carpet. Oh and it puts a nice hefty commission in the sales person pocket as the margins are huge on those magnetics an electronic descalers.

And NO we have never ever sold one.

 

[ruff]

I have not seen any working form of water conditioner that does not employ a consumable component. If you are looking for something more compact than a traditional brine water softener, try looking at a Siliphos based unit. They are quite compact, but the trade-off is a treatment cost per gallon being higher than a brine type softener.

Thanks Shawn.
Are they used in Carpet cleaning situations?
I've never heard about anybody using them in their vans, or seen them sold with truck mount units.

And in a sense since it uses phosphates, isn't running a cleaner (that has phosphates) in line, the same. Given that with the newer system (last step injection) it will not run through heat exchange or pump, thus defeating the 'benefit'.

 

[J Scott W]

I know several people that have been very happy with having them in their van, less descaling, less wear and tear on the plumbing. That being said, I was never convinced by any of the "science" I was shown to support these. No disagreement with anything from Dan, Shawn, or any of the posts above.

Many Interlink and Hydro-Force distributors offer them, but I would not invest that much in something unproven.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

Thanks Shawn.
Are they used in Carpet cleaning situations?
I've never heard about anybody using them in their vans, or seen them sold with truck mount units.

And in a sense since it uses phosphates, isn't running a cleaner (that has phosphates) in line, the same. Given that with the newer system (last step injection) it will not run through heat exchange or pump, thus defeating the 'benefit'.

Ofer,

I suspect this unit here is a Siliphos system. My only evidence is that when I pressed the owner for an answer here, when he used to post, he would not answer the question.

White Magic used to use a Siliphos unit on their Pro1200 with the high vacuum option. However they did not use it for the cleaning solution water, but in a low flow spray of water into the blower inlet jet to keep the blower cool. The conditioning unit was used to ensure the jet didn't clog when hard water was used.



EDIT: The link does not work, because MB has banned the use of the name of the company.