I know this was discussed a few years ago. Canadian Tire, a Canadian iconic hardware/department store is now selling a ‘magnetic water conditioner”. It is supposed to cause minerals in hard water to percipitate out of solution thereby ‘softening’ the water. A few years ago many of us dissmissed this as a scam, so I am surprised to see CTC selling them. Does this system now work? Any experience out there with these devices?
An ex-boat builder treading water!
Replies
Totally bogus.
Bob, for just 3 easy monthly payments of $49.95, I can send you a water softening pebble.
This pebble comes from the most pristine of northwest mountain countryside.
Just drop it in your expansion tank for it to work.
It will nag every drop of water that passes by. Cajoling it to be more like our natural clean mountain water.
I guarantee the same results or better than with that magnet.
If you decide to take me up on this offer, please send the first month's payment plus $20.00 shipping and handling, and I will ship your very own Mount Index pebble right out to you, immediately.
BTW, if this magnet "precipitates out" the minerals, where do those minerals go ? Don't they just go along for the ride ? The same as, well golly, the same as when they weren't precipitated out ???
Are we there yet ?
Have you updated your forum profile lately? Please Do!
Utter nonsense... the mineral content of the water has nothing to do with (or is influenced by) any magnetic properties. Just like the absurd magnetic carburetor or air swirl voodoo gas saving hokum.
Other than that, I'm sure it works great...
Gosh Luka it sounds like a deal!! I was expecting a, "But wait if you order now you will also receive ####sedimentary rock from Mount whatever suitable for smoothing drywall mud to an otherwise unachievable slicknesss."Yeah I know its dubious, I am just surprised that Canadian Tire Corp is flogging them.Thanks for the response.An ex-boat builder treading water!
I was impressed by a set of snow tires I got at Canadian Tires while coming up the Alcan one year. Cheap, effective, decent ride on dry pavement. Studded tires at Costco or the local tire didn't do as well. Nothing did till I started getting Nokian Hakaplita 1 for winter driving.
But maybe there is a reason why they call it Canadian TIRE and not Canadian WATER TREATMENT STORE.
Something all us chemical engineers learn, something that is obviously true, and yet solves a multitude of technical questions when applied is:
Rate in - rate out = rate of accumulation. Either the magnet doohicky passes all materials through it (which is the case) or it accumulates them. If it accumulates them, it will quick clog the pipe. So you are actually hoping it DOESN'T work.
Yes, large chunks of iron and steel are magnetic. Ions dissolved in solution are not magnetic (in the sense that magnetic can pull from solution). Doesn't happen.David Thomas Overlooking Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska
Finally, after 2+ years of daily studying this forum, I can actually contribute something.
Over they years in my company, I have conducted four separate very detailed laboratory studies of magnetic and electrostatic de-scaling devices. The last one claimed that it would eliminate scale, lower the TDS (total dissolved solids) of the water, and kill any bacteria in the water too.
In fact, these devices did nothing quantifiable to the water and they certainly did not do what was claimed by their manufacturer.
Scale formed in water pipes is normally carbonate-based usually calcium carbonate and/or sometimes magnesium carbonate plus maybe even some iron carbonate if steel is used somewhere in the system. Carbonates are not too bad because they can be removed fairly easily should it become necessary. Sometimes however, sulfates such as calcium sulfate can form and these are much more difficult to remove.
However, having just said that these devices do not work, before scale is formed, these species (calcium, magnesium, iron, carbonate) flow in the water as dissolved charged ions, for example calcium ion dissolved in water has a positive charge of 2. Whenever a charged species moves in a magnetic field, created either by a fixed magnet or an electric field, some energy is transferred into the charged species. So the story goes, if you put a magnetic device around your water pipe, as the water flows by the magnet and its magnetic field, energy will be transferred into the charged ions like calcium and that this "energized" calcium ion will either not form scale at all, or it will form in a different crystalline structure that does not adhere to the walls of the pipe.
The energy transfer part is true, but it is very small, and in our testing we never found anything beneficial from this small amount of energy or from these devices - nothing.
You have to be careful though, because the sales people for these things are really smooth and they will use just enough scientific lingo to make you believe, talking about aragonite versus calcite, etc. Pin them down though and they can't begin to explain anything scientific about their system.
Hope this helps.
GerrhaI was out of town so could not get back to you. Thanks for the response. The PR piece on the company's web site implies that the precipitated caco3 just stays in suspension and gets washed out into the kettle or water glass as a suspended solid. Ok so i thought that might work!i'll hold off on buying one.
An ex-boat builder treading water!