Water problems (hard deposits) HELP NEEDED

Unfortunately, the company we bought the North Star unit from closed down and the premises are now an Indian restaurant!!

However, a search on the web should find a supplier OK

Good luck.

Ah yes, well a hot phal curry should work the same way.

I had a new boiler fitted about two years ago, it went and the element was thick with scaley deposit, it was rock hard.

I was told that I would benefit from a anti calcium system fitted to the pipes(main water inlet) unfortunable like all new properties built in spain the water pipes are behind the tiled wall. I was told that the cost of fitting it was 650 euros, I declined as I thought this too expensive,espcially when you can by a scale watcher for about fifty pounds in the uk. Surely it wouldnt therefore cost another 600 euros to get to the pipes.

smiffy...

Is there not a pipe-break where the boiler is connected?

Water softener kits are availble from most decent ferretarias or places like AKI or Brico.

Intercept the pipe where it is connected to the boiler and fit the filter kit in line using flexy hoses...

fb

I dont know what a pipe break is? there are two flexi metal hoses fitted to two pipes coming out the wall below the boiler,I was told by the man who came to look at it that the inlet pipe was nearer the floor.there is another tap near the floor and the main inlet pipe is behind that in the tiled wall

You can buy Salfumante ( agua fuerte ) which is dilute hydrochloric acid @ 95c for 5 litres in mercadona or any ferreteria. pour some of this down , not much say 1/2 litre & leave for an hour . It will come up gleaming !

pour it where, The Boiler is sealed I want a system that goes through the whole water system

Hi Smiffy, think we (you & I ... & MANY others) have no way of doing what we do in the UK (we have a ScaleWatcher on our rising main there to protect the WHOLE system) as the pipes aren't accessible in our Spanish homes, as you have said. Foxbat was suggesting as you cannot protect the whole system at least you should be able to protect the boiler. We have accessible flexi-pipes entering the boiler.

More: Smiffy...

Sorry...Lost the plot!

Yes thats exactly what I was suggesting!

Pipebreak...my laymans definition of any point where the pipe work changes from one type to another via an accessible union. eg where it changes from fixed to flexi. Can't think of any good reason why you shouldnt install a water conditioner in the inlet line to your boiler at this point.

Just a thought...You could also try one of the electronic ones with the coil wrapped around the inlet flexi-pipe.

fb

FB, I'm following 'the plot', I fully understand what you are saying. Hubby & I also have been through all ideas ourselves.

Gus;

quote...You can buy Salfumante ( agua fuerte ) which is dilute hydrochloric acid @ 95c for 5 litres in mercadona or any ferreteria. pour some of this down , not much say 1/2 litre & leave for an hour . It will come up gleaming !...unquote

Agua Fuerte in this context is drain cleaner....and shouldn't be used anywhere other than drains, certainly not for water conditioning...

More; think Smiffy discovered the best answer to his problems back in this thread on 4th April 2008!

fb

FB, a LOT can happen in TWO YEARS though!  Like your boiler giving up on life for one!

Our boiler is now over 5 yrs old, neighbours bought at same time, theirs only lasted 3 with much less use, wonder if lack of usage makes a difference?

I've got recommendations of where to buy a new one locally & who will fit it without breaking the bank, not too much we can do other than be prepared for boiler failure.  Bound to occur in mid winter, can cope better in summer.

For my area seems Garcia is well priced plus they only charge 35€ to replace & remove kna**ered old one & general advice on other forum I check out has plumbers posting who commented they wouldn't do it for 354.

.

More...quote...'FB, a LOT can happen in TWO YEARS though!  Like your boiler giving up on life for one!

Yep...Our first boiler lasted two years; The replacement is the same as the original a thermostatically controlled 1500W 80 litre vertically mounted unit, purchased from Bricodepot. We have no water conditioning system so it just got totally scaled up inside. I'm expecting to have to replace the 'new' one again sometime in the next year or so if the life of the item is the same as the first.

With the help of a friend from the village, I did the replacement myself.

Ours is switched on 24 / 7 / 365 and the thermostat is set quite high, the idea being that we use less and the required temperature adjustment is via mixer taps on the sinks and the bath / shower. Since its just the two of us we know just where to set the mixer taps for comfortable use.

We have found this to be the most economical way of heating the water rather than having the boiler on a timer and using a lower thermostat setting.

Incidentally, for washing machines and dishwashers out here one should always use Calgon. Washing machines purchased here are all cold fill only and so the heater element does take a bashing from the hard water.

Dishwashers use incredibly hot water and even though the majority are hot / cold fill again the heater element takes a lot of punishment.

fb

Thank you all for your suggestions I shall take on board all you have said.

My replacement boiler only cost 180e  to replace which included fitting so I dont think that was too bad.

I always check what I post but missed this

For my area seems Garcia is well priced plus they only charge 35€ to replace & remove kna**ered old one & general advice on other forum I check out has plumbers posting who commented they wouldn't do it for 354. I didn't keep my finger on the right key long enough, it WAS meant to be 35€, of course!

Only two of us here. We have the boiler on the highest setting but for only 1 hr daily 7 -8am, this gives us two showers in this weather plus one washing up daily. We haven't a dishwasher, we do it by hand.

Smiffy, where & when did you buy your replacement boiler from & what size is it please, 80L or 100L?

It is 80ltrs bought from Garo Distributions Torrevieja fitted by a spanish man whos details were given to me by the sales office on the Urbanisation 27/4/2010

You can protect the entire water system, and it doesn't have to cost the earth.

Have a look at my post in Limescale Problems thread.

The system I used is inexpensive and protects the Water Boiler, Washing Machine, Dishwasher and gives us drinking water from the kitchen.

I will take some pictures later and will post them so you can see how we got it done, and how it works.

TechNoApe

Look forward to seeing your photographs.

Jojan

I bought a scale wizard from the uk it only cost 49 pound.Knocked a tile out of the wall and got to the inlet pipe cleaned the pipe with wire wool and attached the scalewizard  leads to the pipe and then connected it to the electric point.So easy to fit I was amazed.Then I replaced the smashed tile with a hardboard and painted it same colour as the tile I dont get so much scale around the taps now so it must be working. Better than paying 650 euros that I was quoted by a spanish man