Had builders in doing bits and we asked the plumber to flush a radiator as it was cold in a significant part of it.

He mentioned that we could fit a magnetic filter to the system as it would help reduce the problem occurring again. It would be “about £100”.

So anyone know anything about them, are they worth it? Never had a house with one before.

It also occurred to me that there should be no corrosion products going round the system if we use a corrosion inhibitor. Is that easy enough to do yourself? How do you get it into a sealed combi system?

I thought those magnetic water filters were total snake oil?

I’ve always been sceptical myself.

Seem I’m not the only one and its not exactly proven.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_water_treatment

Magnetic water treatment (also known as anti-scale magnetic treatment or AMT) is a controversial method of supposedly reducing the effects of hard water by passing it through a magnetic field, as a non-chemical alternative to water softening. Scientific studies into the efficacy the treatment have had mixed results, though several studies have produced significant effects and proposed possible mechanisms for the observed decrease in water scale.[1][2][3][4] Some commentators regard the treatment as unproven and unscientific.[5]
Magnetic treatments may be cheap and chemical-free, but there is little firm evidence of their effectiveness in domestic situations. Effective treatment has mainly been observed in industrial situations where there is constant cycling of water through the device.[3] The treatment only claims to alter the effective hardness of water; no solutes (such as calcium or magnesium) are removed from the water by the process.[6][1]

I thought those magnetic water filters were total snake oil?

Depends what you’re filtering. They’re superb on ch water full of bits of magnetic shite.

Gents, you’re missing the point, it’s not to soften the water. It’s to catch bits of corroded radiator.

Paulsoxo has it, its not for domestic drinkining water, its for ch systems which have steel or iron rads. They corrode, and the product of that corrosion blocks the chlorifier in the boiler. Magnet filter works wonders and is easy to clean. 100 sounds right.

Drain some water off the system into a jar. It will probably be black. This is corrosion by product from inside the radiators. Corrosion inhibitor will reduce its formation but not prevent 100%. If you stick a magnet in the jar you will see what a magnetic filter would do. You do need to clean the filter periodically (if they whole system is dirty to start with you might want to do this frequently). Some are easier to clean than others.

£100 is about right for the parts if its fitted that is a very fair price. Whether it is worth it is up to you. Without it it could be 5 yrs before you need to do any more remedial maintainence? Surprised he’s not tried to flog you a full “power flush” at the same time – that will be more like a day’s labour on a reasonable sized system.

Magnetic filters on drinking water are snake oil. Magnetic filters are essentially standard on new boiler installs as the newer boilers are supposedly more sensitive to crap.

They work wonders on older systems. As long as its a Magnaclean, anything else is pish.

Powerflush would make it even betterer but that would be about £400 and you’d have them in your house all day.

Meh, they’ve been here for 4 weeks doing a loft, new bathroom, insulating, plastering, building cupboards, joinerinering etc. etc.

Will consider it, he still has a few radiators to fit if the courier can get them here without damaging them this time.

Magnaclean work well. Clean them out once a year when getting your boiler serviced. You’ll be surprised by how much shit it picks up

yeah we have to fit them on all new boilers and they do work very well, along with a full flush and inhibiter i think they are worth it especially for 100 quid, keeps your system healthy

100 quids a bargain they cost 83 trade. i use the fernox version ( they are easier to service) the amount of muck they pull out ( even if inhibitor is in system) is remarkable.

most councils and housing associations now insist on them not only do they stop the crud from circulating and laying at the bottom of rads but in doing so they protect the pump ( pumps are about to become VERY expensive as they switch from being simple electric motors to trick bits of self modulation coutesy of our friends in brussels) and the secondary or plate heat exchanger..

whats not to like about something that just sits there, cant break and costs nothing to run…

A mate of mine showed me the contents of his Magnaclean a while back. He had a good handful of tiny swarfy and rusty gunk out of it, so imo yes and that’s a good price too

I fitted one of these to my system shortly afterwards, I had a bit of an air problem too and this did both.

It’s been in 6-7 months now, might give it flush over the weekend see what comes out

Fitted a manga lean to the system in the last house, easy as undoing a cap to clean out and just needs a bit of a bleed once it’s been done.
I was sceptical but in the first couple of weeks it pulled out a (non standardised unit) load of gunk. Then left it and checked it every six months or so, it got less and less gunk every time. To me suggesting it was working.
I’d fit one.

Yes they work, but they dont prevent your radiators from clogging up that much more, what they do do, is protect your expensive boiler from being clogged with sh1te and going bang, and (from what I hear) potentially invalidating a new boilers warranty – Maybe that’s what my installer told me!

Ive got one of these Magnaclean filters on my boiler, and as mentioned, the black crud they catch is quite surprising.

I was always told one of these and the correct inhibitor chemicals keep things running smoothly and minimise the clog.

They work wonders on older systems. As long as its a Magnaclean, anything else is pish.

Yes, we had a Magnaclean installed with our new boiler. Does exactly what it says on the tin. They fit a tap either side of it, you turn those off, unscrew it, clean all the crap of the magnet and screw it back in again.
As has been mentioned, they really are a bit of a no brainier IMO. They work and cost nothing to run once installed.

I have a magnaclean on my system and apart from a valve not closing and the worry of the plastic pot possibly breaking with the heat of the heating, I am yet to clean it out, so cant question what it has taken out the system. We had it put in when the new boiler went in and the system was flushed. Seems easy to service with the spanner provided. I wont do it until the heating season is off, incase I do break it.