Note: some test kit gives a precision of 20ppm ( each drop is worth 20ppm) it is not a real problem. It can be easily solved by using twice the amount of water and then each drop is worth 10 ppm; The test kit I have (NUTRAFIN brand by Hagen http://www.hagen.com/canada/english/aqu ... 8300010101) recommends using 5ml of water in the test tube and each drop would represent 20 ppm of hardness, if you use 10 ml of water in the tube each drop then each drop would represent 10 ppm.
Now the reason I mention this is that recently, when the steam boiler was getting hot, I could hear some sounds similar to a kettle when there is scaling. There was not a lot of sounds but it was definitely not there before. The test strips I had showed hardness not even at 50 ppm so it was difficult to conclude. Long story short, a friend of my wife remembered me the lack of precision of these test strips when testing the pool and that I prefered a test kit with drops for the pool. Since she has these huge aquarium she told me about these test and how much better they where than test strips. That triggered to go back to the Insanely Long Water FAQ http://www.big-rick.com/coffee/waterfaq.html where I found the same info.
Testing with the kit indicated
GH=80ppm !!! .The information found in the FAQ confirmed what Chris had told me, which is to keep Hardness (GH) under 50 ppm.
Yesterday I recharged my softener cartridge (next post http://www.rimpo.org/wforum/viewtopic.php?p=1736#1736 ) and after I had no hardness showing at all.
My recommendation get a precise test kit and monitor hardness adequately. I will probably test it every two months until it gets to 40 and then monthly.
rgds, Pat
