Well, its been a year since I got my VII. One of the best purchases I ever made. I have a carbon filter and water softener from Chris on it. My water was pretty soft to start with and it is still sitting less than 50 ppm after the filter. I do about 6 doubles per day on average. Any thoughts on when its time to change filters or descale?
Cheers
Ian
Filter Changes and DeScale
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Niko
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Niko
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woodchuck
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woodchuck
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JohnB
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Niko
I did a test once with a carbon block filter, left in a cartridge with very little use...
after about 2 months past it's recommended time - it literally fell apart slowly and the filter particles were ending up in the water (imagine this going through your precious boilers).
The softener cart builds up some of the worst nasties! This is a good reason the carbon filter follows the softener.
after about 2 months past it's recommended time - it literally fell apart slowly and the filter particles were ending up in the water (imagine this going through your precious boilers).
The softener cart builds up some of the worst nasties! This is a good reason the carbon filter follows the softener.
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JohnB
This is one reason I think 1 year is too long on the softener cartridge. With a normal water softening system there is a back flushing function which occurs every so many hours. This serves to regularly clean out the accumulations in the softener housing. With a cartridge everything stays in there until you change it. Considering that the cartridge can be purchased for under $10 I'd recommend a regular replacement.Niko wrote: The softener cart builds up some of the worst nasties! This is a good reason the carbon filter follows the softener.
Changing once per year (or more if your water is very hard) is probably a good idea.
From an earlier post of mine, here is the information on inexpensive cartridges:
I just ordered cartridges from
wateranywhere.com (the web dealer for Applied Membranes). I ordered the following:
HF-2510AC 2.5" x 9.75" 10 micron carbon $7.00
HF-2510soft 10" standard softening $8.00
For my order of 3 softening and 1 carbon shipping was $11.54 for a total with tax of $43.04; far, far less than ordering from Chris.
Also note that for folks with very hard water you can buy a 10" big blue filter holder that is 4" in diameter. Those softener cartridges have a capacity of something like 2100 grains instead of about 800 for the ones we got from Chris.
I have also been using the following test strips that have a better color range than the strips that Chris sells:
I just received a shipment of Hach Sofchek Water Hardness Test Strips.
The colors are more distinct than the strips that Chris sells and they are comparable in cost, or less expensive. I purchased 50 individually packaged strips for $20, but a bottle of 50 strips is only $8.99 if you are willing to accept the "bulk" packaging.
I purchased these from the following:
http://www.diywatertesting.com/sofchekx3.html
Good luck,
Mark
From an earlier post of mine, here is the information on inexpensive cartridges:
I just ordered cartridges from
wateranywhere.com (the web dealer for Applied Membranes). I ordered the following:
HF-2510AC 2.5" x 9.75" 10 micron carbon $7.00
HF-2510soft 10" standard softening $8.00
For my order of 3 softening and 1 carbon shipping was $11.54 for a total with tax of $43.04; far, far less than ordering from Chris.
Also note that for folks with very hard water you can buy a 10" big blue filter holder that is 4" in diameter. Those softener cartridges have a capacity of something like 2100 grains instead of about 800 for the ones we got from Chris.
I have also been using the following test strips that have a better color range than the strips that Chris sells:
I just received a shipment of Hach Sofchek Water Hardness Test Strips.
The colors are more distinct than the strips that Chris sells and they are comparable in cost, or less expensive. I purchased 50 individually packaged strips for $20, but a bottle of 50 strips is only $8.99 if you are willing to accept the "bulk" packaging.
I purchased these from the following:
http://www.diywatertesting.com/sofchekx3.html
Good luck,
Mark
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bluesman13
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JohnB
I purchased a water hardness test kit from the local fish/pet supply store. These use the liquid drops & are supposed to be much more accurate then the strips. Using the CC strips it said my water had 15g/250ppm hardness but the liquid showed only 7g/120ppm. Since I've had little or no trouble with suds & deposits over the years I'm much more inclined to believe the accuracy of the liquid drops.
Bluesman13 - Test the water coming out of your tap for hardness & see what you get. 3g/50PPM is ideally the most you want to see going into the machine if you want to avoid descaleing in the future.
Bluesman13 - Test the water coming out of your tap for hardness & see what you get. 3g/50PPM is ideally the most you want to see going into the machine if you want to avoid descaleing in the future.
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jmcphail
What is the recommended method to descale the steam and group boilers?
I found a post here where the OP was directed to pour a vinegar solution through an opening in the steam boiler using a funnel; is that also the method for the group boiler?
I've read a lot on the 'net about descaling, and there are several methods that involve disconnecting the normal water supply and sucking in the descale solution ( usually a citric acid solution ) through the water intake using the pump after disabling the boiler fill sensor ( disabling the boiler fill sensor allows the boiler to overfill past the scale line ). Would that method also work?
I found a post here where the OP was directed to pour a vinegar solution through an opening in the steam boiler using a funnel; is that also the method for the group boiler?
I've read a lot on the 'net about descaling, and there are several methods that involve disconnecting the normal water supply and sucking in the descale solution ( usually a citric acid solution ) through the water intake using the pump after disabling the boiler fill sensor ( disabling the boiler fill sensor allows the boiler to overfill past the scale line ). Would that method also work?
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jmcphail
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woodchuck