Descaling boilers?

Merve
Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
1000 Comments
edited September 2017 in Caravans #1

Hi everyone. Looking on Amazon this morning for various bits and pieces for the 'van, I came across a product called Kemdirect Tank- Pipe cleaner. It describes it as a cleaner and descaler and is safe for the cleaning of water tanks, pipes and caravan boilers. That got me thinking . The water where I live is very hard and carries plenty of limescale and I'm sure it is just as hard in some of the areas I have visited. Does anyone descale thier boilers? It's certainly worth thinking about as limescale build up can effect the efficiency of the boiler and they are extremely expensive to replace. Thoughts please. 

Comments

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited September 2017 #2

    I would seek manufacturer's recommendations

  • KjellNN
    KjellNN Club Member Posts: 8,671 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2017 #3

    I have done our Alde system once, using white wine vinegar.

    I believe Tuma also market a descaling product.

  • ocsid
    ocsid Forum Participant Posts: 1,395
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    edited September 2017 #4

    Is there any real point at all with the Alde system?

    I question it as here the fresh water is heated by the large surface area of the inhibited water cylinder, that itself does not typically get that hot.

    Quite unlike the Truma "boiler" that has the high temperature points of the electric elements and the gas heated surfaces, directly in contact with the fresh water.

    Some hardness will be thrown out from 55 C but a lot more at really hot points.

  • Nuggy
    Nuggy Forum Participant Posts: 512
    edited September 2017 #5

    If you tried a de-scaling product, you would never know how bad a condition the boiler was in the first place, or how effective your efforts have been.

    When I look inside my kettle it is pretty bad, but the kettle gets used a lot more than our water heater, that's because we don't often have an EHU.

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited September 2017 #6

    Thanks to all posters. Nuggy, that's definitely true- if you can't see inside the boiler, how would you know how much scale is there in the first place? I have rung Alde and spoken to their technical dep. They recommend www.cleantabs.co.uk for their systems if anyone is interested but doesn't seem to talk too much about descaling, but they did say that very little limescale buildup is evident on boilers they have inspected. Perhaps it's best left alone? 

  • Unknown
    Unknown Forum Participant
    edited September 2017 #7
    The user and all related content has been Deleted User
  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited September 2017 #8

    They probably provide a Safety data sheet , Coshh assessment, Risk assessment etc etc - either with the product or I wonder if it's one of these peelable ones behind the label DD. I'm sure they have one in place. 

  • HT11
    HT11 Forum Participant Posts: 100
    edited September 2017 #9

    I was recentlythinking of using white wine vinegar in our 2007

    Lunar (Truman water heater) for no reason other than its likely to need it after all these years. Do you think I still should and if so how much vinegar should I use ?

     

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