Stuff to remove cal.

[Lyric]

In the UK we seem to recall some glop that you put in the kettle and boiled to remove cal. Here I am struggling to locate such a product.
I can easily and readily find the stuff to soak things in but this doesn't do it.

Does such a product exist ? What should I look for ?

[El Cid]

Vinegar works well.

Sid

[Miro]

It's called vinagre! Works just as well as any commercial product - just cover the element and add about the same amount of water, then boil.

As a side note, I just had (literally) a bucket load of cal removed from our electric hot water tank and element, 8 years worth to be precise. Amazing how much builds up. The difference in pressure is incredible, and I imagine we'll be saving quite a bit of 'leccy since the element was a good few inches thick with it. Paid €65 to a local German plumber who's glad of any work he can get lately. I reckon that's saved a couple of hundred at least that it would have cost to replace the tank soon. Well worth doing.

[crazyred]

They sell white vinegar in the cleaning section in Mercadona. I use it for lots of things

[chrissiehope]

I use apple cider vinegar to good effect

A word of warning re the kettle tho' - it can boil astonishingly high, so be careful

We've got one of those electric cabling thingys on our water system just before the pump, which reduces the cal build up

[Footprint]

Carrefour sell a similar product to Oust. Can't remember what it is called but virtually the same little box.

[janda_grant2]

I used to buy some stuff in a blue bottle from Mercadona especially for kettles and coffee machines. Sorry but I can't remember what it was called

[peteroldracer]

I'll stick with Agua Fuerte - at suitable dilution of course.

[fyfin]

It's called vinagre! Works just as well as any commercial product - just cover the element and add about the same amount of water, then boil.

As a side note, I just had (literally) a bucket load of cal removed from our electric hot water tank and element, 8 years worth to be precise. Amazing how much builds up. The difference in pressure is incredible, and I imagine we'll be saving quite a bit of 'leccy since the element was a good few inches thick with it. Paid €65 to a local German plumber who's glad of any work he can get lately. I reckon that's saved a couple of hundred at least that it would have cost to replace the tank soon. Well worth doing.

Have to agree about the hot water tank here in Turre the water is very hard and the tank needs to be sorted every 2 years or so otherwise it'll go bang. We had a Spanish plumber sort it out (what a dirty job) and it took about 3 hours emptying the tank and removing the cal - cost us €30 - bargain.

[spanish_lad]

I'll stick with Agua Fuerte - at suitable dilution of course.

ive always used agua fuerte, neat, for alot of things. cover the element, swill it about, pour it out, rinse a couple times with cold water. clears all the call in 30 seconds or so. do it once a week for a nice shiney kettle (not good for stainless steel ones)

also used to clear drains, terraces (diluted, in a watering can with a head on), swimming pool cal build up, dribble it round the edges.

agua fuerte is sulphuric acid, it attacks most stuff that you want to get rid of. water stains on utility room floors etc. (dont use on the old black and white speckle tiles, it eats them )

[gus-lopez]

agua fuerte is sulphuric acid, it attacks most stuff that you want to get rid of. water stains on utility room floors etc. (dont use on the old black and white speckle tiles, it eats them )

It is hydrochloric acid !

[Julie]

My hubby fitted a filter and we don't get cal in the kettle now, best 85 euro I ever spent,there is no lugging bottle water after that

[spanish_lad]

It is hydrochloric acid !

you know thats what i meant

[chadbukl]

My hubby fitted a filter and we don't get cal in the kettle now, best 85 euro I ever spent,there is no lugging bottle water after that

Any recommendations on water filter?

[casita-bonita]

I fitted a few of those cartridge filter holders, the ones with the blue top and clear bowl that can be unscrewed and cartridge filters fitted. Dunno how better to describe them really. They cost around 15 euros each.

The filter costs vary from 19euros or so for cal cartridges to a few euros for sludge filters. We have a lot of crap in our water both physical and chemical so I have 5 micron filter, 1 micron filter, cal filter, activated carbon filter.

No cal problems now..

But I do have a question. How do you know when the cal cartridge needs replacing. Presumably the polyphosphate absorbs the cal and so has a finite lifetime. Do the crystals turn opaque, or disappear, or what?

Oh and another useful feature of these filters is that you can remove a filter, fill the bowl with Descal or the like and blast it through the hot water heater.system to clear out the pipes. I was amazed at the sludge that came out of our instantaneous junkers heater the first time I tried this.

[Julie]

Casita, the water will stop running when you need to change the filters.

[chrissiehope]

This is the water filter we have, that I mentioned earlier:
http://www.eastmidlandswater.com/Detail ... oductID=86

AFAIK this is by far the cheapest system they offer, easy to fit and works fairly well

[v.dubber]

This is the water filter we have, that I mentioned earlier:
http://www.eastmidlandswater.com/Detail ... oductID=86

AFAIK this is by far the cheapest system they offer, easy to fit and works fairly well

Im tempted to get and fit one of these, but have always wondered if they do really work?

[chrissiehope]

We'd thought about a 'serious' filter, but the expense put us off. This, for about £80, was worth a try, and it does seem to reduce the amount of cal that comes thro the system. My 'test kit' is not very scientific, as it is the pan I use to boil water for washing up , but it used to get a rapid build-up of cal on the pan, and after fitting this system, the build-up is noticeably less (tho there is still some)

[v.dubber]

Thanks. Like you say its worth a try. We seem to get a lot of cal here, and if you use the tap water to make a drink we get bits in the bottom of the cup. Weve even found that we get a small amount with some bottled water.