The handle on our washing machine broke last night (managed to get the
door open and get the clothes out) repair man came today at 9:30 and
fixed door, 12 hours from it breaking to it getting fixed well done
Hotpoint/Indesit.

Now when the guy came to fix machine we noticed some black "scum" on
the underside of the detergent dispenser drawer hole (roughly were the
water comes in to "dilute" the soap powder)and he said it was caused by
limescale build-up (I thought the water here, Balerno just outside
Edinburgh was soft) this washing machine has been plumbed in and used
about twice a day since January 2002 he recommended a "Detergent and
limescale remover" and a couple of hot washes a month. Would an inline
magnetic water softener be any good or is he talking out his bum and
this black "scum" is just some sort of mould that lives on permanently
wet but not soaked areas (covered in Detergent)? Can't see inside the
pipework to see if this "stuff" is everywhere or just the detergent
drawer. Are these magnetic water softeners rated?
--
This space intentionally left blank.

On Wed, 10 May 2006 10:22:53 GMT, "soup" wrote:


The handle on our washing machine broke last night (managed to get the
door open and get the clothes out) repair man came today at 9:30 and
fixed door, 12 hours from it breaking to it getting fixed well done
Hotpoint/Indesit.

Now when the guy came to fix machine we noticed some black "scum" on
the underside of the detergent dispenser drawer hole (roughly were the
water comes in to "dilute" the soap powder)and he said it was caused by
limescale build-up

We live in Yorkshire , have soft water and get the dreaded black
mould. Nothing to do with limescale.

Just recently a great gob of it went through into the wash and marked
some white towels which had to be washed several times to get the
marks out.

DG

Derek ^ wrote:
On Wed, 10 May 2006 10:22:53 GMT, "soup" wrote:

we noticed some black "scum" on
the underside of the detergent dispenser drawer hole (roughly were the
water comes in to "dilute" the soap powder)and he said it was caused by
limescale build-up

We live in Yorkshire , have soft water and get the dreaded black
mould. Nothing to do with limescale.

Just recently a great gob of it went through into the wash and marked
some white towels which had to be washed several times to get the
marks out.


Limescale is at best neutral if not amagnetic.

Detergent on the other hand is a remarkable fertiliser. However, there
are places where research has turned into the deployment of magnets as
bacteria filters. I believe it is the iron in both them and their
feedstock that is attracted to the magnets.

I can not provide a link but would be interested if one can be
found.... London's water supply?

I've heard those magnetic jobbies are not what the are cracked up to be. Bought a CalCombi a few months ago only to read on the forum that they are ****e. Bought a Water King instead and fitted that. It runs off elec and uses induced magnetic fields to reduce the limescale as opposed to the Cal which is a bog-standard self-contained unit.

Ended up installing the WK on the rising main and the Cal before the washingmachine/dishwasher as it was silly to throw it away. Never know, it might have a benefit, but I will never know, as I have nothing to compare against!!

Cordless Crazy wrote:
Bought a Water King instead and fitted that. It runs off elec
and uses induced magnetic fields to reduce the limescale

A fool and his money.....

"Steve Walker" wrote in message
...
Cordless Crazy wrote:
Bought a Water King instead and fitted that. It runs off elec
and uses induced magnetic fields to reduce the limescale

A fool and his money.....

As Tinkerbell says at the panto'; - 'All those who believe in fairies - Clap
your hands!'.

--

Brian

In article , Brian Sharrock
wrote:

As Tinkerbell says at the panto'; - 'All those who believe in fairies - Clap
your hands!'.

What's that sweetie? :-)

--
AJL

On Wed, 10 May 2006 10:22:53 GMT, soup wrote:

The handle on our washing machine broke last night (managed to get the
door open and get the clothes out) repair man came today at 9:30 and
fixed door, 12 hours from it breaking to it getting fixed well done
Hotpoint/Indesit.

Now when the guy came to fix machine we noticed some black "scum" on
the underside of the detergent dispenser drawer hole (roughly were the
water comes in to "dilute" the soap powder)and he said it was caused by
limescale build-up (I thought the water here, Balerno just outside
Edinburgh was soft) this washing machine has been plumbed in and used
about twice a day since January 2002 he recommended a "Detergent and
limescale remover" and a couple of hot washes a month. Would an inline
magnetic water softener be any good or is he talking out his bum and
this black "scum" is just some sort of mould that lives on permanently
wet but not soaked areas (covered in Detergent)? Can't see inside the
pipework to see if this "stuff" is everywhere or just the detergent
drawer. Are these magnetic water softeners rated?

Sounds like a slime mould to me. They are in the air all the time and thrive
on damp surfaces, sometimes they are red/orange. They do no harm.

As for magnetic 'softeners' having an effect on calcium salts ....
--
Jim
Tyneside UK
http://www.jimscot.plus.com

soup wrote:
The handle on our washing machine broke last night (managed to get the
door open and get the clothes out) repair man came today at 9:30 and
fixed door, 12 hours from it breaking to it getting fixed well done
Hotpoint/Indesit.

Now when the guy came to fix machine we noticed some black "scum" on
the underside of the detergent dispenser drawer hole (roughly were the
water comes in to "dilute" the soap powder)and he said it was caused by
limescale build-up (I thought the water here, Balerno just outside
Edinburgh was soft) this washing machine has been plumbed in and used
about twice a day since January 2002 he recommended a "Detergent and
limescale remover" and a couple of hot washes a month. Would an inline
magnetic water softener be any good or is he talking out his bum and
this black "scum" is just some sort of mould that lives on permanently
wet but not soaked areas (covered in Detergent)? Can't see inside the
pipework to see if this "stuff" is everywhere or just the detergent
drawer. Are these magnetic water softeners rated?

As other posters have mentioned, this is nothing to do with limescale,
and more to do with mould growing in the washing powder residue. You
need to clean this stuff out - we had a Zanussi that decided to fill
the kitchen floor with water rather than the drum because the fill pipe
got blocked. A garden sprayer, set to needle jet, can be good at
loosening gunk in the drawer cavity that's hard to reach. The drawer
itself can be taken out and cleaned easily. Pouring a load of very hot
water into the half open drawer (should end up going into the drum -
try slowly at first just to check) also helps. Shouldn't need to be
done more than once or twice a year.