Does AntiScaling Technology Work?

[Jason Gagne]

I was looking into a bubbler for our 5 X 14 when someone metioned antiscaling technology. They said CDL sells one but I have not been to see yet. I all so looked online and found Scalewatcher (http://www.stopwaterscale.com) technology that is for residental and commerical water hardness problems. They use a proprietary complex modulating frequency waveform / magnetic foam to keep minerals in the water column. Question- does this technology work on Evaporators?

[DrTimPerkins]

... a proprietary complex modulating frequency waveform / magnetic foam to keep minerals in the water column. Question- does this technology work on Evaporators?

We have not tested any of these types of units at the UVM Proctor Center, however my personal opinion is that there is no independent scientific evidence of any sort demonstrating that using magnetic or electrical devices can reduce scaling.

Basically they're the same thing as those magnets they sell to clamp on your car fuel line to boost gas mileage by aligning the ions in the gasoline (no...these don't work either).

Minerals precipitate out of solution in response to concentration. Passing electricity through sap doesn't change the concentration of minerals, so won't affect the amount of scale you get.

[Jason Gagne]

I purchased one from CDL this week with the understanding that many other Sugarmakers in the area had also purchased one. I opened the box to find two probes and one controler box and no instructions. I was toll that the tech would have to come out and set it up (thank goodness). I'll follow-up after the tech comes to install the unit as to where the two probes go in the evaporator. I hope it all works out.

[WMF]

I hope it works for you. The problem with a device like this is it will be impossible to say if it is truly having an effect or not when nitre build up is a constantly changing problem as the season progresses.

If you think you have less nitre building on your pans this season they will say "we told you it would work" .

If you have tons of nitre they will say "imagine how bad it would be if you didn't have our gizmo aligning your ions" .

I worked for quite a few years in an electroplating / pollution control industry and this same technology was being offered up as the solution for many problems but when it came to actual results I never saw any that could be proven.

[DrTimPerkins]

I worked for quite a few years in an electroplating / pollution control industry and this same technology was being offered up as the solution for many problems but when it came to actual results I never saw any that could be proven.

I guess another reason I have a strong skepticism about this technology is that in the cane sugar industry, where they have MASSIVE scaling problems, devices such as this are not used. They do use other types of things, including chemicals (which we cannot), but these electrical antiscaling devices aren't part of the mix. The only way to reduce/elimiate scaling is to remove material that might cause scale to form in the first place. I can't see where or how these electro-magnetic devices can do that, despite what the websites that hype them say.

[Jason Gagne]

:mad:CDLs Antiscaling Technlogy did not work for us. We Place two probes in our back pan at the start of the season. One probe worked and one did not, after three weeks CDL finally sent two new ones because the working probe was then leaking(new probes never installed). Yesterday Leader sent out a welder to (we thought) fix a leaking side fitting the CDL Probe was installed into. Thats when we found out the fitting was leaking because there were tiny pin holes around the fitting. Thats when we started looking closer and found that there where pins holes all around the probe The Flue Pan was ruined! Inside the flues had holes, and the front outside had holes everywhere near the probe. Thank God for the good people at Leader, they had a used back pan and reworked the fitting for oursetup and we boiling again by the end of the day!!!

[nymapleguy607]

How did the probes cause the pin holes? Glad to hear Leader was able to get you back boiling