BoilerMag

Shahrdad

Hi everyone! Have any of you installed a BoilerMag magnetic separator? It comes from England, and the manufacturer claims that it removes 90% of ferrous material at first pass, since all the water flows past the super-strong magnet. It does have a strainer built in (removable), but I think it still will need to be paired with a dirt separator. I wonder how this compares in performance with a Caleffi or a Taco dirt/magnetic separator in performance.

https://www.boilermag.com/na/products/commercial/

JDHW

Shahrdad,
The most commonly used, and I think the first product or this kind, in the UK is
https://www.adey.com/product/magnaclean-professional2xp

The one that is required by one of the popular German boiler brands is
https://www.spirotech.co.uk/products/spirotrap/

I think the second one uses a vortex separation technology as well as magnetic. The first one certainly has a really powerful magnet in the centre.

The brand Spear and Jackson used to a reputable brand of hand tools. I think there are now just a marketing outfit that imports from wherever. First time I have heard they make filters.

Regards
John.

JDHW

Correction to my earlier post. The tool company is still in existence.
https://www.spear-and-jackson.com/

Boilermag does not seem to be associated.

Apologies John

Derheatmeister

Good Company..They Know Magnetic devices and how to remove Magnetite, Yes we have used some of their Larger Magnetic devices and they work great...Another couple companies are Fernox with the TF 1 series... https://magnetic-online.de/

Shahrdad

It seems that with the water passing on both sides of the powerful magnet, it would be more effective at removing magnetite than the devices with a couple of small magnets clamped to the outside. I will also look at the other links you shared. This just looked like a really well designed and engineered product.

hot_rod

The biggest difference between Caleffi and other mag separators is the media inside. The DirtMag and Sep 4 started out as a 90% efficient particle separator down to a 5 micron particle. Most of the "removal" work is done by the coalescing media. The magnetic band captures ferrous particles smaller than 5 micron, down to a .5 micron actually!
The media makes a huge difference in over-pumped, excessive velocity systems, compared to a dangled magnet Most systems you see with zone pumps I'd venture to say are over pumped Few zone pump installers can actually tell you the gpm flow around their circuits. Even the gpm readouts on ECM are not 100% accurate for that info.


Realistically a new system should not be producing a lot of magnetite, within a day or two a new system should be perfectly clean.

On old steel pipe, iron radiator systems you may need to check and flush a mag separator yearly. Even so after a period of time most all systems should be magnetite free. We have seen old systems videoed over a 3 year period and observed the particle removal drop off to virtually nothing.

Unless you have a lot of O2 ingress, and that needs to be addresses separately.
The mag sep is treating a symptom, determine why you have so much magnetite that you "think" you need a massive magnet.

We test all brands and models in our lab, there is no brand that is head and shoulders above the others when it comes down to actual flow testing and magnetite removal. Bigger magnet doesn't always relate to better removal, it is more about the entire product engineering. The low velocity zone, the shape of the coalescing media, magnet, flush valve location, etc.

Servicing the product should also be simple, removing a top to service only adds more fresh water and O2 into the system. Starts to look like a dog chasing its tail.

Lastly I would highly encourage the use of a hydronic conditioner chemical. The O2 scavengers included in the package go a long way to eliminating O2 ingress. Which of course is the only reason you have ferrous material breakdown to begin with.

Fix your fluids, limit O2 ingress and most all fluid related hydronic problems disappear.

Shahrdad

Thanks Bob! My system is 125 years old with 3" pipes and cast iron radiators. I have it operating as a closed system, without any air or fresh water coming in. Whenever I have had to bleed the radiators, a bit of blackish water has come out, but the water is by no means as dark as I've seen on some videos. And when I have had to drain the system for removing a radiator to redo a floor or have it stripped, the water has been clear. The gentleman who owned the house in the 1970s said that when they removed the original 1897 boiler, the 3" pipes looked almost brand new inside, and that was after 70 years of heating seasons. I'm not sure how feasible it is to flush a large system like this, but I'm definitely planning on a dirt and magnetite separator.
Taco claims that their ECM separators have a Bio-Barrier that makes magnetic separators unnecessary (at least for the pump's sake), but I think I should still have one. The Caleffi one looks excellent.
I hadn't given any thought to additives and scavengers, but I will discuss that as well with my installer.

S.

hot_rod

once a system is stripped of O2 you have what is considered “dead” water. In theory there should be very limited corrosion if you can maintain that condition. 
100% steel or copper systems tend to show fairly good water quality if they are not drained or water added ever.
Personally I feel the use of O2 permeable plastics is directly related to today’s corrosion and magnetite issues. I don’t recall the term excessive oxygen ingress in early hydronic systems and teaching,

So the use of plastics developed two new markets, hydronic treatment chemicals and magnetic separators.Fernox was developed for the common UK systems with open to atmosphere expansion vessels, insulated in attics. What a concept! 

Certainly the pump manufacturers are trying to address magnetite in ECM circulators. Ceramic shafts, bio barriers, clever marketing, they all have a spin. Until the pumps don’t 😉Trust me, if water can get to the motor /wet rotor components, so can a microscopic size particle of magnetite. .05 micron is about 100 times thinner than a human hair.  I’ve loaded magnetite into systems with most every brand of small ECM, disassembled them and found magnetite in each and every one.

 When you see black or grey water guess what causes that color? Same for red or brown tint, that is hematite related.
If it didn’t come out if your water supply colored....

Tinman

I’ve yet to see an ECM circulator that stands up to magnetite no matter what marketing departments are saying. 

That’s not a knock on any manufacturer. It’s just my experience. I have a habit of taking things apart that have failed. I’ve seen it on every brand I’ve used. 

hot_rod

Steve Minnich said:

I’ve yet to see an ECM circulator that stands up to magnetite no matter what marketing departments are saying. 

That’s not a knock on any manufacturer. It’s just my experience. I have a habit of taking things apart that have failed. I’ve seen it on every brand I’ve used. 

No wonder all the pump manufacturers sell or suggest mag separators. Is a magnetite stalled circulator covered by warranty? I'll bet manufacturers are being more diligent in giving away free circulators of the ECM variety. A magnet is an inexpensive, low maintenance device, in the big picture of hydronics