Is Magnetic Fluid Conditioning legit?

August 21, 2014 7:25 PM

We're looking at water softeners for the house. In searching around the net, I came across Magnetic Fluid Conditioning. Is this legit? or snakeoil?
posted by falsedmitri to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

No way in hell this works.
posted by Sonic_Molson at 7:26 PM on August 21, 2014

Complete and utter bullshit. They sell a similar device to magnetically align the gas in your fuel line! If we could improve water quality or increase fuel mileage by adding a few magnets, don't you think you'd see them everywhere?
posted by Grumpy old geek at 7:35 PM on August 21, 2014

Snake oil!

Magnets are good for holding things to the refrigerator door; that's it.
posted by BostonTerrier at 7:51 PM on August 21, 2014

The minerals in water are NOT affected by magnetic fields. Normally only iron based metals are affected by magnets. There are extremely exotic magnets that are not iron based, but they are so rare and expensive that they might as well not exist.

While there is a trace amount of iron sometimes found in water, placing a magnet on the pipe will do nothing for you. Con artists sell these for putting on fuel lines of cars too, in order to increase fuel mileage and save tons of money. They do NOT work.

If you must prove to yourself that these don't work, go to the hardware store and buy cheap strong magnets. Use strong tape. Don't buy that crap about which way the dimples have to face or any other mumbo jumbo. A magnet is a magnet.

There is no such thing as magic. Only slight of hand and the transfer of money from your trusting hands to the hands of a con man.

It is interesting that I couldn't find any prices anywhere on that website. That scares me a lot. There's enough baloney on that website to feed the entire world. What they lack is shame.
posted by old_man_in_the_cave at 7:53 PM on August 21, 2014

If this worked, where do the removed minerals go (presumably the point is to get them out of the water as it passes through the pipe)? Law of conservation of mass suggests they have to go somewhere, so unless there's a little tray you have to periodically empty (there isn't!), this is BS.
posted by axiom at 8:00 PM on August 21, 2014 [1 favorite]

Nthing that this is snake oil. If this were actually able to attract and hold onto minerals in your water, all it would do is eventually clog the pipe with said minerals. But it won't because most of the minerals aren't affected strongly by a magnetic field, and even if they were, the magnet is probably not powerful enough to do more than slow them down in the face of the water's pressure. Besides, a magnet doesn't change the nature of those minerals. They continue to be iron, magnesium, arsenic, whatever, even after passing under a magnet.
posted by Aleyn at 11:03 PM on August 21, 2014

Response by poster: I think we have a consensus. Thanks.
posted by falsedmitri at 4:43 PM on August 22, 2014