[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss

Do water heaters need any maintenance or cleaning? I have a Havells that is 2.5 years old. It has not given any problems so far. We have very hard water.

Normally nothing for about three years. You will find that water discharge reducing with age. At some point descaling becomes necessary. Could be chemical or after dismantling. Also, as salt deposits pile up the thermostat also tends to start misbehaving.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by devil_klm

Attached pic is a 2 year old dishwasher which was not maintained well. Check the hard water scales all over interior parts. Obvious reason to do descaling for washing machines and dish washers periodically where hard water is in use.

Originally Posted by devil_klm

This was IFB neptuna located somewhere in whitefield. Found this form classified sites. This could be the end result of not descaling machines on regular intervals. Few shops suggested me to do descaling once in a week.

Descaling once a week That is total BS by misinformed sales folks.
For my WM, I do the descaling about couple of times a year. For the Dishwasher, not once did I need descaling in 1.5 years of daily use and the interiors still look brand new. Ran it once with vinegar to remove bad odor and refill salt when the indicator lights up. Nothing else.

The sad state of the dishwasher in the pic is most probably due to something stupid the original owner must have done like using some hard chemical. Definitely not due to just hard water.

[BenjiRoss]

Originally Posted by devil_klm

Attached pic is a 2 year old dishwasher which was not maintained well. Check the hard water scales all over interior parts. Obvious reason to do descaling for washing machines and dish washers periodically where hard water is in use.

Originally Posted by devil_klm

This could be the end result of not descaling machines on regular intervals. Few shops suggested me to do descaling once in a week.

Descaling is good to do, but only once in a while. Once a week is way too often. Even the imported descaling powders suggest max once a month. A few times a year should suffice.
The picture looks like the owner has used the wrong detergent or has had a machine with a problem with rinsing or dispensing.

[devil_klm]

Thanks all for the suggestion. I purchased fortune descaling powder form amazon. In my apartment centralized water softener is present. So expecting the hardness of water will relatively be less. And as suggested doing descaling once in a 4-5 months would be sufficient to keep the machine in good shape.
BTW about the bosch washing machine i bought, i am quiet happy with the purchase and obsessed with German product quality and build.
Next in queue for replacement in appliance list is my refrigerator. Considering bosch for now. But i am seeing the reviews that bosch still use coils at back side and none of them have power rating more than 4. Anyone who own please share your experiences.

[sgiitk]

I have lived in hard water areas for over fifty years. As for washing machines and the like we do nothing. Geysers do need descaling once in about three years. We used to rely on physical descaling, but have now switched to chemical descaling. Why, getting people to take off the geyser, take it to their workshop, etc is increasingly tough. I will try and buy descaling compound off Amazon or whatever now.

[Aroy]

Scaling normally occurs if water is heated. That is why it is common in Geysers. As both washing machines and dish washers use hot water for a shorter duration and there is a lot of agitation of water, scaling is rarely a problem. Still in some areas a slight deposit may occur. For these cases the standard age old method of using a dilute solution of vinegar in water is all that is normally required.

A note of caution. As vinegar and descaling powders may dull the polish of internals, check if the machine really needs descaling

[an_and]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I have lived in hard water areas for over fifty years. As for washing machines and the like we do nothing. Geysers do need descaling once in about three years. We used to rely on physical descaling, but have now switched to chemical descaling. Why, getting people to take off the geyser, take it to their workshop, etc is increasingly tough. I will try and buy descaling compound off Amazon or whatever now.

How do you do a chemical descaling. Could you please let me know the steps and required materials for the same.

[hangover]

Originally Posted by kpzen

Disagree !

Spare Parts cost CANNOT remain same forever. It will fluctuate based on polymer rate, steel rate and foreign exchange. Revision cycle varies from company to company, it can be quarterly / half yearly or yearly based on their policy.

You and saket777 are 100% right on your economics. I'm stating what occurred in my house.

My W/c was 7 years old and past its warranty. A few switches had broken during transport. The technician had to replace the entire electronics panel.

He looked at his chart - yours is past warranty. Present rate is Rs. XX. You bought in 2008. So you pay Rs. xx.

Small alphabets to show smaller figure! Maybe I looked poor and desperate. Who knows.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by an_and

How do you do a chemical descaling. Could you please let me know the steps and required materials for the same.

I remember the process as specified for the old gas water heaters in UK.

Disconnect from plumbing; seal inlet [lower connection], and fill with acid. I read it in the books, but I never saw it done. It is going to fizz and bubble, and must be incredibly dangerous.

But, be it strong or mild, it takes acid to get rid of lime scale. Acid, of course, may adversely affect the metal and other materials, and this is why one should not do it unnecessarily.

Want to de-scale you washing machine or dishwasher? What evidence do you have that it needs it? If none, don't.

[devil_klm]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Want to de-scale you washing machine or dishwasher? What evidence do you have that it needs it? If none, don't.

True. We may not be able to identify it until we see the inside of machines where scales accumulate. Decision can be done based on hardness of water in the area you live. How often the machines are used, and how it is being cared. for costly machines, better to do it than completely avoiding and go for costly replacement. Intervals can be decided based on own experience

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by devil_klm

... better to do it than completely avoiding and go for costly replacement. Intervals can be decided based on own experience

Well, that is just what the substance sellers would like you to believe. And you are welcome to shorten the life of your costly machine by pouring acid compounds into it!

In decades of living with washing machines, I have never seen need to descale one, and that includes a long-time experience of London's famously hard water.

[devil_klm]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

In decades of living with washing machines, I have never seen need to descale one, and that includes a long-time experience of London's famously hard water.

I had been in Leeds for an year. The water available there was softer than what it is in Bangalore. one week of normal usage is enough to make scales in utensils and taps in Bangalore. I stayed in a 10 year old apartment in Bangalore where ground water was used as it is. And the actual owner was not maintaining the house properly. All taps were white in color, bathroom tiles, toilets etc in brown. I never see it in UK. And their tap water was used as it is for drinking. In a country like UK where there is lot of regulations for food, drinking water as well will be equally good i believe. I stayed there for a short time and this is just from my experience. New machines have dedicated mode for drum clean and its mentioned in manuals to use recommended descale powders according to the brands specifications. Just my thoughts.

[slicvic]

Any recommendations for coffee machines for personal use. I don't have a pantry at work and would like to keep a machine in my cabin.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by slicvic

Any recommendations for coffee machines for personal use. I don't have a pantry at work and would like to keep a machine in my cabin.

I don't think you need a high tech coffee machine but rather a coffee maker. In lay man terms something that can brew coffee powder and make black coffee/decoction. In that case I would suggest going for inexpensive ones without paper filters like Preethi, Philips, Prestige etc, look up on sites like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, etc. These are mostly in the range of 1000 to 3000 rupees. These are simply electric versions of our traditional coffee filters.
We have a Preethi coffee maker and has lasted few years now without any trouble.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by an_and

How do you do a chemical descaling. Could you please let me know the steps and required materials for the same.

Disconnect the geyser and the two pipes, take a bucket or something, brew up the juice and then use a pump (like a Tullu from a cooler) to circulate the liquid. The fluid should enter from the cold side and come out of the hot side. After some time the descaling is done (this is a matter of judgement) then flush with some fresh water (until the water emerges clear)before reconnecting the pipes.