[ioncube]

Found these links citing research regarding the effects of magnetism on descaling and water in general.

newbielink:http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/descal.html [nonactive]
newbielink:http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/magnetic.html [nonactive]

Magnet orientation and other variables seem to affect results so it could be pot luck with off the shelf products. Skim reading the links, electronic versions may be better.

Have yet to try magnets on the tap supply and am getting some to play with, however the plumber fitted a magnetic inhibitor to the boiler system when we re-plumbed, and despite living in London with extremely hard water, we've had no problems from the boiler due to scaling (e.g. no kettling). Doesn't prove that the magnets did anything, but I wouldn't be prepared to remove them to find out

I do know that without Britta'ring the tap water our kettle starts scaling immediately, and when testing 800 micron metal meshes in a lamina water jet we were designing, the holes would become clogged in under 24 hours if left with standing water. We'll try the kettle and mesh test with magnets on the supply and see what, if anything, happens.

As for improving fuel efficiency, I'd need convincing on that one before heading under the bonnet.

[Don_1]

MAGNETS>>>>>>> HUH!!!!

Just a way to con the vunerable out of more money.

If you want to improve the fuel efficiency of your old banger, keep it properly maintained & improve your driving.

[lyner]

And don't travel everywhere in your own car.

[Volcano]

Found these links citing research regarding the effects of magnetism on descaling and water in general.

newbielink:http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/descal.html [nonactive]
newbielink:http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/magnetic.html [nonactive]

 From the first link:

  "There are many devices on the market for the magnetic treatment of water for the removal of such limescale. The sales success of these devices would seem to indicate that some work as promoted,"

  If there was ever a measure of the authenticity of a product, "sales success" isn't it or we'd all be taking astrology seriously.

 Anyhow, I'm a scorpio which means I'm passionate and intense so tend to get a bit worked up about these things...

[Don_1]

And don't travel everywhere in your own car.

Yes of course, you can always rely on the cheapest brand...... 'Freemans'.

[ioncube]

If there was ever a measure of the authenticity of a product, "sales success" isn't it or we'd all be taking astrology seriously.

LOL. Quite so, however at least they also have some research there that may explain what many people claim to be observing when they they use the magnets. Unlike the vague and fuzzy contents of the typical astrological prediction, whether magnets make any difference or not is pretty clear cut - they either do or they don't. so it's something that's easily testable. With many people using magnets claiming that they do make a difference coupled with an absence of a large body of users saying that they don't work, the onus should be on the sceptics to prove that magnets don't make any difference. Naysayers often say that "magnets can't make any difference" when what they really mean is that they cannot understand how they could make any difference. The limitations of ones knowledge and failure to do testing does not mean that something isn't true no matter how improbable.

Our magnets arrived so it's been testing time. They couldn't be applied on the incoming cold supply so there are some on the cold supplies to the kitchen and bathroom plus the hot water from the boiler. Results so far are that the metal kettle still gets scale, which matches my expectations as London water is really hard and I expected any magnetic effects to be limited, however the scale build up appears confined to above where the concealed element is and the scale is less permanent. This might prove to be less preferable than scale building up and sticking in terms of taste, and is something still being evaluated. In the bathroom, after a few days the tap is still clean with a nice blemish free satin finish, whereas previously, water splashes would start leaving white marks immediately and the sink would quickly become dull with build-up. Maybe we're seeing effects similar to sophiecentaur where the nature of the limescale changed. While there's everything to suggest that magnets do have an effect on limescale and nothing concrete to suggest that they don't, I was fully prepared to accept that they didn't work for me, but so far they do seem to make a positive difference. We'll see what happens over a month or so rather than just a few days though.

[einsteinium252]

The Mythbusters tested one of the devices on the internet that used a magnet around the gas tube.  The myth was BUSTED, showing no improvement in gas mileage.

[LoneWolf]

after listening to a podcast about this device (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/news/news/1481/ [nofollow]) I was wondering if anybody had heard anymore on it? I currently drive a thirsty petrol and I'm getting tired of putting petrol in it.

Daz

[David Cooper]

If it ever works, it's most likely a placebo effect - the car thinks it's going to be more economical, so it is. Or, the driver thinks it's going to be more economical and drives less aggressively as a result, thereby making back the money spent. Experiments would need to take that into account with some drivers not knowing whether the devices are fitted or not.

If you don't know the device is there, it should make the car less economical due to the extra mass, so a better device to make the car go further on a tank of fuel would be a large bag of hydrogen inside the vehicle - not for burning, but just to get rid of the weight of some of the air.

[evan_au]

Car companies already compete towards the end-users on many factors, including purchase cost, fuel economy and they must meet government regulations on pollution and fleet fuel economy.

If you could burn your fuel more efficiently by attaching a magnet to the fuel line, every car would already have one.

• Better burning = more power shown in the advertisements
  
• Better burning = better fuel economy shown in the advertisements
  
• Better burning = lower pollution
  
• Better burning = less need for expensive engine control systems and fuel injectors

I recall that some years ago, a car company in Australia sold a version of their car fitted with every "extra" favoured by a certain Australian race car driver. This included a magnet on the fuel line. Maybe the pit crew accepted an ounce or two of magnet as an acceptable weight penalty given it's placebo effect on the driver?

[confusious says]

I think they are just a gimick, rather like the electro magnets wrapped around water pipes to reduce limescale. To reduce fuel consumption, keep revs below 3,400, as you increase speed change gear as quickly as possible and keep to speed limits.

[syhprum]

I think quite a time has passed since P E Barnum stated that one fool was born every minute, with the increase in world population I think it is probably more now.