ClearWave Water Conditioner

Has anyone used this product?

ClearWave

I am just curious if it lives up to its hype at all. Some real world experiences might be nice.

Thanks!

That's kind of what I figured.. sounds like no one uses this so its probably smoke and mirrors.

I never heard of it myself, but I spend a fortune on salt with rust remover for my water softener, so this does sound interesting. I did find some other reviews:

Amazon.com user reviews
HomeDepot.com user reviews

Judging from some of the other search results I found, I think this is just another 'Tornado fuel saver' type device :/

I look at the Clearwave as well as The Magnetizer several years ago. I am very much into alternative types of technology and medicine and while I felt there may be a small benefit to these devices I decided at the end of the day to go with the tried and true water softener. So, depending on what your end goal is, there may be some merit to these devices for you, but for hard core water softening I would stick with traditional systems.

I bought the clearwave two months ago at smarthome.com

The main issue I had was with the dishwasher. The glasses always had white streaks and looked terrible. Vinegar in the dishwasher was the only thing that helped it and that didn't completely clear it up.

After installing the clearwave the glasses come out sparkling clear. We no longer need to use vinegar. We are using Costco's Kirkland powder detergent and Lemishine. Lemishine was recommended by a friend to help remove hard water stains, but did not help very much. We had been using Lemishine for a few years.


For full disclosure we did switch to the kirkland powder detergent around the same time I got the clearwave.

I probably should run a few cycles without any detergent or with some of the old liquid detergent to see what happens.

Yeah, I will probably go the water softener route, but I couldn't resist the temptation of something that did similar work without all the salt refills, etc. But I figured as with most things like this, that it was more hype than anything else.


Thanks for the replies.

These magnetic type "softeners" are not softeners (ion exchange units) at all. They are based in solid science - but unfortunately real world results are very poor.

These magnetic devices change the magnetic properties (polarity) of some metals/minerals in the water so that they 'cling' to each other in hopes that they pass through the system without clinging to your stuff (pipes, dishes, showers, etc). Studies have shown they have very little effectiveness as most of the magnetism wears off too quickly to be effective (unless your device is the size of a large water softener - and your kids and 3 arms because of it) if your water is more than 'slight' hardness. In water that is very hard (like in AZ) they have nearly no noticeable effect.

Maybe the believers could wrap a Q-Ray bracelet around the water pipe ?

Might save a few bucks in cost and electricity ?

I just think "positive thoughts" and the metals/minerals are nice to me and don't stick to anything until they get to the sewer.

I found mixed reviews at smathome and other sites, bu since I had a 20% coupon for smarthome I picked one up to try figuring I'll return it within the 90 day money back guarantee if it doesn't work. It's been 31 days now and while the jury is still out, here's some interesting things I've noticed.

1. Haven't noticed much of any change in the showerhead.
2. Wife did tell me things are air drying without water stains better now.
3. (The most interesting to me) My hot water heater drain stopped working about a year ago...I'd open it up and no water would come out. Tried using a coat hanger figuring it was mineral buildup, calcium whatever to no avail. After using the clearwave for about 2 weeks I opened up the water valve and noticed a drop or two of water. After another week there was more constants water drops. This past week it's almost been a constant dribble. So I'm hoping that things will continue to get better. If the clearwave fixes my hot water heater so I can drain it again it'll be worth the money spent. Time will tell, I'll try to followup with another post before the 90 days are up.

Very interesting, thanks for the update. Keep us posted please!

inline said:

I found mixed reviews at smathome and other sites, bu since I had a 20% coupon for smarthome I picked one up to try figuring I'll return it within the 90 day money back guarantee if it doesn't work. It's been 31 days now and while the jury is still out, here's some interesting things I've noticed.

1. Haven't noticed much of any change in the showerhead.
2. Wife did tell me things are air drying without water stains better now.
3. (The most interesting to me) My hot water heater drain stopped working about a year ago...I'd open it up and no water would come out. Tried using a coat hanger figuring it was mineral buildup, calcium whatever to no avail. After using the clearwave for about 2 weeks I opened up the water valve and noticed a drop or two of water. After another week there was more constants water drops. This past week it's almost been a constant dribble. So I'm hoping that things will continue to get better. If the clearwave fixes my hot water heater so I can drain it again it'll be worth the money spent. Time will tell, I'll try to followup with another post before the 90 days are up.

Click to expand...

Well, I have exciting news so I thought I'd post an update.

1. Regarding the showerhead, I manually took it apart and cleaned it so it's working like it used to when it was new. It was pretty bad in terms of the buildup and thought it would be better to clean it first and see if it gunks up after a while with the clearwave unit in use. This will take some time to get the results.

2. Wife continues to tell me that the water stains on things that air dry are still better as far as she is concerned.

3. The MOST INTERESTING!! I checked my hot water heater a week ago and was disappointed to see that the amount of water dribbling out of the drain had decreased and then just about 2 days ago I was getting nothing coming out of the drain. However yesterday, to my full astonishment and amazement, I opened the valve on the drain and had to shut it off quickly as water was SHOOTING OUT. I could not believe it, I grabbed a old milk jug and opened the valve again and water caming flying out of the drain like when the hot water heater was new. I'm still in shock.

So, I'll try to continue to keep this thread updated, however if you have issues with hard water and build up, you might want to check the unit out. I hadn't changed anything else that would have affected this "fixing itself" and prior to introducing the clearwave unit, for a period of at least a year, probably two years I would open the drain valve at the bottom of the hot water heater and nothing would come out. After about a month and a half, my hot water heater drain is 100% operational again. Again, I'm still in shock, but it's true. Maybe it's coincidence, but regardless, my hot water heaters drain is 100% operational again. Woo Hoo! :blink:

That's pretty interesting. I am wondering tho if your drain is working again because you tested it so much in the last few weeks. Definitely looking forward to more updates, as most other online sources seemed to indicate that this device is a waste of money. Keep us posted!

Dan (electron) said:

That's pretty interesting. I am wondering tho if your drain is working again because you tested it so much in the last few weeks. Definitely looking forward to more updates, as most other online sources seemed to indicate that this device is a waste of money. Keep us posted!

Click to expand...

That's possible, but I would have to say unlikely as about a year ago I really went to town on it, open, close, open, close, took a coat hanger and fished in there, etc...spent a good amount of time trying to get any water to come out and nothing. The amount of time I spent opening and closing the drain during the past month did not by any means come close to what I had tried previously. I agree the reviews are mixed, if you check out smarthome you'll see some positive ones, others that aren't sure, and some that are negative. I think it's a totally YMMV device. One thing that might help is that the water heater isn't far from where the clearwave unit is. I might not have as great results on the 2nd floor shower head over time.

In summary, if you think it might help, there is a 90 day money back deal, and other reviews have claimed no issues in getting money back. FYI, I did fully research my water situtation first in terms of water hardness by calling my water company and determining that my hardness level was within the guidelines that clearwave states as being remedied by their unit.

Personally, I don't buy it... and won't be for that matter. Things like bridge sales, snake oil, fuel magnets, etc come to mind.

When Mythbusters does a show segment on it maybe thinks will be more clear (Lol)

If this thing works plumbers would be using them instead of traditional water softeners.

Let me know if anyone has scientific proof otherwise.