Flow restriction from magnaclean/tf1

[doitmyself]

I found your patent application in the Journal!

Did you use the services of a Patent Lawyer/expert to check your product was patentable?

 

[petercj]

Why 3D?

Which Fernox ad do you mean - I didn't think the one with the guy in the black T-shirt showing how easy it is to pull out the magnet was up to much.

I think a well-made rig with a cut-away showing the boiler heat exchanger getting blocked by debris from a header tank would be more help in selling your filter as a protective device.

A Vaillant service engineer told me that the majority of restricted heat exchangers he sees can be linked to debris coming down from the header tank-when the system is drained.

Using graphics to illustrate the point is ok, but I think seeing the actual hardware insitu on a rig brings home the reality of having to pay out £300/£400 to have a heat exchanger replaced.

I haven't seen any other filter manufacturer giving non-metallic debris much coverage - they all seem obsessed with the size of their magnet, and its pulling power - a tad Freudian maybe!!

Something to watch when up-loading stuff to the net is file size - if you throw in all the latest bells and whistles it can mean long download times.

I put a video on You Tube that I made with my old Fuji SD cam, and I was surprised at how well it looked - certainly as good as the Fernox ad.

The beauty of filming it yourself is that you can go back and play around with things whenever the need arises.

Until you put your domain name into a search engine, no one is going to find it unless they enter the domain name directly into their browser, so no worries on that score. Just do the fine tuning before you list it on google, etc.

I put Trappex into the You Tube search box, and only a few videos came up on the game of the same name - so that looks promising.

Must be an exciting time for you? I envy you in a way, but then I couldn't be doing with the hassle these days.

They never show the blood, sweat and tears behind successful businesses on the TV, everything happens within the sweep of a frame change.

 

[bspareltd]

I have bought a domain name , trappex.co.uk about 5 months ago .I have been talking to a 3d video animator and he is saying £300 for a two and a half minutes video . I have chosen 3d because i want the prospective customers to see the inner workings of the filter
This video will be incorporated into the website .
I am planning on releasing the website in october .
You are right everybody has the emphasis on magnet size, not too much on the non magetic debris
If you notice the fernox tf1 and magnaclean has nothing to catch the non magnetic debris .
spirotech mb2 and mb3 does not have a dosing point and doesnt really catch anything.
Do you think when I finish this video , i should put this on you tube straight away or wait until october?

 

[doitmyself]

If you notice the fernox tf1 and magnaclean has nothing to catch the non magnetic debris .
spirotech mb2 and mb3 does not have a dosing point and doesnt really catch anything.

I don't think Adey, Fernox and Spirotech would agree with those assertions. You might find yourself open to litigation, in the same way that Adey was over their claims.

 

[bspareltd]

I am stating my humble opinion on their non magnetic filter section , not because im making my own filter .I have looked at there product ,in detail and there is nothing that actually catches plastic in situ.

 

[petercj]

I have bought a domain name , trappex.co.uk about 5 months ago .I have been talking to a 3d video animator and he is saying £300 for a two and a half minutes video . I have chosen 3d because i want the prospective customers to see the inner workings of the filter
This video will be incorporated into the website .
I am planning on releasing the website in october .
You are right everybody has the emphasis on magnet size, not too much on the non magetic debris
If you notice the fernox tf1 and magnaclean has nothing to catch the non magnetic debris .
spirotech mb2 and mb3 does not have a dosing point and doesnt really catch anything.
Do you think when I finish this video , i should put this on you tube straight away or wait until october?

When I think of 3D video, I imagine wearing special specs to view it with, but presumably that's not what you mean?

Might be worth checking to make sure its going to run in the average browser on the kind of average powered computer most people have. Most budget laptops (for example) are not very good on high level graphics.

Keeping file sizes reasonable is very important - if you look at Microsoft websites you will find they don't use high level graphics that much, preferring to produce web pages that will download quickly on a wide range of browsers, and on very average computers.

My computer is very average, and doesn't run BBC iPlayer in HD too well, god knows what it would make of 3D - unless of course we are talking at cross purposes.

I've got a MB2, and as you say, it doesn't have a dosing point, but it does spit out dirty water when the valve is opened, although I have no way of telling if it is fully protective of the heat exchanger.

When you've got your test rig up and running, I'd be very interested to see any tests you do on MB2, or 3, if it comes to that.

Testing for debris should be easy enough, e.g. if you put particles big enough to block a small bore heat exchanger into your test system and MB lets them pass, then it's not doing the job.

With magnetite, I guess you'd need to add a measured amount of magnetite into the system as they do on the Spirotech video, run it for a set period of time, and then get a water sample analysed by Sentinel, or someone similar.

Running the same test on all of the main filters around should produce some interesting data.

Does the surface area of your magnet compare to the MagnaClean and Tf1?

The way the magnetite clings to the magnetic tube in the MagnaClean videos suggests to me that it's a metal tube with round magnets inside, spaced about an inch apart - hence the undulating pattern in the clinging magnetite. But I've never had the pleasure of pulling one apart, so I don't actually know.

I was open minded when I bought the MB2 - I thought as long as it can't do any harm, it's worth giving it a go.

I see the Tf1 has an award from Corgi - I wonder how much that cost them? lol ... (only joking your Honour!)

 

[bspareltd]

If you have a look at www.dirtmagiq.co.uk . That is a impressive 3d animated video .
A mb3 in plastic .
i bet spirotech regret not taking a patent out on the spirotech mb2.
My magnet will be similar to fernox tf1 .

 

[petercj]

If you have a look at www.dirtmagiq.co.uk . That is a impressive 3d animated video .
A mb3 in plastic .
i bet spirotech regret not taking a patent out on the spirotech mb2.
My magnet will be similar to fernox tf1 .

Well that ran on my computer ok - but not sure I would call it 3D.

I did wonder about having an automatic air bleed in the design, I see the dirtmagiq has a manual one.

Apart from that, it looks like a MB2 by another name.

An LED to show that the filter is full would be a nice touch, but would need a small battery.

Something else that occurred to me was that while most plumbers will appreciate the value of a filter on a boiler, some female end-users may not be too keen on having a weird looking lump hanging on the pipe leading to their boiler when they've paid out several thousand pounds for their dream kitchen - so how about having a cover available as an accessory. A white plastic box that sat on the filter would probably do the job. Probably won't make sense to most blokes, but it might to some females, and it might increase your edge a little.

Just had a quick look at the availability of Trappex domain names, and most of them are available - you might want to buy up a few while they are still going - they are cheap enough on 1&1. Could be advantageous later on to have a few domain names handy, plus it helps to keep things simple re search engine listings.

1&1 Internet - Domain Check Results

I see that trappex.com is a hardware company.

 

[bspareltd]

That is why I have made it in white , so it hopefully matches the white boiler and kitchen units.
That is an idea of an full indicator , but how?

 

[petercj]

That is why I have made it in white , so it hopefully matches the white boiler and kitchen units.
That is an idea of an full indicator , but how?

A float that triggers a micro-switch in the top maybe.

White is a good idea - is there a pink alternative? lol

 

[petercj]

Or an arm near the top of the chamber that is lifted by the rising sediment and makes the contact for the LED

______________

O------------o

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[bspareltd]

I see what you are saying , in order to do this I will have to have an electrical feed or battery for the LED. Another expense .

 

[petercj]

I see what you are saying , in order to do this I will have to have an electrical feed or battery for the LED. Another expense .

Well a battery at least, which could be quite small as it won't be operating for most of the time - but it will need to be long-life, and easy to replace.

I would think the LED, the battery, and the sensor, would need to be in one tubular unit that could be fitted through one drilling. It would be a good selling point, but then you have to balance that with the additional cost.

The MagnaBooster marketing stresses that if the filter becomes full it is automaticaly by-passed and full flow continues, but then that means that the heat exchanger is not protected because, in effect, the filter has stop working.

So if your filter has a warning light that signals that the filter is three-quarters full and needs emptying before the by-pass starts, it should be a strong selling point.

 

[bspareltd]

Petercj , excellent idea , but cost factor and having a battery will make it bulky.So I am going to make it simple and state on the instructions annual service required.

 

[petercj]

Petercj , excellent idea , but cost factor and having a battery will make it bulky.So I am going to make it simple and state on the instructions annual service required.

LEDs use very little power, and a small long-life battery shouldn't cost much, I would guess that combined it should be possible for less than a £1.

But simplicity is good - adding features nearly always means that there is another thing that can go wrong.

Is the casing of your filter transparent?

If not, could a section of it be made so?

 

[stevetheplumber]

if your supplying it in white ensure its a wipe clean finish or protect it with stick on plastic its hard enough keeping the condense overflow pipe clean when doing a boiler

 

[bspareltd]

Yes my patent should be checkable ,used a patent attorney from sheffield, very expensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[peteheat]

Hi,

Have you thought of training companies / colleges? they love stuff that works (preferably free).

The advantage for you is so many people continue to use the products they have trained with, not everyone is interested in continued learning after they get their papers.

Wishing you every success.

 

[bspareltd]

You have hit the nail on the head , I was trained as an apprentice fitting baxi boilers and i have stuck to them .
I will be sending samples to acs training schools and colleges.
So far I am on schedule , launch date 1st of november .
DirtMAGIQ and BOILERMAG have released their filters , healthy competition !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[petercj]

Just had a look at the Boilermag website - looks like more of the same to me. How have they managed to copy the MagnaBooster / Tf1 without infringing copyright?

I see they offer points that can be traded in for tools - mainly gardening tools in the pics.

Must be a risk of market overload, I would think.