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6.1 Operation with Softened Water
Do not use softened water unless special measures are
taken!
When feeding softened water into the HygroMatik steam humidi-
fier, the aspects outlined below must be taken into account.
Softened water may cause
•
unacceptably high conductivity
•
the formation of salt bridges between the electrodes
and the electrode leads on the inner surface of the top
part of the steam cylinder
•
foaming in the steam cylinder
Salt bridges cause electrical arcs. These are indicated by the
presence of black grooves in the top part of the cylinder. The cy-
linder must then be replaced to prevent further damage to the
cylinder material, as well as short circuits which trip main circuit
breakers.
Foam comes into contact with the maximum water level sensor
electrode and triggers a signal indicating the cylinder is filled to
capacity, even though this is false and the nominal current has
not yet been reached.
Recommendations
If using a water softening system, we recommend diluting the-
softened water with normal tap water to produce an overall hard-
ness between 4-8°dH/71-142 ppm. This value can be set lower if
the water does not foam.
When blending softened water with deionized water (conducti-
vity = 5-20 µS/cm) it must be ensured that the mixture neither
foams nor is too low in conductivity.
When feed water contains softened water, the level of conducti-
vity is typically higher at operating temperature.
