Busted Coil

I was washing yesterday with my hot water machine when I lost pressure. There was water coming from the bottom of the coil stack. I finished the job with my backup machine and limped home.

So today I unloaded the machine and after getting it tore down I found a 1 1/2 inch tear in the very bottom wound of the coil. It's about 1/8 inch wide.

My machine is a HOTSY model 954 4.5 gpm 2500psi.

Anyway, my question is this be welded up or will I have to replace the coil? Heating coils are made of Sch 80 pipe, right? If I'm right that is a weldable steel.

I realize that I well have to replace the coil soon but if I can get 1 more month out of it then I well have time to do a lot of other work at the same. I have off till Friday but I don't have a local dealer to get parts and I'm not sure if I can get one shipped in time.

Thanks for the help.

Big Dog,

I am not the whiz but if you already know you will only get one more month out of it way even bother to weld it, just buy a new coil and be done with it.

Otherwise you will only be taking the whole thing apart again in 30 days, is it worth it?

Hey Jon,

Nice to hear from you....been long time.

Really the only reason is so I can get the thing back together for this coming weekend. I just worried about getting one here before then. I think I will go ahead and order one in the morning anyway and if it doesn't come then just weld mine up and try it.

Any suggestions where to get one?

BTW, hope you and yours had a great holiday.....

Until recently Hotsy was alone in the industry using Schedule 80 tubing. This may not be repairable especially if it let go along a seam.

There is no easy way to control the weld penetration so you run the additional risk of impeding flow of the coil causing back pressure and possible pump problems.

First, though, you need to determine the cause of the failure: wear and tear, vibration problems, poor material/ workmanship (Hotsy does have a 5 year coil warranty), freezing, plugged by soap or lime, a hose greater than 150' without having a pressure accumulator on the coil etcetera. Once you know you can begin to prevent a future problem.

Coils should cost you from $400-1000 depending on the model. Start with your local Hotsy dealer to get an exact coil or go to someone like Farley's for one that fits. Remember that OE coils will ensure proper burn and emmissions characteristics.

Hope this helps? Cheers.

Hey Greg (Big Dog)

Me know where to buy coil, no man I sure don't but by the time you read this you will have read from others where to get it.

The Holidays were good for us, if by the amount of weight one gains means how good it was!!

How about you and your family? You working it off I see since it is butt cold there this time of year.

I did it!!!!

Hey Thanks for the replies...

Anyway, I did find 3 places to get the coil and all were about the same price so I will probably go for the OEM dealer about 2 hours away.

I went ahead and welded up the coil. I hooked it up while I still had it out of the machine and ran it about 5 min to see what would happen. It held fine so I put it back in the machine. I did'nt put any heat on the coil just pressure and I did spray water on and off to give it a little more strenuous workout.

As far as the reason for the failure I'm not sure. The machine is about 10 years old but until I got it saw very little use. I have an airline connection and blow out all water after each use. The tear was in the very bottom coil so my quess is that whatever water doesn't get blown out drained down to that section and froze. It did not tear in the seam and there appears to be no corrosion or build up.

Anyway I fixed it for now at no cost other than 1 welding rod and my time. While I had it out I cleaned the coils and adjusted the electodes per WIZ'S specs. So all in all it was a good experience. But who knows, it could blow again at any time.

Hey Jon, we had what I think is the best Christmas ever. Since I have picked up these 2 new fleet contracts we have a lil' extra money in the house. That allowed us not to have to work so much through the holidays and spend more time together as a family. And yes it's been cold as an Eskimo's behind here but we are surviving since it's warmed up some.

Again I want to thank everyone for the help.

Good Luck and God Bless!!!!

I think Big Dog learned a lesson that we as manufacturers have been trying to teach everyone: antifreeze, antifreeze, antifrfeeze!

You may blow all the water you can out of the coil but ALL that is left will congregate in one spot and freeze there, most likely causing the split.

Remember the power of frozen water is tremendous and pervasive. Ice will crush a steel hulled ship or cause a steel coil to crack because when frozen water expands by 10% in all directions.

As a manufacturer we use windshield washer antifreeze available in 55 gallon drums at a strength of -40F. The cost is pennies per litre (quart). We antifreeze all of our units in the summer when the temperature rises above 30C (86F) because we never know when they will be first used. Besides by getting in the habit of antifreezing every washer we never forget to do so when the temperature really begins to plummet. It has been as low as -40 around here (F and C are the same at this temperature).

Do not forget the effect of wind either. A 35F (2C) day with a pressure washer on an open trailer will experience severe wind affect additional cooling (so called Wind Chill) going down the road that will lower the efective temperature of the machine to much lower than freezing.

So long answer short: Antifreeze, antifreeze, antifreeze any time there is any possibility of it getting below 40F (4C).

Hope this helps? Cheers.

You would not believe how many coils I have replaced. Atleast 6 this year! And it is only the beginning of Febuary.