OK you all need to read and know this about heater coils..
..and take it from someone that gets 12 to 15 years on heater coils
in an industry that typically "EATS'em" in 6 to 8 years..
The only thing that protects a coil from rusting through is
hard water scale..
that's right..
scale is GOOD.. as long as it doesn't get TOO thick...
if you "rinse it off" with purified water, or acid, you are left with UNprotected iron pipe.
..and so descaling can uncover pinholes that were keeping your coil from leaking.
You heard right.. running purified or soft water through the coil is BAD.
Some of you live in areas (especialy desert area,) where the calcium content is high,
and the scale can build up too much, but still, that's over a fairly long period of time.
You should generally avoid running a descale on your coil, unless you actually have flow restriction.
But, most of you won't have a problem with hard water. Most heaters NEVER need to be descaled.
If running soap through an UPstream injector.. the service center gets you coming AND going..
"The Care And Feeding of a High Pressure Coil"..
is one of those things a service center should be explaining to everyone, and they don't,
because they'd rather uncover a pinhole and sell you a replacement coil with time-consuming install.
..and that is messed up.
The "whole truth" is.. When a "bean-counter" and chemical salesman run a service center
instead of a "technical guy"..
they'll push you to use a soap through UPstream injector,
which restricts the flow of water into your pump, making seals fail,
scaling up your coil, making a "descale opportunity",
..with possible coil-replacement invoicing,
or possible up-sell to a new machine.
Some salesmen have a process procedure of calling you when the machine is 48th months old..
Mine needs it's first set of seals at 48 months old,
and a coil "properly managed" lasts 12 to 15 years..
Why on earth would you want to replace a 4 year old machine ?
..and Why would you NOT want to pre-spray soap for BETTER chemical action,
and MUCH less waste of soap anyway?
Find a technical guy, and
pay him for
his TIME..
You do not have time to "learn the hard way".
and you certainly cannot trust a bean-counter to show you to "Long-Term-Low-Cost."
Do NOT descale your heater unless the back-pressure in your coil goes higher than normal.
If your current "technical guy" cannot tell you what that should be.. find a new technical guy.
Russ Johnson,
Paul Kassander,
Me,
somebody that has the spine to actually be an honest
Tech.
somebody that if you actually do need to descale.. will NOT allow
Muriatic or any other harsh "pinhole-uncovering" acid.
And if you get enough advice to feel confident you can do it yourself,
pay him for the training,
and be very careful, ..gloves and safety glasses included.
You want the acid powder that attacks the calcification, NOT everything else.