Descale Ruined Coil?

It could have removed the scale build up that was holding it together. If you ran it too long, it is conceivable that it could eat away at it enough to weaken it to the point it could snap.
 
Is that $850 parts and labor or just the coil?

I was talking to the Hotsy guys when they were working on my rig a while back and told me that the coil itself is $1000. Wow.

I am sure I can get something that will work for less, just have to find a shop that can do it, not a lot of shops around here, Hotsy is 2 hours away.
 
Can the coil be welded to fix the break? I had my coil bust a year ago and just spot welded it. It has been running fine ever since.
 
Is it possible that my descale caused my coil to snap?
I just descaled my MITM and a like 2 days later the coil snaps... Has this happened to anyone else?

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.
 
Can the coil be welded to fix the break?
I had my coil bust a year ago and just spot welded it. It has been running fine ever since.

you were lucky.. against 1:20 odds in wasting up to 4 hours effort.

A better chance at profit would have been to spend the 4 hours in follow-ups..
for better return on your existing leads.

A good luck story is great, I'm just saying the next 19 attempts will be failures,
and horrible wasted man-hours.

Exception is.. a coil that is less than 4 years old.. give it a shot !
..but give it a 110% of FULL-pressure test before reinstalling.

and if it works.. go buy 10 lottery tickets IMMEDiately. :{)
 
Jerry, say you turn on the machine and just blow water out - no gun no hose - and note there's some pressure on the gauge. Now is that the pressure to check on to see if it goes up? I have 15 years on a coil, I used to descale it when that no-hose pressure would go up. Haven't descaled it but once in ten years since, a little trick seems to be keeping it perfect. Time for a bigger replacement anyways.
 
Hey Jerry good advice for sure. I never descaled or had to on the burners we use. Ran into other issues but not descaling. I can tell you years ago I cleaned and flushed out my car Radiator and fill in new antifreeze. Big mistake. The pinhole leaks appeared and after all the stop leak I had to put in over a short period of time cause the radiator to fail so I had to by a new one and install it. I never again cleaned and flush my car radiators or any liquid cooled Ppwerwashing engines I had and also never had any Radiator issues again..

Is that similar to what can happen to a descaled coil where now pinholes appear?
 
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.

Good info Jerry
 
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