My HW Coils Are Looking Rough After Summer in Damp Basement

Post by **franco b** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2009 2:17 pm

Is there no guarantee from the maker? The plain steel sides of the stove are not deeply pitted and the cast grates look fine.

Richard

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2009 4:25 pm

I don't think there's a guarantee -- at least not that I'm aware of. I might have to look into that....

whistlenut wrote:How old is the coil, Smitty? Do you have a suitable grave-site just in case? We must convince you to get a boiler and a coil or indirect. The reality is that in your state, unless you are hooked up with Whitey Bulger, you may not be able to free yourself financially for the ging of a boiler. I don't think a few weeks in the basement finished off the SS, but probably didn't help it.

That coil turned 1 year old last month, so all this is from one season.

Yeah I never got in with Whitey, & it's been a pretty dismal year financially over here (thanks to the state!

) so a boiler is out of the question. I can't even afford to replace the coils. Was fun while it lasted, now going back to living like I used to live -- day to day. Have a room gutted upstairs & no money to do anything with it. Have to close off the entire floor this year & sleep on the first floor. Such is life & I was somewhat prepared for bad times ...... and living here, I'm accustomed to it!

What's done is done, no going back. Hopefully I can get this season out of them. What a f'ing waste!

jpen1 · Post by **jpen1** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2009 5:05 pm

There is no way that 316L stainless corroded that fast and pitted like that unless the metal was contaminated. In my experiance designing stainless washing equipment for the lab industry I have never seen 316 L stainless corrode like that even when acidic detergents are used daily in the equipment. I would call the manufacturer and explain the situation. That steel must of had way to high a carbon and sulfur concentration, far higher than 316L should have. My coil is going on 3 years old and looks like new.

traderfjp · Post by **traderfjp** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2009 5:09 pm

Flyash and moisture is no joke. I didn't think the SS would be pitted like that. Yikes I think we all learned a lesson here. Thanks for posting.

ceccil · Post by **ceccil** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2009 5:21 pm

Smitty, did you have cold water running through your coils all summer? Just wondering as I had water in my coil all summer also, but they don't look anything like that. Difference may be that I zoned off the tempering tank and coil from the rest of the house so the water just sat in there all summer. Had to do a real good flushing when I fired it back up though. I think it may have been the difference between cold water circulating and water standing at room temp. all summer. Hope you can get them to work for this year anyway. You have a lot of time and money into your set up.

Good luck.

Jeff

traderfjp · Post by **traderfjp** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2009 5:42 pm

I had water sitting in mine all summer too. I cleaned them and used a protective spray. I also closed off the stove and put in a bucket of damprid. I have a very, very small amount of surface rust which is hard to even see. If that coil leaks on the 1st floor of your home you'll have a huge mess for a few hundred I wouldn't take a chance.

jpen1 · Post by **jpen1** » Mon. Oct. 12, 2009 10:36 pm

Smitty I just checked hilkoil's site. Those coils are guranteed for life to the original owner. They advertise them as 316L but 316L will not delaminate like that in a sulphuric and nitric acid based environment.

traderfjp · Post by **traderfjp** » Tue. Oct. 13, 2009 12:30 am

It's worth a shot to see if they will replace them. Let us know how u make out.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Tue. Oct. 13, 2009 9:25 am

Well, I was able to stop a few leaks with the welder after I reinstalled them last night. Went through 4 batteries on the 18V DeWalt with the wire wheel to clean them up. I installed another ball valve so now I can completely isolate & remove the coils without having to drain the boiler. Should be set for this season, but won't make it to next.

jpen1 wrote:There is no way that 316L stainless corroded that fast and pitted like that unless the metal was contaminated......

It was 304 stainless. They must have changed materials after their other ones came back looking like mine.

ceccil wrote:Smitty, did you have cold water running through your coils all summer? ...........

Yeah, just left the water in. That's what caused the condensation, more than likely. Next time I'll have to remove them for the summer, along with the chimney connector pipe.

jpen1 wrote:Smitty I just checked hilkoil's site. Those coils are guranteed for life to the original owner. They advertise them as 316L but 316L will not delaminate like that in a sulphuric and nitric acid based environment.

Nice! Thanks for the info. I'll be contacting them today & I'll let you all know how it goes.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 10:40 am

Sending them back today by request. I sent pics to them & they said they haven't seen anything like this in 30 years!

I think he thought I gave them an acid bath & sandblasting to clean them from his reply!

He says they need to determine what happened....

I'll keep ya posted......

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Fri. Oct. 23, 2009 12:08 pm

OK, now I'm getting a little pissed off....

Returned the coils on the 14th, tracking info says they got there on the 16th - 1 week ago today. How long does it take to tell me YES they will be covered, or NO - even though it states we have a lifetime warranty??? Called them Tues. & someone there says the owner is going to email me that day -- well here I am 3 EMAILS LATER & no response!

Meanwhile I've got a stove sitting idle with 4 3/4" holes in the side!!

Why is it that I always get mixed up in these situations?????

kzad · Post by **kzad** » Fri. Oct. 23, 2009 4:25 pm

You're not the only one...mine looked the same as yours. I didn't send it back, but based on my description he gave me $25 off a new coil. I could have, and maybe should have argued, but like you I had a stove with holes in it and no other source for a replacement coil. I'll make sure I pull it as soon as the stove cools off in the spring this time, and I suggested to him that he add that advice to his instruction sheet. I will be mailing in my warranty registration and saving my receipt (I did neither for the first coil) in case this happens again.

wlape3 · Post by **wlape3** » Fri. Oct. 23, 2009 4:52 pm

In the PC industry what I have seen is if you have a warranty return for a critical component like the hard drive or power supply they will ship you a new one before receiving the old one provided you give them a credit card charge number. They will not charge your card unless they do not receive the part back within the specified amount of time. I have successfully done this twice with a Seagate hard drive. It would be nice to see a similar program in the stove industry.

traderfjp · Post by **traderfjp** » Fri. Oct. 23, 2009 8:25 pm

You can get metal plugs and run it until you get the new coils. Go to Ace andyour helpful hardware man with assisst you.

Paulie · Post by **Paulie** » Fri. Oct. 23, 2009 11:45 pm

Do you have a lake in your basement? The coil looks like it was brought up from a ship wreck! WD-40 does not have the
staying power. I had really good luck with marine fogging oil. I use fluid film on my boat motor(external only) and it works
amazingly well too. Smells like a wet wool sweater....could be worse. The pitting looks pretty bad, a pressure test is in order,
having the coil let go would be the end of the stove.