Hot Water Coil in a DVC-500???

DVC 500 Burner · Post by **DVC 500 Burner** » Thu. Nov. 06, 2014 12:12 pm

Bumping this up since I just bought a DVC 500 and want to install a coil. How is this working? Are you satisfied with it? What is the typical temp rise across the coil and at what flow rate?

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Thu. Nov. 06, 2014 1:41 pm

Ole *CraigZ* is missing in action...Last visited: Tue Apr 12, 2011

DVC 500 Burner · Post by **DVC 500 Burner** » Fri. Nov. 07, 2014 12:25 pm

McGiever wrote:Ole *CraigZ* is missing in action...Last visited: Tue Apr 12, 2011

Oh geez.... that's unfortunate. Anyone know what size tubing is usually used for these coils? looks to be about 3/4"??

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Fri. Nov. 07, 2014 4:26 pm

DVC 500 Burner wrote:
McGiever wrote:Ole *CraigZ* is missing in action...Last visited: Tue Apr 12, 2011
Oh geez.... that's unfortunate. Anyone know what size tubing is usually used for these coils? looks to be about 3/4"??

Bigger is better if going thermosphion. 1" would be my choice, and then reduce it at the coil, if necessary.

cn670 · Post by **cn670** » Fri. Nov. 07, 2014 5:40 pm

Drill size is 1 1/8 " , thread is 3/4". My suggestion is circulator pump only.

CraigZ · Post by **CraigZ** » Fri. Nov. 07, 2014 8:35 pm

I'm still here....reading almost daily but not posting.

I hate to admit it but I never hooked up the coil. Between the posts from the guy that had problems with his coil to other's comments on that limited amount of hot water that was generated from a coil, I could never justify the cost of the copper and fittings to make it happen. I'm still using the DVC-500 and love it. Keeping the house at 75 to 80 all winter long (which makes the wife happy) for less than $400 is one of the best decisions I ever made.

Craig

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Fri. Nov. 07, 2014 10:27 pm

I was the guy that had issues with Hilkoil. It's been a few years but it still boils my blood when I think about it. Those arrogant pricks just couldn't accept the fact that their coils were complete and utter piles of *censored*, and accused me of "improper" cleaning ( WTF does than mean with SS ???), and cleaning them in acid ...

What a bunch of *censored*!

If you look closely at this pic, you will see the CHINESE or Malasian names on their coils they were selling for $250, advertised as "Made in America", and with a "lifetime" warranty. Made in America by Kanzen Tetsu???

Good luck getting any warranty help out of those crooks.

Here's the coils less than a year later before I WIRE WHEELED them clean ....

cn670 · Post by **cn670** » Sat. Nov. 08, 2014 6:34 am

The 1st coil I purchased was 2007. Looks nothing like your photos , your pipe has no 304L stamping. I've made a ton of hot water in the magnum. Fast forward to last week I purchased 2 additional coils for radiant floor project in the house, the new pipe is manufactured in India with 304L stamp ..... Not like the original with USA 304....

DVC 500 Burner · Post by **DVC 500 Burner** » Wed. Nov. 12, 2014 10:03 pm

Hey all, I'm new on here with a DVC 500 and am looking to do a coil install.

I agree that it would best for the HILKOIL material and bending to be performed in the USA but what is the alternative? I contacted Therma-coil.com and they only make U-bends now, no W bends or anything else! Also, their material is now 304SS where I think it used to be 316SS. I looked into SS tubing and mandrel benders but they are insanely expensive and I could not find one with a tight radius like the one HILKOIL must use.

Unfortunately, if you're looking for anything other than a U-bend, Hilkoil has a corner on this niche market. And 304 stainless is very corrosion RESISTANT but definitely not corrosion PROOF. 316 has better corrosion qualities but is obviously more expensive so thats probably why Hilkoil doesn't use it.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Wed. Nov. 12, 2014 11:10 pm

I've been told by people that know metal, that the differences between 304 & 316, in my instance, are very small - I would have had similar results with 316. None of Hilkoil's stuff had an L suffix - I don't know why I had mentioned that in one of my old threads .... might've been on their website at the time - they lied about their warranty, so this wouldn't surprise me one bit.

I will say this though - if it comes down to getting a "U" coil from an HONEST guy, or a "W" coil from a bunch of CROOKS, I'll go with a "U" coil any day of the week!!

It's your money .... but I wouldn't give Hilkoil a dime if their lives depended on it.

jpete · Post by **jpete** » Wed. Nov. 12, 2014 11:19 pm

SMITTY wrote:I've been told by people that know metal, that the differences between 304 & 316, in my instance, are very small - I would have had similar results with 316. None of Hilkoil's stuff had an L suffix - I don't know why I had mentioned that in one of my old threads .... might've been on their website at the time - they lied about their warranty, so this wouldn't surprise me one bit.

I will say this though - if it comes down to getting a "U" coil from an HONEST guy, or a "W" coil from a bunch of CROOKS, I'll go with a "U" coil any day of the week!!

It's your money .... but I wouldn't give Hilkoil a dime if their lives depended on it.

The "L" just means lower carbon.

http://www.finishing.com/143/56.shtml

It's less magnetic and hardening through heat treating is more difficult.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Wed. Nov. 12, 2014 11:28 pm

Ahh that was an interesting read! The L just has lower carbon, and won't corrode when welded. I'll have to remember that.

With coils, welding is not an issue, so L wouldn't make a difference one way or the other as far as corrosion goes.

DVC 500 Burner · Post by **DVC 500 Burner** » Thu. Nov. 13, 2014 9:02 am

SMITTY wrote:I've been told by people that know metal, that the differences between 304 & 316, in my instance, are very small - I would have had similar results with 316. None of Hilkoil's stuff had an L suffix - I don't know why I had mentioned that in one of my old threads .... might've been on their website at the time - they lied about their warranty, so this wouldn't surprise me one bit.

I will say this though - if it comes down to getting a "U" coil from an HONEST guy, or a "W" coil from a bunch of CROOKS, I'll go with a "U" coil any day of the week!!

It's your money .... but I wouldn't give Hilkoil a dime if their lives depended on it.

I am trying to avoid Hilkoil but mainly because of the price. I'm not punching 10+ holes in my stove and cobbling together a bunch of U-bends just because thermo-coil won't make anything else anymore. If anyone knows of another company that makes these or can make them, let me know.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Thu. Nov. 13, 2014 9:23 am

Don't sell the U coil short - they can make alot of heat. You could always tie 2 of them in series as I did with my Mark III.

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Thu. Nov. 13, 2014 10:12 am

What makes one stainless steel better than the next is it's amount of nickel.
More nickel = less iron....less iron = less rust [iron oxide]

More Nickel = More $$$$

Hikoil is in business to make a profit, cannot make profit w/o making sales.
With 316 SS, sales are very slow...slow profits.
With 304 SS, sales are better...better profits.

The other coil maker stopped making the "W"...do you see a pattern here?

How much do you want to spend?