Recommendations on a good copper fin boiler - Mad Dog

Mad Dog_2

Hey you'll its been awhile.  Have to quote a million btu copper fin boiler - atmospheric....any suggestions.  Mad Dog

Unknown

Hi Matt!,,

great to see your post! ;-)

When you mention "a good copper fin boiler", these come to my mind first!

http://www.hotwater.com/products/boilers.html

Take Care old friend.

The Steam Whisperer (Formerly Boilerpro)

It's been awhile but....

I have been least impressed with Lochinvar, teledyene so..so,  however, Raypack really seemed to have its act together at least with the older models I've worked with.  Things like 10 to 1 downturn with well designed burners (on atmospheric), solid construction and also being honest about and addressing the limitations of the copper tube design.   Many companies claimed that copper tubes can run at lower temps than CI... the opposite appears to be true and Raypack never made these exaggerated and untrue claims.  Unfortunately, they are not well represented in my market any more. 

eluv8

Great Copper Fin Boilers

If you are looking for a Vertical Copper Fin I would put in a Harsco PK. Thermific or Modufire. The Thermific is on/off or Lo/hi/lo and the Modufire is 5-1 Turndown. Very easy to work on, and really if its installed right not much to go wrong on them. Its not uncommon to find buildings with these boilers that are 15+ years and still running great some with very poor maintenance practices even. It drives me crazy to see some of these service reports on boilers that have gone 4+ years without ever seeing a service on a commercial building.



The Modufire is 88% due to the 5-1 so it will require Category IV venting. The Thermific is 85% so it is Harsco/PK approved for B-Vent but I still prefer to vent it Category IV as well unless  precautions are taken to ensure that natural draft will help keep it dried out.

Mad Dog_2

Thank you fellas

Have any of you heard of a brand called National Combustion out of Jamaica Queens, Long Island.?   Mad Dog

Mark Eatherton

Mathew!!

Good to see you're still around. Missed your words and wit.



I concur with BP, Raypak is the best CFT in my years of experience, and even at that, they to will eventually burn themselves up. The lower steel frame assemblies on all CFT boilers suffer degradation from the reflected radiant energy, and expedited refractory tile failure, which leads to additional upper sheet metal component failure.



I guess so long as all parties concerned are aware of these items, you have nothing to lose, but this is NOT a 50 year boiler. It's more like a 15 year boiler on the outside.



I have zero experience with the boiler you spoke of...



Good to see you my friend. Don't be a stranger :-)



How's the family? Your youngun's must be growing like weeds,



ME

Larry Weingarten

Just so you know...

... I don't have a clue about the best boiler unless there is an anode in it.  Simply glad to see you back!



Yours,  Larry

hot_rod

they have all had good and bad

years, and models on the market.



The main ones I have used are Lochinvar, much improved, Laars, Raypak. RBI is another brand that is getting attention.



As always the support from the dealer, rep, and manufacturer are a big part of the choice.



hr

tim smith

RE: best copper fin boiler

Hands down for basic hot water copper fin boiler is AO SMITH HW series boilers. No refractory, simple stainless tube burner, tried and true.  Use a hw 670 and HW 420. These boilers are bullet proof for simplicity. We mainly use them for potable hot water jobs. We have worked on them for 30+ yrs. The no refractory is the big benefit. Refractory board breaks down, the retainer clips and burner racks corrode from heat and fail. All the associated parts get expensive. AO Smith always keeps the coils and hxrs available even 15 to 20 yrs down the road. They work fine for heating but I figure why when we have modcon Prestige boilers available. Good luck, Tim

bob young

natco

that brand is used in some laundramats. you can deal direct with manufacturer . located in jamaica.   how goes it bro ?  bob young

Henry

CFT

In tyhe 1,000,000 BTU and more atmospheric, there are only two that stand out: Raypak and RBI. We have installed many of each and some Laars. The Laars don't seem to cuti it as long and the assembly and wiring is amateurish. I have been to their assembly plants as well as most manufacutrers. RBI has the neatest and cleannest assembly. We took a 1.2 million completly apart to replace a Laars that was pourly installed and had the wrong pumps that were also pourly installed. Our guys loved the simplicity  and neat clean wiring. They took it apart and put it together in the space of one day. It also has 4 stages that can be easily controlled by a four stage Tekamar. I will try to post somepictures soon.

Henry

eluv8

Am I the only one

that likes the PK.



The Modufire is 5-1 and does not need Tekmar with the ENVI control it does everything standard.



As for simple, take a look how the thermific and modufire are built. Talk about easy to work on. If you have not had the oportunity to open one up yet its a pretty cool design.



I can pull a burner for cleaning in a couple of minutes. Literally a couple of screws to pull the top off, a union for the gas line, 4 nuts that hold the burner down, spark wire, UV sensor or flame rod unhooked, and your done lift burner straight up and out.

Mad Dog_2

Thanks for all the info and comments

Family is well and growing, thanks.   This boiler must be atmospheric, so that limits many of the models.  I'm still looking.  Thank you again.  Mad Dog