Laars 9600HWG

jeb

Is there places that could repair a hole in this copper coil?

pete_22

Laars HWG 9600

I have a 2 Laars HWG9600 199,000 BTU boilers feeding 3 120 gallon storage tanks in a coin Laundromat. The units are 8 years old and one of them have devoloped a hole in the coil. The coil cost $1750-$1900 depending where I buy it from. I am not going to dump that type of money into this boiler. Does anyone have a suggestion for me? What should I replace it with?
thanks

Perry_2

Information on Laars HWG 9600

I can't offer direct advice; but I thought that I would post the information on this boiler so other people can.

Upon review of the literature: This boiler has a "Primary" finned copper tube coil with a SS "economizer" coil which then handles the condensation.

Do you know if it is the copper coil that is leaking or the SS coil that is leaking?

If you have pictures - I'd love to see how the copper tubes are finned (attached fins - or "rolled" integral fins - called lowfin by some).


Info below from: www.laars.com/products.htm


9600 HWG


Hot Water Generator

Reduce your customers operating costs by up to 40% when you replace their conventional water heater with Laars HWG. Return on investment is quick and substantial.
The HWG is a low mass, condensing water heater that utilizes a stainless steel economizer tube to achieve operating efficiencies of up to 96%. The low mass heat exchanger eliminates standby and radiation losses typically suffered by chimney vented, tank type water heaters.

It has a direct vented , room sealed, combustion system and weighs just 222 lbs. It can be installed on combustible floors and requires just 1" clearance from the jacket and 0" clearance from the venting! These features ensure that the HWG can be installed just about anywhere.

If you are concerned about the environment, you will be glad to know that the HWG has less than 20ppm of Nitrous Oxide (NOx) in its exhaust by comparison with the 200 ppm present in the average water heater's exhaust.

HWGs are constructed to strict Quality Control standards with every single boiler being test fired at the factory prior to shipment.

So, if you have a requirement for a high volume of domestic hot water, the HWG is the obvious answer. Not only


A series of documenation is downloadable from the site.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Absolutly. If your heating guy can not do it try your ac guy. They are good at brazing copper as they do it all the time.


Ed

pete_22

coil

I am going to drop the coil out and pressure test with air and and see if my A/C friend can braze it. I guess its worth a shot.

Perry_2

Carefull...

If this is what I call a "low fin" tube - with the fins formed as part of the tube: you need to be carfull on repairs. When these tubes crack - the cracks usually form from the base of the fin into the tube - and they form all over.

While the coil may only be leaking in one spot. Brazing might open up more cracks in other spots, and continued service would likely finish the cracks elsewhere.

If you can pull the coil out - why not just replace it if it is leaking. The boiler seems fairly efficient; and anything you would replace it with is going to be a lot more money. Is the boiler running well otherwise?

Perry

pete_22

repair

Well I am not sure if I will be selling the place soon. A new unit is $4250 and the coil I priced between $1750-$1900 plus I was told I need to replace the insulation. So Im not sure what to do yet.
thanks