homemade copper coils

[NHFarmer]

I have been working on my Tarm install for about a month or so and I must admit this project is costing a small fortune.I decided to go with a 1000 Gallon storage tank and copper coil HX.I bought 300' of 1/2" type L copper in 20'sticks.I am bending them into 20" diam.coils,4 in total,1"manifold between them .The bending is going ok but they sure look ugly.What I am trying to figure out is how to support them,they want to fall over and the 1/2" pipe isn't doing a good job of holding the mess together.Also some coils are touching each other,will vibration be a problem?I am now thinking maybe a pvc cage to hold it all together?Anyone have any Ideas??

 

[Bad Wolf]

Have a look at Kevins set up, he did a right smart job.
(broken link removed to http://picasaweb.google.com/pittman.jim/KevinSBoilerWorks?authkey=apvdOuoreyAdMc9MtlxgAJy5Yk8)

NOTE: I fixed the link it.

I just made my first coil based on his design, 3 50' coils of 3/4" refrigeration tubing, wound 22" dia. 43" tall. I supported them using 1/2 pvc pipe with holes drilled every 1 5/8" and a bunch of zip ties.
A couple of unions, 2 adapters 5/8" to 3/4" (refrigeration tubing is smaller than plumbing pipe), 2 90's and some straight 3/4 pipe and I had a very nice heat exchanger. It even held 60 psi over night! Now to make the other 3.

Greg H
Tarm excell 2000
1200 gallons storage
6 solar panels

 

[kevindauch]

Hi NHFarmer,
I've been installing my Solo40 and am almost near the end too. I can agree with you on the cost and time it took to install, I also replaced my manifold.
I purchased the tank from STSS. The coils that they ship have 3 pieces of copper tubing running perpendicular to the coils. About every 4'th coil is soldered or braised to the 3 vertical tubes. They attach 1 tube to the end of the coil for the return.

 

[WoodNotOil]

(broken link removed to http://woodnotoil.googlepages.com/constructionlog) (about halfway down)

I wove copper wire that I ripped out of some old electrical wiring up two sides to help support it. A CPVC frame can also help or soldering to vertical copper if you have scrap around. I didn't want to buy extra copper just for that purpose.

 

[NHFarmer]

Thanks for all the input,I like the cpvc idea.Still experimenting

 

[Bad Wolf]

I just realized the link I posted above didn't work. I couldn't check it from work, big brother won't let me go to photo archive sites.
I've fixed it so you can go to Kevins page. Here it is again.


(broken link removed to http://picasaweb.google.com/pittman.jim/KevinSBoilerWorks?authkey=apvdOuoreyAdMc9MtlxgAJy5Yk8)

Greg H

 

[NHFarmer]

Greg
Thanks for the link.I only wish my coils looked half as good as his do.Looks like he has put a lot of time into his system.

 

[Bad Wolf]

It really wasn't that hard. The one mistake I made was soldering the next 50 ft coil together as I finished the first one so at the end I was chasing 150' of tubing around and the loops kept growing on me. I was able to even things out later as I tied the coils to my pvc pipe. For the next one I'll try making 3 seperate 50'coils then joining them.
I have to stop being anal about keeping the coils +-.050 in. They're going into a tank of water for crying out out loud.

But seeing Kevins set up saved me hours of experimenting.

Greg H

 

[babalugatz]

I have been working on my Tarm install for about a month or so and I must admit this project is costing a small fortune.I decided to go with a 1000 Gallon storage tank and copper coil HX.I bought 300' of 1/2" type L copper in 20'sticks.I am bending them into 20" diam.coils,4 in total,1"manifold between them .The bending is going ok but they sure look ugly.What I am trying to figure out is how to support them,they want to fall over and the 1/2" pipe isn't doing a good job of holding the mess together.Also some coils are touching each other,will vibration be a problem?I am now thinking maybe a pvc cage to hold it all together?Anyone have any Ideas??

goog god man, you 'bent' coppper to make coils?

softroll copper in 50-100' rolls (coiled, don't you know)

 

[NHFarmer]

Yea but look at the money I saved! If I could do it again I think I would look at other options Too much work and not a lot of fun