Hot water coil or side arm?

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mikeyny

Feeling the Heat
Nov 16, 2007
294
upstate ny
I just re- plumbed my old tarm boiler after moving it inside to my basement. It used to be out in the detatched garage. I need to do some thing for domestic hot water. I used to use part of an old steel boiler with a coil in it as a side arm but it's just too shabby now. Once again I would like to do this on the low budget side. Can someone direct me to the home made "tube in tube" thread. I may try to build one. If I remember correctly there are several different ways to fabricate one. Are there any other ways to do it other than the traditional flat plate hx?
Mike
 
I just bought pipe at HD and sweated it all together, my inside pipe is 3/4, and the outer is 1 1/4, the inner pipe on mine is the DHW pipe. my shell heater is a preheater for a tankless hot water heater.
I found I couldn't get the whole joint hot a once, I had to work around the joints with the torch and solder. I also bent the cold water (middle) pipe slightly so when the cold water made the inner pipe shrink it wouldn't put tension on the ends. I read somewhere on here about someone making their own and that the ends kept failing from thermal differences.
here is a thread with pics.https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/8168/P0/

also http://ecorenovator.org/forum/solar-hot-water/636-diy-solar-hot-water-heat-exchanger.html
shows someone making one.
 
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