Custom designs stainless steel

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Vossy1 said:
I would want the bottom of the coil the same as the top, not as shown

What's the reasoning behind having the coils bent that way Vossy? - I am assuming from the picture that you intend replacing the copper coil in your heat exchanger with a SS one but surely if the ends point up and down you will have a problem with the glass lid of the HE??
 
What's the reasoning behind having the coils bent that way Vossy? - I am assuming from the picture that you intend replacing the copper coil in your heat exchanger with a SS one but surely if the ends point up and down you will have a problem with the glass lid of the HE??

The present coil has one end bent down (bottom feed) and one bent sideways(top feed). The right angled tube of the sideways bent tube is about 30mm long, and as it was soft copper, I could bend it inwards slightly in the pot to get it to come out through a hole I had drilled in it's side wall. I don't think I will be able to bend steel tube so easily so that's why I'm thinking about getting it made bent upwards. The pots lid ic polycarbonate (or some sort of plastic) so I could drill it.
That would still leave me with the problem of relocating the PT100 though :hmm:

The other option is to replace the soldered elbow in the present coil (see pic)with a JG speedfit elbow to come out of the side of the pot...that's plan B and it's sounding more feasable/less hassle right now.

Manu is not sure whether the steel can be bent at such a tight right angle, he's going to get back to me on that one.
 
Vossy1 said:
Manu is not sure whether the steel can be bent at such a tight right angle.
It can . . . The place I have been sending emails is W E Bates who have a lot of coils on their site . . . but don't want to get back to me though :(

What is Crazy though is having looked at the address its in the same village that we used to hold the UK Homebrew Flocculations in . . . Rhyno has moved though or I would have asked him to go down in person and give them some ear ache
 
Here's Vossy's stainless coil :

PICT0275.jpg


PICT0274.jpg
 
A quick review of the coil above which Manu made for me.
The item was made exactly to my specifications. The coils are slightly flattened from circular, I expect that is due to the very small diameter of the coils, or the way it was coiled, but this has no detriment to it's operation, and it's certainly not a critisism. I was expecting 'standard' elbows to be used for the coils inlet and outlet feeds, but Manu chose to weld the pipe, cut at the respective angles. The resulting welds on the 'elbows' are quite tidy on the exterior, and internally they are even better(what I can see of them). I can't give feedback on the quality of the steel, as that will only come through use, but I will update this post when the coil has been used for a while.
The coil arrived very quickly and it was well wrapped for transport.

I'd like to thank manu for making the item, and for his excellent comm's throughout. I received pictures during the construction to check that everything was as I wanted it, and Manu even spotted something which I had missed.
He really is a pleasure to deal with :clap:
 
A quick update on the coil. I initially placed the coil in the heat exchanger and after a day I inspected it. A few rust spots started appearing here and there. I decided to take the coil out of the HE and grind it down where the spots appeared. The impurities in the metal were quickly apparent, and some were quite deep, but I managed to grind them out.
I left the coil exposed to air for 48 hours and placed it back in the HE, which was filled with water once again. 2 months later and no rust. I can't say if there are any rust spots on the inside of the tube, I would hope not, but it's always possible, and more than likely, if there were some on the outside. I'm not too concerned at the moment, and based on my 'normal' use, I may have no need to ever be concerned.....fingers crossed.
 
Vossy1 said:
A quick update on the coil. I initially placed the coil in the heat exchanger and after a day I inspected it. A few rust spots started appearing here and there. I decided to take the coil out of the HE and grind it down where the spots appeared. The impurities in the metal were quickly apparent, and some were quite deep, but I managed to grind them out.
I left the coil exposed to air for 48 hours and placed it back in the HE, which was filled with water once again. 2 months later and no rust. I can't say if there are any rust spots on the inside of the tube, I would hope not, but it's always possible, and more than likely, if there were some on the outside. I'm not too concerned at the moment, and based on my 'normal' use, I may have no need to ever be concerned.....fingers crossed.
Hi Vossy,
Thanks for the feedback. one day for rust spots seems very quick, I guess they were there before but hidden by the polishing compound. What was the pH ?
 
Hi Vossy,
Thanks for the feedback. one day for rust spots seems very quick, I guess they were there before but hidden by the polishing compound. What was the pH ?

Hi Manu, The coil was immersed in tap water around PH 7.2. There was no depth to the spots just surface colour, but it would have developed if left. There were visible particles in the steel where it hapened. Hope that helps :thumb:
 
I could finally find 304 pipes, should your coil (made of 201 stainless steel) become unusable, i 'll send you one made of 304 at no cost.

Cheers
 

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