Vertical vs horizontal coil

D

Doug Dahlke

New member
Why do some manufactures make thier coil stacks vertical while others are horizontal? Is there a performance difference between the two? Does one last longer than the other?
 
I was told by Hotsy that the vertical coil is more thermally efficient so that is why they are vertical.

I was told by Landa that the horizontal coil is more efficient so that is why they are horizontal.

I was told by other salesmen for other brands when I was looking for a rig to buy in the beginning that the horizontal coils are less expensive to make and install so that is why they are more common.

I do not know who to believe but you know that hot air rises and cold air falls so it kind of makes sense that if you have a vertical coil, the hot air will rise up where in the horizontal coil, maybe the heat will not heat all of the coils???

I wish I knew the answer too.





_________________
Superior Power Washing<O:p</O:p
Chris Chappell<O:p</O:p
Exterior House Cleaning in Corpus Christi Texas
 
LP burners are vertical, with a fan blown diesel it seems they should work the same either direction, would it be easier for 'stuff' to settle in the vertical?
 
It is my opinion they are vertical or horizontal based on space requirements. Since heat rises it would seem that a verticle coil would be more efficent since the residual heat coming up from the burner could be absorbed over the entire vericle length of the coil rather than passing thru it once and out of the unit.
 
The only real advantage that I've ever seen of having a horizontal burner is: if the coil ruptures or you get caught in a downpour, your burner assembly won't get full of water and destroy electrical components.
 
Maybe I just don't get around enough, but all of the vertical heaters I have seen (or had) were on 12 volt systems. As far as water getting in when it rains, I added a pie plate (painted it black) on a hinge to the one I had. Worked great and would flip open if I forgot. A small hole under the coil will prevent a major accumulation.
 
tried them bowth and no real diff.
 
John Orr said:
Maybe I just don't get around enough, but all of the vertical heaters I have seen (or had) were on 12 volt systems. As far as water getting in when it rains, I added a pie plate (painted it black) on a hinge to the one I had. Worked great and would flip open if I forgot. A small hole under the coil will prevent a major accumulation.
Click to expand...

My burner is vertical and on a 120v system. It came with a wire cage around the top with a solid cap to protect from rain. This is the only machine I have had so I don't know how well a horizontal burner would work.
 
I had both burners. I believe that horizontal burns will hold the heat better. The vertical burner has a diffuser that tries to "Hold the Heat" from rising directly up out of the boiler. This plate tends to get burned through and needs to be replaced after, so many long hours of use, to keep the efficiency in the vertical burner from losing heat. I also noticed a much quieter burner in the horizontal assemblies. At night, I see less heat (waivery heated air) heat exhaust as well. The vertical units tend to warm up the air in a garage much faster then our vertical units under same conditions.

( The Boilers we tested was a Vertical 560,000 BTU Boiler VS our 1.1 million Horizontal Burner) The vertical had the greatest heat loss.


Thats my 2 cents !!
 
I have been looking at various manufacturer boilers, they seem to be the "black hole" of hot pressure washers.

From what I have seen thus far the down draft burners pictured are the most efficient. Mighty-M unfortunately have them available in low flow applications. Karcher has it too (see video clip of operation under, 'pays for itself in fuel savings" in the link below)

http://www.karchercommercial.com/Default.aspx

The Landa's however utilize 2 for high flow applications (not sure if they are in "series chain" or "split flow parallel").

http://landa.com/docs/Pdf_files/SDD_Prod_Sht.pdf
 

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Chris, think of a torch, the pressure of the fuel sends the flame away from the ignition source.

Same concept for the diesel burners, the flame propagates downward into the combustion chamber. The flame propagation is a function of of many inputs. Burner orientation, fuel type, fuel pressure, fan draft, nozzle size and pattern, the aerodynamics in the chamber etc, etc.......

Although your thinking the flame would not get to the bottom, it does, so much so that it is worth putting insulation at the bottom to prevent heat loss and also to reflect the heat back inward to the fired chamber.

The other thing is the dual coil design, not all burners are dual coil, the thermal efficiency is higher with a dual coil design. The industry calls it a cold water jacket.

This link shows just how far about 100psi of fuel pressure and burner fan rpm send the diesel flame in the open air (at about 2 mins into) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeCkSJOOJDQ&feature=channel_page

Could someone tell me how to put the video in the post. Thanks!!
 
I might get another smack up side the head, if my wife seems me on the computer with any more pressure washer research for 2009, 7 months on the web looking at rigs getting quotes calling manufactures, taking to moderators like you Jim, thanks again for your insight. That aint the half of it, still have chems, marketing, pricing, etc,......., I just dig to deep. I love the mechanical side of it , the rest I could have someone else do..............

Lots of pics of the redesigned rig Jim...please ...........Maybe even a walk around video..............
 
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