Replacing Carrier Chilled Water Coils

For HVAC professionals, replacing Carrier chilled water coils is a task that demands precision. One miscalculation in dimensions, connection types, or circuit configurations can turn a straightforward replacement into a significant challenge, leading to delays and complications like compromised airflow or customer callbacks.

Why Precision Is Critical

Carrier chilled water coils are engineered with extremely precise specifications. Even the slightest deviation can result in issues such as:

  • Airflow Restrictions: A poor fit can obstruct air movement, affecting system efficiency.
  • Inefficient Heat Transfer: Suboptimal coils may lead to inadequate cooling performance and increased energy costs.
  • Connection Misalignment: Mismatched connections complicate the installation process and can lead to leaks or failures.
  • Extended Installation Times: Inaccuracies often necessitate additional rework, wasting valuable time on the job site.

It’s crucial to explain the importance of attention to detail to your clients. A so-called “replacement” coil that doesn’t meet specifications can inadvertently introduce new problems rather than solving the existing ones.

The Capital Coil Advantage

In the world of HVAC, many coil manufacturers overlook the significance of these specifications, opting for oversimplified solutions that can create headaches later on.

Here’s where Capital Coil steps in. Whether you have:chilled water coil

  • A clear model tag
  • A partial number
  • Or even just a worn-out coil

We have the expertise to provide a reliable solution. Our team has extensive experience manufacturing the coil types you depend on daily, ensuring you receive high-quality products.

Cross-Referencing Capabilities

In many cases, we can cross-reference Carrier coil models accurately, thanks to our comprehensive manufacturing history. If direct cross-referencing isn’t feasible, we can also work from the drawings you provide, creating a custom solution that meets your precise requirements.

Take-aways 

Replacing a Carrier chilled water coil doesn’t have to be a gamble. By collaborating with Capital Coil, you gain a reliable partner who understands the critical elements of the job: ensuring a perfect fit, optimizing performance, and getting the installation right the first time. 

For additional information or to discuss your specific coil replacement needs, feel free to reach out to the Capital Coil team. Let us help you streamline your projects and enhance your HVAC services!

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What Is Meant By A “Bank” Of Chilled Water Coils

For those that work with HVAC installations on a regular basis, you have run across the problem of needing to install new chilled water coils in very tight, confined areas. The coil is too big to fit in the Chilled Water Coilselevator, and/or the HVAC room is so small that you are likely to damage the coil simply by moving it. As a solution to this challenge, chilled water coils are often installed in “banks” of coils. You are most likely to see this configuration in Air Handler Units, as well as “built-up” systems. Due to face velocity limitations across the coil, you will need larger coils in order to meet your required face area. With this in mind, there are a few specific reasons why you want to avoid having a single, large coil in one of your units.  Starting with the obvious: larger coils are much more difficult to transfer and install. This is especially true for older buildings, where the rooms were essentially built around the HVAC system.

As you’ve probably experienced, some of these areas can barely fit a single person, so installation – if even possible – is a logistical nightmare. Also, the larger the coil, the easier it is to damage during transport to the jobsite. To avoid these issues, simply break down the single, larger coil into smaller coils. When piped together, those smaller coils are stacked into “banks” of coils in the system. If installed correctly, this “bank” should have the same performance as the larger, single coil.

Casing

There are many different casing options available, but “stackable” flanges are required for heavy chilled water coils that are “banked”. The flanges are often inverted inward and down to give added strength to the casing, which is needed due to the fact that another coil of equal weight will be stacked on top of it. When ordering coils in a “bank” configuration, be sure to let the manufacturer know that they will be “stacked”.

Many engineers also use stainless steel casings on chilled water coils. While more expensive than traditional galvanized steel, stainless steel protects against excessively wet coils and/or corrosive elements in the airstream. Keep in mind that the majority of coils fail because of old age and its casing, as opposed to failure with the coil’s core. With that in mind, doesn’t it make sense to select heavy-duty stainless steel casings that are more durable and meant for stackable installations?

Drain Pans & Water Carryover

Water Coils

All chilled water coils must be sized so that the face velocity across the coil does not exceed 550 ft/minute. Water on the outside of the coil is carried away from the coil’s leaving air side in an arc, while water in the highest point of the coil is carried further down the unit or ductwork. “Stackable” coils often require intermediate drain pans under each coil to catch the excess water carryover. Each coil in a bank requires its own drain pan, as a single, large pan under the bottom coil is not enough.

Circuiting/GPM

If all of the coils in a “bank” are of equal size and handling the same CFM, then the GPM of each coil will also be the same.

Always feed the bottom connection on the supply header on the leaving air side of the coil. This ensures counter air and water flow. This also prevents the coil from short circuiting because the header fills first and circuits all of the tubes equally.

Designing Banks Of Coils

Almost all coil “banks” perform more efficiently if you design something more square in shape, as opposed to long and/or high. In a “bank” of coils, you may find that one coil has points of 300 ft/minute, with other points at 800 ft/minute. Scenarios such as this will cause water-carryover! You generally want to be as close to 550 ft/minute as possible in order to allow equal airflow distribution across the face area of the coil.

Anytime you are designing and/or building coils, work closely with the manufacturer as an added resource to ensure that you are getting the ideal solution for your HVAC system. Capital Coil & Air works on similar jobs such as these daily, and we welcome the opportunity to work with you in whatever capacity is needed.

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10 Things To Know About Chilled Water Coils

Chilled Water Coil

1. Hot or chilled water coils are still water coils. There is really no difference between hot water coils and a chilled water coils in construction. Hot water coils are usually 1 or 2 rows and chilled water coils are usually 3 to 12 rows deep.

2. The vast majority of chilled water coils are constructed from either 1/2″ OD tubes or 5/8″ OD tubes. A lot of that depends on the tooling of the original equipment manufacturer and what is more economical. Either size can be used and substituted for each other, which makes replacing your coil that much easier.

3. 1/2″ Tubes are on 1.25″ center to center distance. 5/8″ tubes are on 1.5″ center to center distance. For example, if a chilled water coil has a 30″ fin height, there will be (24) 1/2″ tubes per row or (20) 5/8″ tubes per row. The tube area of the coil is remarkably the same. They are almost interchangeable.

4. The quality of the coil often times is directly tied to the tube thickness. Many installations have water not treated properly or tube velocities that are too high. There are few perfect installations in real life. Increasing the tube wall thickness on a chilled water coil is a great way to ensure longer life.

5. Fins make great filters! Of course, they are not designed to be filters, but it happens. You can make any coil cheaper by making them 14 fins/inch with less rows rather than 8 or 10 fins/inch. Just remember that deep coils are very difficult to clean. Cheap is not the way to go most of the time!

6. Fins are designed for maximum heat transfer. They are much more complicated in design than they appear to be when looking at the chilled water coil. They are rippled on the edge to break up the air. They are corrugated throughout the depth of the fin. The tubes are staggered from row to row and the fin collars are extended. All of this to maximize heat transfer. Unfortunately, the byproduct of this is the fins can end up being great filters. Be careful in the design of any chilled water coil.

7. Fins are aluminum for a reason! They give you great heat transfer at an economical cost. You need a compelling reason to switch to copper fins as copper is very expensive, and you’re likely to double (or maybe triple) the cost of the coil. Coatings are popular for this very reason.

8. Many chilled water coils are built with 304 stainless steel casings. The casings are stronger, they last longer, they are stackable, and it’s fairly inexpensive. After all, what is the point of building the best coil possible and have the casing disintegrate over time around the coil? Sometimes, it’s money well spent!

9. Circuiting the coil is the tricky part of any coil. Circuiting is nothing more than the number of tubes that you want to feed from a header. There are two rules. You must keep the water velocity over 1 foot/second and below 6 feet/second. 3-4 feet/second is optimum. The second is the number of tubes that you feed must divide evenly into the number of tubes in the coil.

10. Replacing  your chilled water coil is easy. Rarely do you have to worry about the performance. When you replace a 20 year old coil, it is dirty and the fin/tube bond is not good. The coil is probably operating at 1/2 of its capacity at best. When you put a new coil on the job, your performance will automatically be terrific. Your main concern is now making the sure the coil physically fits in the space allowed. And always have this in the back of your mind: Smaller is always better than too large. Smaller you can always work with, whereas too large makes for a very ugly and expensive coffee table.

There you have it – everything you need to know about chilled water coils. Interested in learning more, please reach out to Capital Coil & Air! We look forward to the opportunity to be your coil replacement specialists!

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Cooling Coils & Moisture Carryover

Moisture carryover is present on cooling coils where dehumidification happens.  Many people do not think it’s a problem…until you have moisture running down ductwork or spewing all over the inside of an air handler. If you’ve ever experienced that then you probably know all of these rules regarding moisture carryover.

  • Entering air temperatures of 80/67 of return air in the Northeast carry far less moisture than an outside 95/78 entering air temperature in Florida. Outside air always has more moisture. Cooling Coils

    -Your location plays a part as well. The drain pans will absolutely have be sized differently. Florida’s will be much larger in size.

  • Fin design is irrelevant when it comes to moisture carryover. Whether you have copper corrugated fins, or aluminum flat fins, plate fins or even the old fashioned spiral fins, none of it has any effect on moisture carryover.
  • Lastly, be careful when installing a new chilled water or DX (Evaporator) Coils in a system. Many end users like to increase the airflow on older coils because those old coils can act like filters, the fins are covered in dirt/dust and you’re not getting the same airflow through the coil. This dirt on the coil also semi-prevents moisture carryover. When that brand new chilled water coil is installed, the airflow might be higher than that of 550 ft/minute, which of course will cause moisture carryover problems. 

Please give us a call with any questions about your coil, your system or its design. Capital Coil is here to help you avoid situations like the one described in this post, and we would love for the chance to work with you!

 

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Coil Costs: What Will Make Your HVAC Coils More Expensive?

We get questions all the time about how we build our HVAC coils, and what will add costs and what will not. This post will address the many inaccuracies other “mass production” manufacturers Hot Water Coilshave put out there. It’s very simple. There are only three areas on a coil that will add costs: the casing, the tubing, and the fins. Now we’ll deal with the many inaccuracies that most manufacturers try and “upsell” to you.

  • Connection sizes: There should be no additional cost switching from a 2” MPT connection to a 3” MPT connection. Only on rare cases with a 4” or 5” connection, should you ever see an adder in price.
  • Pitching the casing in a steam coil: All steam coils should be pitched. There is not some mysterious adder you need to pay to have you coil built the right way.
  • Casing depth and dimensions: Whether you want your coil 4” deep or 8“ deep, or want a 2” flange instead of a 1” flange, there should be no cost associated with simply more sheet metal.
  • Distributors on a DX Coil. This is our favorite. We actually had a call from a contractor who asked how much extra it was to get a distributor on his DX Coil. Distributors come standard with DX coils!
  • Flanges for “stackable” coils. This is just standard practice to meet the needs of your customer.

Coil Casing Adders: Most HVAC coils we manufacture are built with 16 ga. galvanized steel casing. We offer 3 other options that are slightly more expensive, but it all depends on your application if any of them are actually needed. Stainless steel casings are used in a corrosive atmosphere and are the most expensive option (even then, it’s only 10-15% more). 14 ga. galvanized steel casings are used primarily in coil banks where you might have between 2-4 coils stacked on one another. This adder for 14 ga. casing is only roughly 2-3% per coil.

Tubing Adders: There are many materials options in tubing and we offer all of them. Whether you need stainless steel, carbon steel, cupro-nickel, or standard copper tubes, we can build exactly what you need. Like any product, the more unusual the material, the more expensive the cost is. For most jobs with just copper tubes, adding a thicker tube wall will add only 10-15% in cost to the job and could double the life of your coil. For just a couple hundred dollars, that coil that would last 10 years could last 20. Some applications, like high pressure steam coils, require a thicker tube wall or more durable material or the life span of that coil will be extremely short. You’d be surprised at how many other manufacturers’ coils we’re asked to rebuild with the correct materials.

Fin Adders: Most coils are offered with aluminum fins with a thickness of .006”. The adders to go up in fin thickness are not much, but always remember, the thicker the fin, the more air pressure drop it’s going to add to your coil. The most costly adder you can do to a coil is adding copper fins. It will double the cost of your coil, and in some cases, be 2.5 to 3 times more expensive. This wasn’t the case 20 years ago, but the price of copper has risen over the last few years. We usually recommend coating your coils instead. It’s far more economical and only adds a week to the lead time.

Capital Coil & Air understands that people do business with you like and who you trust. Coil manufacturers should be an open book with this information. Unfortunately, most try and prey on what you don’t know. Hopefully, this helps with any confusion. Capital Coil & Air looks forward to working with you!

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Does Your HVAC Coil Selection Program Leave You With More Questions Than Answers?

At Capital Coil & Air, we have an accurate and user-friendly coil selection program to select and choose coils. Of course, making good selections is based on having years of experience working with coils of all types and sizes, and Coil Selection Programwe at Capital Coil have that necessary expertise.

When designing a coil, the object is to balance cost and performance together, and that is one area in which we can greatly assist. We do not always choose the cheapest coil because the cheapest coil in almost never the best coil. There are always pressure drops, materials of construction, performance requirements and a host of other things that all play into good or bad coil selections. These are even more relevant in the coil replacement market!

The object is not to duplicate a problem with a coil, but to instead solve the problem and make the coil perform better and last longer. This requires problem solving and making selections that are not always “in the box”.

Part of any successful selection process is having a good selection program to help you. But what makes a program good? First and foremost, you must get the correct results, or you have bad information that is also useless. But apart from that, the selection program must be easy to navigate through. There are “red lights” and “stop signs” built into the program to keep you from making bad selections. Our selection program has most, if not all, coil configurations and styles that you’re likely to run across. We are confident that you’ll find the selection program user-friendly, helpful, and one that makes you want to do business with Capital Coil & Air.

You simply have to click here to request the program, and we will send you an email in response with an activation code and a link to download the program. Of course we are always here to assist you in any selections that you make, or to give you some engineering suggestions and recommendations. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to help you!

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Stock Hot Water Coil – Quick Buyers Guide

Hot Water Coils

Depending on the specific project, selecting the appropriate Hot Water Coil can go one of two ways:  1) costly and complicated or 2) cheap and rather straight-forward. If you’re a representative or contractor reading this, you understand this fact all too well. And if you’ve dealt with us, you know that we much prefer going the second route rather than the first.  Considering the complexity of other types of coils, hot water coils should be as easy for to purchase and get delivered as they are for the manufacturer to build and keep in stock. So…why is it so hard to get your hot water coils shipped to where you need them when you need them?

Capital Coil & Air decided to create a quick buyers guide to when selecting and purchasing Stock Booster Coil Replacements :

  • First and foremost, you need to determine whether the booster coil needs to be 1 or 2 rows deep. Keep in mind that a 2 row booster coil will always generate substantially more BTU’s than a 1 row booster coil, but will also cause your air pressure drop to rise.
  • Generally speaking, booster coils are primarily installed someplace in the ductwork. If your duct size doesn’t match exactly with what we can build a good rule of thumb is to request your coils be built slightly larger than the ducts where they are going to be installed.
  • Booster coils are offered in sizes anywhere from 6” x 6” to 30” X 72”. Booster coils are 1 or 2 row coils that are available in 60 sizes.  Flanged or Slip & Drive casings are available on every size to meet your needs.
  • While most manufacturers claim they have “booster coils in stock”, and then ship in a week, we actually have (30) sizes in stock ready to ship the next day!

Whether you need (1) hot water coil or (200) hot water coils, Capital Coil & Air has the most competitive pricing in the business with the best lead times. Please see our Booster Coil Product Page. Most companies don’t want to bother with hot water coils.  No one does hot water coils better than Capital Coil & Air!

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