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Solar hot water | 11 comments (11 topical, editorial)

Re: Solar hot water (3.00 / 0) (#2)
by sandovalch (sandovalch@yahoo.com) on Fri Dec 16th, 2005 at 06:21:59 AM MST
(User Info)

I have built a solar water heater with copper tubing encased in a black box, which is about 2 meters high and 1 meter wide.
Many were the troubles I had with my initial setup and mainly it was a problem with pressure buildup in the tank at the peak of the day. It tried everything, even a pressure relief valve and it did not work. But sometimes the simplest of solutions are the most effective. I sealed up a 4" PVC pipe of about 6 feet at one end and the other end I attached to the pipe coming from the tank to the collector. This pipe would be filled with air, so that when the water expanded with heat it would "relief" the pressure compressing the air in the PVC pípe.
This I think is a crucial factor upon building a solar water collector.
Christian

Re: Solar hot water (3.00 / 0) (#3)
by crashk6 (crashk6(at)solarstormtechnologies(dot)com) on Fri Dec 16th, 2005 at 07:49:16 AM MST
(User Info)

What you have described is an expansion tank, which is another highly recommended component for some systems. Expansion tanks are available commercially, they are a simple cylinder about 13-15 inches long.. most use a sealed air bladder, do not confuse them with a pressure tank for a well, they are much smaller and of course have a different pourpose. The pressure relief valve is for catastrophic overheating ONLY! It prevent the tank from exploding should it become super pressurized do to water vaporizing in the tank!
Ever heard of a boiler explosion? well leave out that valve.. then just wait for a component in the system to malfunction... it usually happens when it's least convenient or at best at the most unexpected moment... just hope no one is near when shrapnel from the tank & plumbing goes flying.

Now the stand pipe I mention in my earlier post would be used in place of both peaces of equipment, but only if you have a gravity feed water system with a suitable elevation arrangement... which of course is NOT the case here.
The the person in the original post may need an expansion tank as well, however I can't give really a yes or no on that as I don't know the final installed layout of the system... however if your storage tank gets close to boiling temperatures... add one it will really smooth things out.
--
crashK6

[ Parent ]

Re: Solar hot water (3.00 / 0) (#4)
by crashk6 (crashk6(at)solarstormtechnologies(dot)com) on Fri Dec 16th, 2005 at 07:56:22 AM MST
(User Info)

P.S. Forgot, Nice job on the homebrew expansion tank!

[ Parent ]

Solar hot water | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 editorial)

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