Fascinating and I really appreciate the detail commentary. For example, the tablespoon of acetone , heating lower portion while holding finger on top to blow off excess, then quickly capping it. Small details like this determine overall efficiency. Also, I liked the side-by-side tests of the 2 different designs. I realize ambient temperature has no affect to the heat exchanger glass tubes, but there is some heat loss in the external plumbing; therefore, what was your approximate ambient temp? The overall production was impressive. No advertisements, no fancy computer-aided graphics.... Your video demonstrates true DIY and humble efforts to make a quality product. Well Done !
I watched this video four years ago and sang the praises on them to all. And now today people are finally getting more of the tubes and systems in the states, bravo sir you really helped people see great things. To this day I have yet to see anyone try the Seebeck TEGs, Crosby icyballs, or radiator/fan or radiant lines under the carpet I put to you for ideas back then. Someday they will figure it out, maybe someday you will build them and show them, who knows. I know for certain they can run all such systems for a house with the right design from the beginning. One day they will get it. Glad to see you like dandelion coffee too, man after my own heart. Take care.
RICH ALLEN : You are a total waste of technology. You should be a Professor. That was ingenious. The best explanation, I have seen. You missed nothing out. Very good in everything. A BIG 'Thank you'. Greetings to you and your family, from the UK.
Hook two of them in series also by placing longer tubes in heat pipes and maybe possibly 3/8 at 3/4 heat pipe tubes would be an interesting test for faster recovery and higher temperature output great video answered a lot of questions
Love the detailed clever component selection and thinking behind choices taken. Add semi concentrating reflectors behind each and spread out more. if you are running water past pipes made of copper, why not just plumb in the cold on one end and out the other, removing the extra heat ex-changer. The two pipe version could be go in on left out on right side. copper washers soldered along would be much better but would take time to add. The washers help by catching more sunlight at different angles and also slow air convection in between the absorber tube and outer shell that allows heat to escape working against us. The steel wool did not make good thermal contact tot he copper even when new. It increased the focal volume and captured more sunlight as was the intention. But the steel wool just got hot and re radiated, maybe a1/3 is absorbed by the pipe if lucky. With curved reflectors for each tube will make smaller focal zone. Keep enlarging pipe to see where optimum absorption is at. You could also pipe air coaxially and create a air heater combined with a hot water heater. If small size may need to wait for hot water before allowing air to flow via natural convection plug removal or forced air. Again cool component re-use engineering.
Rich, you do a great job with your videos. You've got an awesome system here as well. Something I recently learned and I wanted to say is that if there is anyway you can locate your tubes in such a way that the hot water pipes can go up hill to your house. Then the hottest water will naturally flow by convection currents right into your home without a circulation pump.
Hey Rich, I want to thankyou again for turning me on to the tubes and I've been trying to figure out how to protect the bottom of the tube so it doesn't break off the nipple. Your system is a great help and keep us updated, thanks_Billy
Here's an idea that I think is very efficient. Use black engine oil. Pump it through a double plate of glass. The sun will get absorddd into the carbon. Than store for heat extraction later
@@Odis-edgarDavidsonBene🔴 What Is Islam? 🔴 Islam is not just another religion. 🔵 It is the same message preached by Moses, Jesus and Abraham. 🔴 Islam literally means ‘submission to God’ and it teaches us to have a direct relationship with God. 🔵 It reminds us that since God created us, no one should be worshipped except God alone. 🔴 It also teaches that God is nothing like a human being or like anything that we can imagine. 🌍 The concept of God is summarized in the Quran as: 📖 { “Say, He is God, the One. God, the Absolute. He does not give birth, nor was He born, and there is nothing like Him.”} (Quran 112:1-4) 📚 🔴 Becoming a Muslim is not turning your back to Jesus. 🔵 Rather it’s going back to the original teachings of Jesus and obeying him. More .....👇 🔴 THE RETURN OF JESUS
One last question or though if someone could answer.... On a boiler you have a heat exchanger, would a heat exchanger be more or less efficient - would a heat exchange running in a solar can heater work well ..... I think this is something I could get into as it gets your brain thinking about ideas which are just being developed - if enough common sense is thrown at it :) Finally great video
Thanks for info Sir, I think heat pipes must be covered by cupper or aluminum 0.15-0.25mm foil. Furthermore, probably ( it must be tested) flat 1/4 inch heat pipe going to work better than round one with foil. Moreover, if you have old refrigerator compressor but it still ok, you can suck out air from the heat pipe and it's boiling point for 4-6ml soft water in heat pipe will go down as start up time and it will bring better results. Thanks again for good video manual.Grate job Sir!
For the trouble you went thru to make the heat pipes, you could have just as easilly run the water pipe down into the tube, thru 2 elbows at the bottom and back out. Heat transfer is about time, temp difference and surface area. The more surface area you have down in the pipe the more heat it will transfer. I am guessing that these are the double wall vacume bottle tubes with the absorbsion coating? On these the inner surface(with the coating) gets hot(insulated by vacume), so that is where you need to collect the heat from. I would not reccomend steel wool. As mentioned it will clash with the copper. It is also small filiments that don't conduct well and will trap air pockets(pretty good insulator). For this type tube the propolene glycol is a good idea, as it would positively contact all the inside surface of the tube and not harm the copper. Here is an experiment for you, remove the steel wool and fill the tubes with water around your heat pipes. the measure then will be to remove enough heat via the heat pipes or water circulating down into "u" tubes to keep the conducting media(water) from boiling:) Good luck with your experiments.
Good job Rich! I think Villanovagypsy is suggesting flowing your water through the copper tubes. But I disagree with him. I think you are getting pretty good results given the lack of direct sunlight you are getting. I built a flat plate collector, experimenting as you are, and got excellent results by flowing the water through about 60 feet of copper behind a flat black tin sheet behind glass. That convinced to go ahead with buying a 30-tube setup which is now preheating our domestic hot water.
I know this is an old video. But have you thought about filling the glass tubes with sand to help with heat ? Or loop copper pipe down the glass tubes with water flowing through them? That way they can be heated on the way in and out of each tube. I am planning a project similar and that is what I was thinking of doing!
This is the best video I've seen yet. From what I did see it looks easy enough to make your own frame. My biggest question is what was under that cover on every single solar system I looked at. What a surprise to find that it's only the copper pipes covered to give it a nice visual. Pool solar companies are making a killing here. I'll look into making my own to see if it's cost effective. I'll need 20 long pipes and this will to be to heat my pool.
Where did you get the glass tubes? now that you are making heat what do you do with it? 122 F doesn't seem much in so little amount of water. Not much use asking tho because it seems you haven't answered anyone else either. You ideas did get me thinking.......
Vacuum pipes can go way higher than flat plate collectors in ultimate temperature. The best way to gather heat is, I think, to preheat with a flat plate system, then go for higher temperatures with the vacuum pipes. You give up a lot of efficiency potential when shooting for the higher temps, but that's the tradeoff. If you can live without that last 10-20 degrees, you're right: stick with the flat plate. But if you just gotta have it, the vacuum pipes are the only way to go.
just found your video... i installed a solar collector on my roof - what do you use for insulation to carry the hot 'liquid' to the tank? i had this on a previous house for testing, and found the copper in and out of the manifold was so hot that foam sleeves just melted... fine for pex, but the pex also had troubles with the high heat right out of the collector (exploded) - has to somewhat watertight or the insulation loses most of the insulative qualities. was thinking wrapping it with fibreglass, then silver bubblewrap and silver foil tape, painted black... or possibly make a 'sleeve' of abs fittings, split down the middle and glued back together (or possibly foil tape again - it seems fairly watertight if it's pressed down well.) what have you found that worked?
Even though no one cares about pennies be careful since it's still a federal offence to destroy or damage money. I love the videos though, I never get tired of watching MacGyver like projects, keep'em coming!
I don't understand how closed copper pipes with a slight vacuum heat better. Is there a link for this I can read? Also, in your heat exchanger, the main vertical copper pipes ( in the glass tubes) are touching the heat exchange with a minimum of surface area. How much heat actually makes it from the vertical copper pipes to the heat exchanger?
The vacuum is between the clear glass outer tube and the dark glass inner one. In every other part of the assembly, there is no vacuum. Also, very little explanation was given on how efficient heat pipes are in transmitting heat. (The heat pipes are the copper tubes sealed at both ends, with a wider bulb at one end, and with some acetone inside.)
ok I have all the supplies to make this for my pool 24 foot round by 52 inch. My question is does the water go in the glass tub or just the copper fitting chamber?? also do think 2 set of 6 be able to heat a pool 12 hours of sun aday
I like your solder technique for sealing it with out blowing out the cap from the expansion. What is the average GPM on a sunny day? Nice project job any way! very simple for someone with a few basic skills can seemingly do as good of job as you seem to have done.
Hi Rich, I write from Montevideo Uruguay. Looking for material on how to assemble a solar collector vacuum tube, I found excellent your video and I willing to follow your construction process. But I have a question, I see that you put acetone in the copper tube before sealing. I know that some systems use a liquid Inside you'll copper tube for better heat transfer. That's why you put acetone? Thank you for your clarification Nestor
Any thoughts on trying to have two layers of glass and creating a vacuum between the two layers of glass ? If that doesn't make sense I know what I mean and happy to try and explain
hey rich get acetelyne or map gas instead of propane and some silver solder(copper brazing rod) and some flux for that and you can braze those points where the bullets go through the couplings directly to the collection pipes. Much better heat exchange. Cool use of common materials though. Great job!!
I like how people put heads together to get through... Multi-pan windows can be evacuatet since the 80s, but there have been some problems concerning the durability and their lifespan. According to the rules of Thermodynamics, with regard to isolation, it is better to evacuate. (WIKIPEDIA) -this source for information has always to be verified, especially on politics and history. Thanks, take care!
Also I am tempted to try and replace my gas boiler with a similar system. I was debating trying use of a compost heap to create a base heat layer of heat so the water comes in warm and is then heated via solar (batch, collector, panel, tube) and sent up to the tank. I see evacuated tubes work.... But this is problematic on many levels where do you get the tubes from, evacuating fluorescent tubes is unsafe with mercury - liable to explode, and pretty thin glass would it shatter if evacuated by an amateur. Is there a way anybody could think of putting together the glass from old double glazed windows into a boxed frame, evacuating the entire glass box - removing the need for kingspan insulation - due to evacuation Heat loss is minimised - as I guess the evacuation would make the solar heat transfer as great as possible and unaffected by outside temp Although perspex is great for fish tanks I doubt it would be good for hot applications such as these...... Ideally I considered having two of three small compost heaps which could be swapped in - nothing more than a compost heap in barrel with wheels. In the centre an open spindle with plastic pipe coiled around to absorb the compost heat this..... Creates a minimum warming of the water (to prevent freeze action) > then heat the water via solar collector of some design / and probably a cut off in some way to trap the heat in the storage tank..... Would love to know if there is a community where people are working on these ideas in the uk - like a social club so that we could pool ideas help each other etc..... I have seen all sorts of fancy gizmos and gadgets for solar but surely you know once the sun has gone down, to turn the system off for the night ? I don't understand the physics but could mirrors be used to reflect onto the pipes in a simple V shape, or simple guttering. It would really good if there was a community to help each other out there I'm in bedfordshire......
You can use some cooling paste wich is used to cool transistors were the exchanger slide over the heating tubes, this way heat wil be conducted even better. Good design sir !
Would it not be much more efficient to seal the tops of the vacuum tubes and pump water through them rather than having the tubes heat the sealed pipes and then have the sealed pipes heat the water?
You misunderstand my question, I wasn't meaning to get rid of the double wall vacuum tube, but rather pump the water through the inside of the inner tube and have it heated that way.
If I understand your question well, the whole point of having the vacuum tubes separate from the sealed pipes is to allow the working fluid, acetone to heat up first then transfer the collected heat to the sealed pipes. It collects the heat much faster than water would and having the water heat directly from the vacuum tubes would slow down the rate of it's (acetone) heat absorption, and reduce the system's efficiency as a whole. This design is pretty cool, though i don't understand why he used steel wool inside the vacuum tube, wouldn't it result to heat loss through conduction?
Seems to be a lot of guesswork in these comments. Anyway the reason is contact losses, if the water was sitting in the tubes it would heat up the entire glass and a good percentage of the collected heat would escape that way. At least that is the technical reasoning, but I haven't yet see anyone do a comparison test so that could be very interesting to look at.
I learned that the vac tubes will only handle 7 psi. With this system, though it is less efficient, you can run standard house pressure in your water lines.
@@silversurfer7339 You are confused. The vacuum tube is double layered glass separated by vacuum. This is to prevent the collected heat to escape through a medium. It is the inner tube that get heated up. Inner tube should be in contact with liquid that should be heated. In this case he has introduced one more copper tube so that he can separate the heat transfer agent azetone.
any updates on this? is the direct heat tranfer better, have you tried the direct flow vs heat pipe? I like the idea of direct flow, but I can see the advantages of heat pipe, and I am curious if the "change of state" makes that system more efficient than direct flow.
Just wanted to suggest an idea if it might sound good and effective, you know the rule for gas filled double pan windows, I was thinking if you would try two clear tube one 1/4"-1/2" bigger than the other and somehow fill outer space of the clear tubing with Argon gas or any gas with similar properties to it, to keep in the heat generated by the sun rays coming in to the inner space of the clear tubing where the heat pipping is. purpose is to trap better heat in a better green house effect.
Not a bad set up. If I may, I would recommend using smaller diameter pipes inside the tubes, painted black, the smaller the pipe, the better the energy absorption and faster release. the black on the pipes obviously would better absorb solar radiation and speed the transfer of heat. just my humble opinion, otherwise, great job!
Surely, the important measurement is not how hot it gets, but what flow of water you can heat. Both experiments got to 109 degrees, but if one of them could heat 20 gals being pumped through the heat exchanger to 40 degrees in an hour, and the other took an hour and a half, then you have a comparison between the two. Both will eventually go to the temperature of the sunlight - we know that. The more efficient one can transfer more of the sun's energy to your hot water tank.
It would be nice if a comparison could be done between the two setups by just shielding one of them and seeing what the temperature difference was, so it would show the actual contribution from the evacuated tube collection vs direct heating of the tank and manifold.
I am with Paul below where did you get the vacuum tubes? I want some, and another Idea why only run one run on the vac tubes you built, the first type have enough room for two water pipe runs across them thus boosting the efficiency some what, probably 50 to 75 % run the first water pass across the top pipe then the preheated water a second pass for more heat pickup. HVAC man here so I see the use and more efficiency possibilities here with your setup
brian somers, the goal is to store heat indoors using something like an extra insulated water tank. The collector needs to have a low thermal mass so it can rapidly heat circulating water.
instead of useing steel wool as the medium to transfer heat to the heat pipe try filling the tube with propylene glycol boiling temp 370ish F and year round freaze protection down to -70 F and that would stop any galvanic corrosion. problems and provide a better heat transfrerr then the steel wool
If they are the real deal then those glass tubes are double walled with vacuum in between, that way you are loosing minimal heat due to material contact.
if the tubes are used as solar collectors with separate water thats just sued to impart heat to tap water and no contact with tap water water then it should be ok ?
What would a solid core would do instead of the vaper filled tube ? I would think it would transfer more heat then the vaper filled. Honestly i have had better results with 3/4 inch copper tubing in an (S) patern, painted with high temp black and boxed in with glass front. 100 feet will make steam out the other side in less then 2 hours.
The concept of a heat pipe is that the liquid vaporizing from the lower part of the pipe can remove more heat from it boiling off, and then rises to the top where it's collected, by condensing as it gives off its heat. Then it drips back down as a liquid, and does it all over again. Supposedly that enables more rapid transfer of heat than just a solid tube working simply from conduction. It would be nice to know if the constructed DIY tube in the video is working as intended, maybe it could be tested by heating up the bottom with a torch and seeing if the bulb at the top gets hot, while the middle sections remain cool. That would indicate it's actually working as a heat pipe.
and was thinking on top of that, your heat exchangers maybe put 2-3 heating pipes in each clear tubing and on top putting two water pipe exchangers one low then the other and connecting them in a series so you will only have one water pipe in and one hot water out. just thinking of maximizing the free radiant heat. and using tighter insulation i them. Please let me know what you think of this idea bad or good just let me know thanks. and love your idea.
i agree didn't do very well i might try water in the tubes if i get any time we have a baby that keeps me hoping i found that setup on a web site and wanted to try it even tho i don't get good sun i think it should have been better the fun part is trinkering for me
Not once did I hear you say where the glass tubes come from? Also using proven soldering ways, you could get by with 1/2 or less solder than you did. FYI only. cheers
I would think having more contact with the inner tube will will give you better performance. The steel wool you had looked a little thin. Just guessing... I don't having anything to test on.
They have been used before. Do a search in TH-cam for: Homemade Solar Water Heater / Aquecedor Solar de Água Caseira. This is the title of his vid. Kind of crude construction but I believe used what he had on hand.... and it works.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 88 | คู่เอก "ป้อมเพชร vs อัสลามจอน"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1ZqTVVbMgbo/mqdefault.jpg)
Hi Rich, In the UK these heat pipes are expensive and you've shown how it can be done at a reasonable price. Thank you. Regards.
Fascinating and I really appreciate the detail commentary. For example, the tablespoon of acetone , heating lower portion while holding finger on top to blow off excess, then quickly capping it. Small details like this determine overall efficiency. Also, I liked the side-by-side tests of the 2 different designs. I realize ambient temperature has no affect to the heat exchanger glass tubes, but there is some heat loss in the external plumbing; therefore, what was your approximate ambient temp? The overall production was impressive. No advertisements, no fancy computer-aided graphics.... Your video demonstrates true DIY and humble efforts to make a quality product. Well Done !
I watched this video four years ago and sang the praises on them to all. And now today people are finally getting more of the tubes and systems in the states, bravo sir you really helped people see great things. To this day I have yet to see anyone try the Seebeck TEGs, Crosby icyballs, or radiator/fan or radiant lines under the carpet I put to you for ideas back then. Someday they will figure it out, maybe someday you will build them and show them, who knows. I know for certain they can run all such systems for a house with the right design from the beginning. One day they will get it. Glad to see you like dandelion coffee too, man after my own heart. Take care.
RICH ALLEN : You are a total waste of technology. You should be a Professor. That was ingenious. The best explanation, I have seen. You missed nothing out. Very good in everything. A BIG 'Thank you'. Greetings to you and your family, from the UK.
Hook two of them in series also by placing longer tubes in heat pipes and maybe possibly 3/8 at 3/4 heat pipe tubes would be an interesting test for faster recovery and higher temperature output great video answered a lot of questions
Love the detailed clever component selection and thinking behind choices taken.
Add semi concentrating reflectors behind each and spread out more.
if you are running water past pipes made of copper, why not just plumb in the cold on one end and out the other, removing the extra heat ex-changer. The two pipe version could be go in on left out on right side. copper washers soldered along would be much better but would take time to add. The washers help by catching more sunlight at different angles and also slow air convection in between the absorber tube and outer shell that allows heat to escape working against us.
The steel wool did not make good thermal contact tot he copper even when new. It increased the focal volume and captured more sunlight as was the intention. But the steel wool just got hot and re radiated, maybe a1/3 is absorbed by the pipe if lucky.
With curved reflectors for each tube will make smaller focal zone. Keep enlarging pipe to see where optimum absorption is at.
You could also pipe air coaxially and create a air heater combined with a hot water heater. If small size may need to wait for hot water before allowing air to flow via natural convection plug removal or forced air.
Again cool component re-use engineering.
Rich, you do a great job with your videos. You've got an awesome system here as well. Something I recently learned and I wanted to say is that if there is anyway you can locate your tubes in such a way that the hot water pipes can go up hill to your house. Then the hottest water will naturally flow by convection currents right into your home without a circulation pump.
تشکر
Hey Rich, I want to thankyou again for turning me on to the tubes and I've been trying to figure out how to protect the bottom of the tube so it doesn't break off the nipple. Your system is a great help and keep us updated, thanks_Billy
Rich, you amaze me with your ingenuity! Thanks for posting this very interesting video.
Thank you so much for sharing how you build this.. its hard to find vac tubes so I stick to cans... it also works well..
Here's an idea that I think is very efficient. Use black engine oil. Pump it through a double plate of glass. The sun will get absorddd into the carbon. Than store for heat extraction later
What happen if it gets too hot and catches fire
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excellent.. love the fact you tried two different versions and did some testing.. a lot of DIY videos seem to forget that part.
One last question or though if someone could answer.... On a boiler you have a heat exchanger, would a heat exchanger be more or less efficient - would a heat exchange running in a solar can heater work well ..... I think this is something I could get into as it gets your brain thinking about ideas which are just being developed - if enough common sense is thrown at it :)
Finally great video
Thanks for info Sir, I think heat pipes must be covered by cupper or aluminum 0.15-0.25mm foil. Furthermore, probably ( it must be tested) flat 1/4 inch heat pipe going to work better than round one with foil. Moreover, if you have old refrigerator compressor but it still ok, you can suck out air from the heat pipe and it's boiling point for 4-6ml soft water in heat pipe will go down as start up time and it will bring better results. Thanks again for good video manual.Grate job Sir!
For the trouble you went thru to make the heat pipes, you could have just as easilly run the water pipe down into the tube, thru 2 elbows at the bottom and back out. Heat transfer is about time, temp difference and surface area. The more surface area you have down in the pipe the more heat it will transfer. I am guessing that these are the double wall vacume bottle tubes with the absorbsion coating? On these the inner surface(with the coating) gets hot(insulated by vacume), so that is where you need to collect the heat from. I would not reccomend steel wool. As mentioned it will clash with the copper. It is also small filiments that don't conduct well and will trap air pockets(pretty good insulator). For this type tube the propolene glycol is a good idea, as it would positively contact all the inside surface of the tube and not harm the copper. Here is an experiment for you, remove the steel wool and fill the tubes with water around your heat pipes. the measure then will be to remove enough heat via the heat pipes or water circulating down into "u" tubes to keep the conducting media(water) from boiling:) Good luck with your experiments.
Didn't catch where you got the transparent tubes. Are they glass? Did you vacuum the air out of them?
Good job Rich! I think Villanovagypsy is suggesting flowing your water through the copper tubes. But I disagree with him. I think you are getting pretty good results given the lack of direct sunlight you are getting. I built a flat plate collector, experimenting as you are, and got excellent results by flowing the water through about 60 feet of copper behind a flat black tin sheet behind glass. That convinced to go ahead with buying a 30-tube setup which is now preheating our domestic hot water.
I know this is an old video. But have you thought about filling the glass tubes with sand to help with heat ? Or loop copper pipe down the glass tubes with water flowing through them? That way they can be heated on the way in and out of each tube. I am planning a project similar and that is what I was thinking of doing!
This is the best video I've seen yet. From what I did see it looks easy enough to make your own frame. My biggest question is what was under that cover on every single solar system I looked at. What a surprise to find that it's only the copper pipes covered to give it a nice visual. Pool solar companies are making a killing here. I'll look into making my own to see if it's cost effective. I'll need 20 long pipes and this will to be to heat my pool.
Your a genius....very well done DIY video. Impressive.
Where did you get the glass tubes? now that you are making heat what do you do with it? 122 F doesn't seem much in so little amount of water. Not much use asking tho because it seems you haven't answered anyone else either. You ideas did get me thinking.......
Thanks for all the great videos.
I'm going to try one of the solar heaters and use an old sliding glass door with the metal screening.
Where did you get your glass tubes?
Vacuum pipes can go way higher than flat plate collectors in ultimate temperature. The best way to gather heat is, I think, to preheat with a flat plate system, then go for higher temperatures with the vacuum pipes. You give up a lot of efficiency potential when shooting for the higher temps, but that's the tradeoff.
If you can live without that last 10-20 degrees, you're right: stick with the flat plate. But if you just gotta have it, the vacuum pipes are the only way to go.
I love your motivation, making amazing heat exchangers and you don't get any sun!
Rich where did you get the glass tubes? Thanks
When it comes to the top where the "air chamber" is at why not just use a 1/2" cap instead of a stub out fitting or penny?
just found your video... i installed a solar collector on my roof - what do you use for insulation to carry the hot 'liquid' to the tank? i had this on a previous house for testing, and found the copper in and out of the manifold was so hot that foam sleeves just melted... fine for pex, but the pex also had troubles with the high heat right out of the collector (exploded) - has to somewhat watertight or the insulation loses most of the insulative qualities. was thinking wrapping it with fibreglass, then silver bubblewrap and silver foil tape, painted black... or possibly make a 'sleeve' of abs fittings, split down the middle and glued back together (or possibly foil tape again - it seems fairly watertight if it's pressed down well.) what have you found that worked?
using the T on the bulb as an interface is a good idea dang
Even though no one cares about pennies be careful since it's still a federal offence to destroy or damage money. I love the videos though, I never get tired of watching MacGyver like projects, keep'em coming!
I don't understand how closed copper pipes with a slight vacuum heat better. Is there a link for this I can read?
Also, in your heat exchanger, the main vertical copper pipes ( in the glass tubes) are touching the heat exchange with a minimum of surface area. How much heat actually makes it from the vertical copper pipes to the heat exchanger?
I was thinking same he cud of used 10 lengths of 10mm plus foil or something and piped it in house to a decent exchanger or hot tank lol
The vacuum is between the clear glass outer tube and the dark glass inner one. In every other part of the assembly, there is no vacuum. Also, very little explanation was given on how efficient heat pipes are in transmitting heat. (The heat pipes are the copper tubes sealed at both ends, with a wider bulb at one end, and with some acetone inside.)
Well done Rich, thanks for sharing.
ok I have all the supplies to make this for my pool 24 foot round by 52 inch. My question is does the water go in the glass tub or just the copper fitting chamber?? also do think 2 set of 6 be able to heat a pool 12 hours of sun aday
You can also use white sea sand to fill up the tubes with the pipes which maintain the heat for longer after sunset.
You were running cold water (tap cold) through the system during the test or just letting the still water heat up over 4 hours to 125ish?
I like your solder technique for sealing it with out blowing out the cap from the expansion. What is the average GPM on a sunny day? Nice project job any way! very simple for someone with a few basic skills can seemingly do as good of job as you seem to have done.
Hi Rich, I write from Montevideo Uruguay. Looking for material on how to assemble a solar collector vacuum tube, I found excellent your video and I willing to follow your construction process.
But I have a question, I see that you put acetone in the copper tube before sealing. I know that some systems use a liquid Inside you'll copper tube for better heat transfer. That's why you put acetone?
Thank you for your clarification
Nestor
Any thoughts on trying to have two layers of glass and creating a vacuum between the two layers of glass ? If that doesn't make sense I know what I mean and happy to try and explain
hey rich get acetelyne or map gas instead of propane and some silver solder(copper brazing rod) and some flux for that and you can braze those points where the bullets go through the couplings directly to the collection pipes. Much better heat exchange. Cool use of common materials though. Great job!!
I like how people put heads together to get through...
Multi-pan windows can be evacuatet since the 80s, but there have been some problems concerning the durability and their lifespan. According to the rules of Thermodynamics, with regard to isolation, it is better to evacuate. (WIKIPEDIA) -this source for information has always to be verified, especially on politics and history. Thanks, take care!
Also I am tempted to try and replace my gas boiler with a similar system.
I was debating trying use of a compost heap to create a base heat layer of heat so the water comes in warm and is then heated via solar (batch, collector, panel, tube) and sent up to the tank.
I see evacuated tubes work.... But this is problematic on many levels where do you get the tubes from, evacuating fluorescent tubes is unsafe with mercury - liable to explode, and pretty thin glass would it shatter if evacuated by an amateur.
Is there a way anybody could think of putting together the glass from old double glazed windows into a boxed frame, evacuating the entire glass box - removing the need for kingspan insulation - due to evacuation
Heat loss is minimised - as I guess the evacuation would make the solar heat transfer as great as possible and unaffected by outside temp
Although perspex is great for fish tanks I doubt it would be good for hot applications such as these......
Ideally I considered having two of three small compost heaps which could be swapped in - nothing more than a compost heap in barrel with wheels. In the centre an open spindle with plastic pipe coiled around to absorb the compost heat this.....
Creates a minimum warming of the water (to prevent freeze action) > then heat the water via solar collector of some design / and probably a cut off in some way to trap the heat in the storage tank.....
Would love to know if there is a community where people are working on these ideas in the uk - like a social club so that we could pool ideas help each other etc.....
I have seen all sorts of fancy gizmos and gadgets for solar but surely you know once the sun has gone down, to turn the system off for the night ? I don't understand the physics but could mirrors be used to reflect onto the pipes in a simple V shape, or simple guttering. It would really good if there was a community to help each other out there
I'm in bedfordshire......
Hi Allen,
Would a recycled flourescent tubelight works as vaccum tube ?
You can use some cooling paste wich is used to cool transistors were the exchanger slide over the heating tubes, this way heat wil be conducted even better.
Good design sir !
Good job Rich, man its been cool playing armchair quarterback while you do all the work. Keep it up man.
Would it not be much more efficient to seal the tops of the vacuum tubes and pump water through them rather than having the tubes heat the sealed pipes and then have the sealed pipes heat the water?
You misunderstand my question, I wasn't meaning to get rid of the double wall vacuum tube, but rather pump the water through the inside of the inner tube and have it heated that way.
If I understand your question well, the whole point of having the vacuum tubes separate from the sealed pipes is to allow the working fluid, acetone to heat up first then transfer the collected heat to the sealed pipes. It collects the heat much faster than water would and having the water heat directly from the vacuum tubes would slow down the rate of it's (acetone) heat absorption, and reduce the system's efficiency as a whole.
This design is pretty cool, though i don't understand why he used steel wool inside the vacuum tube, wouldn't it result to heat loss through conduction?
Seems to be a lot of guesswork in these comments.
Anyway the reason is contact losses, if the water was sitting in the tubes it would heat up the entire glass and a good percentage of the collected heat would escape that way. At least that is the technical reasoning, but I haven't yet see anyone do a comparison test so that could be very interesting to look at.
I learned that the vac tubes will only handle 7 psi. With this system, though it is less efficient, you can run standard house pressure in your water lines.
@@silversurfer7339 You are confused. The vacuum tube is double layered glass separated by vacuum. This is to prevent the collected heat to escape through a medium. It is the inner tube that get heated up. Inner tube should be in contact with liquid that should be heated. In this case he has introduced one more copper tube so that he can separate the heat transfer agent azetone.
This is the first time I've seen a video like this. Thank you.
What are the large, glass tubes and where would you get something like one of them?
Cheers
Dude, you're like a modern day McGyver!!! Keep it up!
any updates on this? is the direct heat tranfer better, have you tried the direct flow vs heat pipe? I like the idea of direct flow, but I can see the advantages of heat pipe, and I am curious if the "change of state" makes that system more efficient than direct flow.
Just wanted to suggest an idea if it might sound good and effective, you know the rule for gas filled double pan windows, I was thinking if you would try two clear tube one 1/4"-1/2" bigger than the other and somehow fill outer space of the clear tubing with Argon gas or any gas with similar properties to it, to keep in the heat generated by the sun rays coming in to the inner space of the clear tubing where the heat pipping is. purpose is to trap better heat in a better green house effect.
Charles Remensnyder,
These are two concentric glass tubes welded together with a hard vacuum between them. "thermos" style
How Is the heat pipe better than just flowing water thru the evacuated tube?
hi i used actone but you can use water too i was following something i found on the web will do more test later
thanks for sharing this solar video.. very interesting.
Hi Rich I know you got the tube off Ebay but what is the correct name for them? How long are they? how big are they?
What was the fluid exactly in the pipe Actone or acetone?? missspelling in description?
It seems like there's very little contact between the heat pipes and the heat exchanger. Just that little piece of 1/4" pipe and the solder joint?
Where did you get your instructions from? Great build!
Great video! THank you. Where do you get hold of the evacuated glass tubes please?
is the acetone a industrial solvent and is it flamerble ? im just trying to get some of it to make my own heat pipes :)
What is the outside temperature? Will the water still heat up if it's snowing and sunny?
How dows it hold in your pressurised water system in your house?
is there a way to have the water go down the tube and "U" back up and into the next one, or will it not fit
Not a bad set up. If I may, I would recommend using smaller diameter pipes inside the tubes, painted black, the smaller the pipe, the better the energy absorption and faster release. the black on the pipes obviously would better absorb solar radiation and speed the transfer of heat. just my humble opinion, otherwise, great job!
what is the use/purpose of the steel wool wrapped around the heatpipe ?
Picks up heat quicker from the foil that heats up in those tubes, not sure how much it really helps, would be worth a test.
doesn't water have like 15 times the specific heat capacity of steel ? wont it just trap the hot water ? i dont know man
Surely, the important measurement is not how hot it gets, but what flow of water you can heat. Both experiments got to 109 degrees, but if one of them could heat 20 gals being pumped through the heat exchanger to 40 degrees in an hour, and the other took an hour and a half, then you have a comparison between the two.
Both will eventually go to the temperature of the sunlight - we know that. The more efficient one can transfer more of the sun's energy to your hot water tank.
It would be nice if a comparison could be done between the two setups by just shielding one of them and seeing what the temperature difference was, so it would show the actual contribution from the evacuated tube collection vs direct heating of the tank and manifold.
I am with Paul below where did you get the vacuum tubes? I want some, and another Idea why only run one run on the vac tubes you built, the first type have enough room for two water pipe runs across them thus boosting the efficiency some what, probably 50 to 75 % run the first water pass across the top pipe then the preheated water a second pass for more heat pickup.
HVAC man here so I see the use and more efficiency possibilities here with your setup
Rich where did you get your glass tubes
Hello, funny 2 watch how many people testing all kinds of stuff on youtube! Love it!
May I ask where do you get the glass tubes???
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing!
Where did you get the Glass tubes from ?
ebay or amazon. $100 for 10 tubes.
Very inventive, Mr. Allen.
Rich could you put the heat pipe in and the glass with clean white sand. I thingk the sand would keep the heat longer for the nights.
brian somers, the goal is to store heat indoors using something like an extra insulated water tank. The collector needs to have a low thermal mass so it can rapidly heat circulating water.
instead of useing steel wool as the medium to transfer heat to the heat pipe try filling the tube with propylene glycol boiling temp 370ish F and year round freaze protection down to -70 F and that would stop any
galvanic corrosion. problems and provide a better heat transfrerr then the steel wool
Good afternoon, tell me, how you can make a tube of glass? Where this can be taken and how to make it black? Thank you :)
he bought the tubes. you can get a ten pack food about a hundred dollars U.S.
look for evacuated tube solar hot water on ebay
Or you can buy the fully assembled evac tube on aliexpress or alibaba com
I guess I missed something what do you use for the glass
You but it, unless you are a professional glass blower then maybe not...
@ByNatureFarms i got them on ebay
This is amazing solar heater.. very interesting..
i love when random stuff happens to fit togetha makes my day lol
Where is the vacuum applied to the glass tube?
The vacuum is applied to the copper heat rods when they are heated and sealed. the glass tubes are just an insulator to the outside elements .
If they are the real deal then those glass tubes are double walled with vacuum in between, that way you are loosing minimal heat due to material contact.
if the tubes are used as solar collectors with separate water thats just sued to impart heat to tap water and no contact with tap water water then it should be ok ?
very nice test. Did you try to use it cloudy weather? Is it works so?
i hear ya thats just a quick test i done will do more later
What would a solid core would do instead of the vaper filled tube ?
I would think it would transfer more heat then the vaper filled.
Honestly i have had better results with 3/4 inch copper tubing in an (S) patern, painted with high temp black and boxed in with glass front.
100 feet will make steam out the other side in less then 2 hours.
The concept of a heat pipe is that the liquid vaporizing from the lower part of the pipe can remove more heat from it boiling off, and then rises to the top where it's collected, by condensing as it gives off its heat. Then it drips back down as a liquid, and does it all over again. Supposedly that enables more rapid transfer of heat than just a solid tube working simply from conduction.
It would be nice to know if the constructed DIY tube in the video is working as intended, maybe it could be tested by heating up the bottom with a torch and seeing if the bulb at the top gets hot, while the middle sections remain cool. That would indicate it's actually working as a heat pipe.
Awesome !!! Great Job !!!
and was thinking on top of that, your heat exchangers maybe put 2-3 heating pipes in each clear tubing and on top putting two water pipe exchangers one low then the other and connecting them in a series so you will only have one water pipe in and one hot water out. just thinking of maximizing the free radiant heat. and using tighter insulation i them. Please let me know what you think of this idea bad or good just let me know thanks. and love your idea.
What are the tubes made from where do you get them
i agree didn't do very well i might try water in the tubes if i get any time we have a baby that keeps me hoping i found that setup on a web site and wanted to try it even tho i don't get good sun i think it should have been better the fun part is trinkering for me
@boardin202 maybe if you used 1/4 size pipe and could find ebows to make the U i was going to try 3/8 but it is to big
Where'd you get the glass tube at
if you get a good vacuum on those clear outside pipes it will get hot
Not once did I hear you say where the glass tubes come from? Also using proven soldering ways, you could get by with 1/2 or less solder than you did. FYI only.
cheers
CleanRepublic / hilltopper ... great idea & great company out of Washington State & North or South Dakota
Please do you have anybody know to solve solar heat pipe by using program ANSYS-FLUENT?
Nice Job i will have to try this Thanks .
Thank you very much, I really appreciated your original solutions Ciao
Wow, you're brilliant , thanks so much.
great video and nice backyard what are those tall trees?
Could someone please tell where could I get the glass tube from? Please help!
solar vacuum tubes.... ebay, aliexpress, sun max, alibaba....
Solar
ebay
I would think having more contact with the inner tube will will give you better performance. The steel wool you had looked a little thin. Just guessing... I don't having anything to test on.
got any updates on this tube system?
They have been used before.
Do a search in TH-cam for: Homemade Solar Water Heater / Aquecedor Solar de Água Caseira.
This is the title of his vid.
Kind of crude construction but I believe used what he had on hand.... and it works.
how much acetone do you use