Thanks for the excellent vid John. I have basically the same vacuum tube collector panels that you have only I have 3 of them with 15 tubes per a panel. My Panels are Koenig Sonne, manufactured in Germany or Austria. They are the top end product out on the market. The Germans are tops on most things solar. I had told you on the phone that I have a poly tube here in Chile called "PPR" or "Polypropylene Pressure Piping" which is green in color and significantly more flexible than PVC or CPVC but less flexible than PEX. I plan on doing the recirculation system that you are doing instead of doing a closed loop. Also I need to elevate my panels because my sheep will damage them by using them as a rub. I will let you know how it goes when I get it up and going with a video as well. Jim
+ChileExpatFamily Hey Jim: Glad it was of some use to you. Just as an added bit of info, be aware that pressure and heat can build pretty dramatically in the system if your pump stops running for some reason. I had a couple of occasions in the summer, when my pump stopped running (battery went bad one time, and forgot to turn it on a few times) and the PEX exploded where it couples to the collector panel. Sounded like a shotgun report and lots of steam!! Did no damage to anything, but for safety sake, be aware of the risk so you can protect kids and livestock. Best of luck!!
+JohnByTheCreek Thanks for the heads up. I have a friend here in Chile who blew up his system as well and I already had the fortune of his mis fortune. So I have purchased some chilean pop off valves that should do the job. In addition they are adjustable for different temperatures. So we will see. I have been slammed with my house build right now and have not had the time to work on my solar hot water. I am really looking forward to getting it going, so I will drop you a line when i do a vid. Thanks so much again.
I looked at heat exchange water tanks but down here it would cost me the same as $1,200 and I am not willing to spend that $$. So I am just going to weld my own water tank together. I may do the heat exchange function when I weld things up, but I am not sold on the idea yet. I do not have the freezing issues you have nor the really hot temps you see in North Carolina so I am not worried about that so much. I am concerned with life of the tank though and that is my consideration. Also I would likely need to do a copper tube coil inside the tank for my heat exchange which may complicate things a little. Jim
Thanks for the excellent vid John. I have basically the same vacuum tube
collector panels that you have only I have 3 of them with 15 tubes per a
panel.
My Panels are Koenig Sonne, manufactured in Germany or Austria. They are the top end product out on the market. The Germans are tops on most things solar.
I had told you on the phone that I have a poly tube here in Chile called "PPR" or "Polypropylene Pressure Piping" which is green in color and significantly more flexible than PVC or CPVC but less flexible than PEX.
I plan on doing the recirculation system that you are doing instead of doing a closed loop. Also I need to elevate my panels because my sheep will damage them by using them as a rub.
I will let you know how it goes when I get it up and going with a video as well. Jim
+ChileExpatFamily Hey Jim: Glad it was of some use to you. Just as an added bit of info, be aware that pressure and heat can build pretty dramatically in the system if your pump stops running for some reason. I had a couple of occasions in the summer, when my pump stopped running (battery went bad one time, and forgot to turn it on a few times) and the PEX exploded where it couples to the collector panel. Sounded like a shotgun report and lots of steam!! Did no damage to anything, but for safety sake, be aware of the risk so you can protect kids and livestock. Best of luck!!
+JohnByTheCreek Thanks for the heads up. I have a friend here in Chile who blew up his system as well and I already had the fortune of his mis fortune. So I have purchased some chilean pop off valves that should do the job. In addition they are adjustable for different temperatures. So we will see.
I have been slammed with my house build right now and have not had the time to work on my solar hot water. I am really looking forward to getting it going, so I will drop you a line when i do a vid.
Thanks so much again.
I looked at heat exchange water tanks but down here it would cost me the same as $1,200 and I am not willing to spend that $$. So I am just going to weld my own water tank together. I may do the heat exchange function when I weld things up, but I am not sold on the idea yet.
I do not have the freezing issues you have nor the really hot temps you see in North Carolina so I am not worried about that so much. I am concerned with life of the tank though and that is my consideration. Also I would likely need to do a copper tube coil inside the tank for my heat exchange which may complicate things a little. Jim