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UlsterRugby1999

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Everything posted by UlsterRugby1999

  1. Thanks Oracle - I'll keep you posted over the next few months. So far, however, I am well pleased with it.
  2. This is just a quick post to, firstly, thank everyone for their input to this post and to, secondly, just to let you know that I have installed the system and that I am producing all the hot water me and my family need. Basically, I made two coils of flexible copper and fixed them to the top and rear faces of the fire. I did this as there was concern that attaching them to the flue might reduce the draw potential. I connected the flow and return to the secondary heat coil in the Solar hot water tank and after some adjustments I am now producing water temperatures of between 50 & 55 degrees C. I would estimate that the electrical heating element in the tank has been used for approximately 2-3 hours over the past two weeks. Result I think. Thanks again for all your help, advice and input. Regards. Paul.
  3. I appreciate your help Théière. I'll give it a go for a wee while and see how it goes. I'll report back soon. Thanks again. Paul
  4. Thanks again Théière. By reducing the flow using the valves either side of the pump am I not effectively doing the same as I do with the flow rate valve? If I turn the flow rate down a little the manifold T1 sensor does increase in temperature but we dont seem to get any extra hot water from this. I assumed that the flow rate either was to slow or I had effectively strangled the pumps ability to circulate. If you think that closing down these valves might help Im happy to try it. Thanks again. Paul
  5. Hi Théière and thanks for posting. The flow rate valve indicates that it is set at No1 (on a scale from 1 - 3.5) If I set it to more than this I get little heat at all. Any lower and it, effectively, produces no flow at all and T1 just gets hotter and hotter. The pump is a simple central heating pump set at position 1 which indicates 1450. Its says its a Class F-TF 100. I did take photos to try and post them but I havent a clue how to do this. Does this help?
  6. Im hoping that you might be able to clear up some confusion for me. My present solar hot water set-up has a pipe run from manifold return to SHWT of approx 5.5m. The collector surface is 3.75m². When I was researching the subject pre installation I was advised to use 22mm copper pipe. Recently, I have seen a few articles where people have used 16mm copper. Would I be wiser to step down to 16mm pipe? Thanks in advance. Paul
  7. Great link Dave and thanks. The folks there have, more or less, sorted me out. Here's where we have got to if you are interested. I'm going to use the flue pipe heat source and connect it into the upper heat coil in the solar hot water tank. In addition, I will install a radiator close by as a heat leak. The feed from the flue will, at the point of entry into the SHWT have a thermostatically controlled motorised diverter valve so that when the tank temperature reaches a preset temperature the valve will divert the flow to the radiator. Once the temperature drops below the preset level the valve will re-divert the flow to the tank and so on. All the usual suspects will be installed too, of course, as in relief valve, expansion vessel etc. What do you think?
  8. Aye - sure I know what you mean Quillan Im sure someone on this Forum will have some advice on how to set up a system as I have mentioned. It must be able to work. Im sure of it - I think [;-)]
  9. Hiya Quillan - Ive been out of action for over a year now and only just getting back into things. Yes I did buy the Airton kit from BricoDepot and I couldnt be happier with it all. Of course it struggled during the very cold spell last February but it worked well and we gave it quite a bit of use during August in the hot spell. Great value for money. How are you keeping? Well I hope.
  10. Hi all. Firstly Bonne Fete à tous. I’m planning a wee thing with my solar hot water system and I’d like your thoughts on where I am with it if you will. Presently I have a 36 Evacuated tube set up with a 300ltr tank. The tank has the main heat coil for the solar link along with an additional heat coil which can be linked to a secondary heat source. Also, there is an electrical water heater element. The system seems to be set up fine but obviously at this time of the year isn’t giving me as much hot water as I’d like. So, I have a plan (which I have taken from another person so its not my scheme). I want to augment the hot water I produce to try to maintain as much hot water as possible. So, my plan is to introduce a 2nd heat source. To do this I will wrap copper around the flue pipe to a height of approx 1m. This will then be pumped, as any other heat source would, to the HWT using a circulating pump. BUT – the secondary heat coil is located in the upper half of the HWT and this seems an awful waste, to me, to be heating only half the tank in the winter time when the solar aspect of the system isn’t achieving full hot water production. So, I know that the use of the flue as a heat source works but can I tap into the lower heat coil in anyway and how can I do this and how can I do it safely.  Thanks folks for any responses and thoughts you might have. Regards. Paul
  11. Mmmmmm – not sure I fully understand Théière. Do you mean the return point at the collector? Update – we spent an age yesterday removing and shaking the tubes and inner elements, lots of other wee things to try and find the problem. THEN, I discovered that our spark friend had actually connected the differential pump directly to its own feed and not via the controller. I connected the pump to the controller. Obviously the pump had been running 24/7 and also during the night so that must have been having a totally negative effect. So, today, with brilliant clear blue skies and lovely temps the T1 – lower tank temp peaked at 45°C, T2 – collector at 54°C and T3 – top tank at 49°C. That’s a vast improvement from previous days. Given the temperature (21°C) and clear skies today did I do okay or should I have expected more. I have no previous experience of this but in my wee head I had imagined it would have been somewhat more. Thanks to all for all your input, as always. 100% appreciated. Paul
  12. Mmmmmm - strange things here - T1 - bottom of tank shows 36C --- T2 - Collector shows 37C --- T3 - Top of tank shows 38C. Surely if the bottom of the tank is 36C and the collector shows 38C then the pump should switch off as the differnetial is less than 10C. Or have I completely misunderstood this whole thing. :-(
  13. Agreed Théière – but I don’t know what else to do. Its up to 37°C just now but I’d still have thought with the clear blue skies today it would have been much higher. Is there a possibility that the manifold has a problem, or could I be seating the tubes incorrectly? I’m more inclined to look at me before looking at the actual parts first.
  14. Hi BIG MAC, there is one isolator valve, after the pump, which is open. The pump is circulating and I increased it from its No1 speed to No2 speed and the temp actually dropped a couple of degrees. By vented do you mean bled. I have bled the pipework system containing the HTF but not the pump. We've actually unseated all 36 tubes and re-seated them and this actually produced a few degrees more (but would this have occurred anyway as we did this earlier in the morning). Given the lovely afternoon we had today I'd have thought that the manifold would have been way hotter than it was.
  15. What about increasing the flow rate via the circulating pump?
  16. Merci Théière - as far as I know we purged the system of air after we filled it with the water/anti-freeze mix. We followed the instructions. I have just had my son climb up there and put a digital thermometer on the flow pipe as it leaves the collector and it showed 38°C. The T1 (bottom tank reading) reading on the controller shows 32°C. We have virtually clear skies and temps of approx. 16°C. Surely it should be hotter than that exiting the manifold.
  17. Good morning kind people. Long time no post. I trust you are all well. I have just finished installing my own solar water heating system. I have a 300lt tank, 36 Evac tubes, controller, pump, expansion tank etc. There are 3 probes - top tank, bottom tank and collector. The controller is set to factory settings (10C degree diff between for switch on and 5C degree diff for switch off). The flow from the collector is connected into the correct end of the manifold and that is the end where the collector probe is connected also. The problem is that over the last few days since installing the system, the flow pipe, from the collector, isnt really hot at all as it enters the tank. Our water isnt being heated anywhere near the 60C degree mark and we are having to force heat with the electrical element. As I write this the pipe is very cool and its full glorious sunshine outside. The tops of the tubes which enter the manifold are hot enough that they would burn you if you tried to hold onto them. Any ideas anyone? Please. Cheers. Paul.
  18. Cheers Araucaria - I have decided to go with the propylene glycol. Safer than sorry I guess. I bought the entire kit, incl delivery to the Vienne, for under 1500€ so Im with you on that score. As an aside, Im down in the beautiful Auvergne at end of January as Ulster are playing Clermont ASM in the Heineken Cup. We'll be staying Chastreix if you fancy a beer.
  19. Anton - prices here in France seem to vary from 50/60€ to 90€ for 5 litres. Ive estimated that I need 6 litres of total liquids as its only a very short run from the panel to the tank. The pipe work will be 22mm and there will be a total run of approx 16m including the coil in the tank. Im planning on the 50:50 mix. What do you think? Hi Bob and thanks for your input. I dont actually know if my system is as cleveras that. To be honest I havent checked to documentation that came with the kit but I will now. That said, I doubt it will do that. Agreed Ab – the little extra expense is worth it. Anyway, thanks guys, as always much appreciated input. Cheers. Paul
  20. Mmmmmmmmm - great point Anton. I hadnt considered that aspect of things. I live in the SE Vienne, do you have any thoughts on suppliers here. Thanks Anton. Paul
  21. Hi all - I am about to install my solar hot water system. I have researched the liquid to be installed into the pipework that circulates from the manifold through to the heat exchanger in the tank and so on. The one that I have found recommended is Propylene Glycol at a 50:50 mix ratio. It isnt cheap in this country and would require delaying the job until I get it from the UK. Is the information I have found correct or could I use regular antigel that is usually installed into central heating pipework and radiators etc. What do you folk think. Cheers. Paul
  22. Brilliant Big Mac - actually to see it in diagram form makes way more sense to me. The Riff-Raff Element - thanks for the post. I havent explained myself well. The tank will have 2 coils, one for the solar set up and the second for the wood burner just as you describe.
  23. Thanks everyone for all your input and advice. I have ordered the solar system and this should arrive end of the July. What I need to source is an actual diagram of layout and parts required to link the soalr and wood burning elements to maximise security so if any of you guys can point me in the right direction I'd be eternally grateful. Many thanks to all. Cheers. Paul
  24. Good ness me its all gotten complicated. I think the first thing I need to do is source another stove as the one I had chosen, it would seem, isnat capable of running as I had hoped. Oracle your post is informative but I couldnt imagine having the space to put a 1900lt tank but I am encouraged by what you say. Big Mac - thanks too for ypur posts but I am not altogether sure that I understand exactly what you have said. [:$]
  25. OMG I'm confused already [;-)] [:D]. Here is an extract from an email I received from the company who makes the stove I had hoped to include in the system. "You can’t put a boiler stove into a pressurised system – only open vented and non pressurised. There is a high risk of explosion in a pressurised system and the stoves are not designed for that." So, can I or cant I. I am really confused. Sorry to be thick. You guys have offered great advice and thank you for that. The link is to the stove but I would have thought that they were much of a muchness. http://www.naturalheating.co.uk/titan-wraparound-boiler-stove-22kw-limited-stocks-p-1058.html
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