Solar follies
 

I worked on my solars today. I am just using them for the spa now but
they work well when they work.
I had a tree screwing with me and when I got that trimmed and turned
them on I had a leak. I guess these collectors don't owe me anything
because I got them in 2004 used from a guy who had them up 5 months
(until the roof started leaking)
Long story short I bought 8. Installed 6. Charley ate 1 of them pretty
much right after I installed them. I have 4 installed now. (different
location) One went bad a while ago and I swapped it out with a spare.
The spares were just stored out back under a tree with weeds growing
in them and such.
I assumed they must be junk.
I was thinking I would just buy all new and chuck them all.

Funny thing, just on a lark I pulled out the 2 from the weeds and
tested them with 10PSI air then water.
It turns out, buried in the weeds seems to be better for them than on
the roof because they were fine. I just swapped out the bad one and
brought the spa water from 65 degrees to 77 in a few hours. I am back!

I still plan on getting new ones but not right away. I may go with
glazed collectors.

OTOH I also have a 330k BTU propane pool heater I never use. I am
thinking about hooking that up to the spa. I should be able to put 40
degrees in the water in less than 20 minutes with that ;-)

Solar follies
 

On 2/13/2016 2:15 AM, wrote:
I worked on my solars today. I am just using them for the spa now but
they work well when they work.
I had a tree screwing with me and when I got that trimmed and turned
them on I had a leak. I guess these collectors don't owe me anything
because I got them in 2004 used from a guy who had them up 5 months
(until the roof started leaking)
Long story short I bought 8. Installed 6. Charley ate 1 of them pretty
much right after I installed them. I have 4 installed now. (different
location) One went bad a while ago and I swapped it out with a spare.
The spares were just stored out back under a tree with weeds growing
in them and such.
I assumed they must be junk.
I was thinking I would just buy all new and chuck them all.

Funny thing, just on a lark I pulled out the 2 from the weeds and
tested them with 10PSI air then water.
It turns out, buried in the weeds seems to be better for them than on
the roof because they were fine. I just swapped out the bad one and
brought the spa water from 65 degrees to 77 in a few hours. I am back!

I still plan on getting new ones but not right away. I may go with
glazed collectors.

OTOH I also have a 330k BTU propane pool heater I never use. I am
thinking about hooking that up to the spa. I should be able to put 40
degrees in the water in less than 20 minutes with that ;-)



If God meant you to be soaking in a hot tub or pool in the middle of
winter, he would have installed a hot spring under your house.

Solar follies
 

On Saturday, February 13, 2016 at 7:55:57 AM UTC-6, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 2/13/2016 2:15 AM, wrote:
I worked on my solars today. I am just using them for the spa now but
they work well when they work.
I had a tree screwing with me and when I got that trimmed and turned
them on I had a leak. I guess these collectors don't owe me anything
because I got them in 2004 used from a guy who had them up 5 months
(until the roof started leaking)
Long story short I bought 8. Installed 6. Charley ate 1 of them pretty
much right after I installed them. I have 4 installed now. (different
location) One went bad a while ago and I swapped it out with a spare.
The spares were just stored out back under a tree with weeds growing
in them and such.
I assumed they must be junk.
I was thinking I would just buy all new and chuck them all.

Funny thing, just on a lark I pulled out the 2 from the weeds and
tested them with 10PSI air then water.
It turns out, buried in the weeds seems to be better for them than on
the roof because they were fine. I just swapped out the bad one and
brought the spa water from 65 degrees to 77 in a few hours. I am back!

I still plan on getting new ones but not right away. I may go with
glazed collectors.

OTOH I also have a 330k BTU propane pool heater I never use. I am
thinking about hooking that up to the spa. I should be able to put 40
degrees in the water in less than 20 minutes with that ;-)



If God meant you to be soaking in a hot tub or pool in the middle of
winter, he would have installed a hot spring under your house.

lol

Solar follies
 

On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 08:56:35 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:

On 2/13/2016 2:15 AM, wrote:
I worked on my solars today. I am just using them for the spa now but
they work well when they work.
I had a tree screwing with me and when I got that trimmed and turned
them on I had a leak. I guess these collectors don't owe me anything
because I got them in 2004 used from a guy who had them up 5 months
(until the roof started leaking)
Long story short I bought 8. Installed 6. Charley ate 1 of them pretty
much right after I installed them. I have 4 installed now. (different
location) One went bad a while ago and I swapped it out with a spare.
The spares were just stored out back under a tree with weeds growing
in them and such.
I assumed they must be junk.
I was thinking I would just buy all new and chuck them all.

Funny thing, just on a lark I pulled out the 2 from the weeds and
tested them with 10PSI air then water.
It turns out, buried in the weeds seems to be better for them than on
the roof because they were fine. I just swapped out the bad one and
brought the spa water from 65 degrees to 77 in a few hours. I am back!

I still plan on getting new ones but not right away. I may go with
glazed collectors.

OTOH I also have a 330k BTU propane pool heater I never use. I am
thinking about hooking that up to the spa. I should be able to put 40
degrees in the water in less than 20 minutes with that ;-)



If God meant you to be soaking in a hot tub or pool in the middle of
winter, he would have installed a hot spring under your house.

I have simply taken the sign that he created nichrome wire and the
laws of thermodynamics for the last 35 years

Solar follies
 

On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 08:56:35 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:

OTOH I also have a 330k BTU propane pool heater I never use. I am
thinking about hooking that up to the spa. I should be able to put 40
degrees in the water in less than 20 minutes with that ;-)



If God meant you to be soaking in a hot tub or pool in the middle of
winter, he would have installed a hot spring under your house.

===

God heats those who heat themselves. :-)

Solar follies
 

wrote:
I worked on my solars today. I am just using them for the spa now but
they work well when they work.
I had a tree screwing with me and when I got that trimmed and turned
them on I had a leak. I guess these collectors don't owe me anything
because I got them in 2004 used from a guy who had them up 5 months
(until the roof started leaking)
Long story short I bought 8. Installed 6. Charley ate 1 of them pretty
much right after I installed them. I have 4 installed now. (different
location) One went bad a while ago and I swapped it out with a spare.
The spares were just stored out back under a tree with weeds growing
in them and such.
I assumed they must be junk.
I was thinking I would just buy all new and chuck them all.

Funny thing, just on a lark I pulled out the 2 from the weeds and
tested them with 10PSI air then water.
It turns out, buried in the weeds seems to be better for them than on
the roof because they were fine. I just swapped out the bad one and
brought the spa water from 65 degrees to 77 in a few hours. I am back!

I still plan on getting new ones but not right away. I may go with
glazed collectors.

OTOH I also have a 330k BTU propane pool heater I never use. I am
thinking about hooking that up to the spa. I should be able to put 40
degrees in the water in less than 20 minutes with that ;-)



You can repair them easily if it is a tube leak. The Fafco collectors you
cut the tube and inserted a rubber plug each side of the leak. The other
brand I had (junk) you cut the tube at the collectors and screwed in a
stainless screw. I think they we number 14 flatheads.

Solar follies
 

On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 13:48:34 -0500,
wrote:

On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 08:56:35 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:

OTOH I also have a 330k BTU propane pool heater I never use. I am
thinking about hooking that up to the spa. I should be able to put 40
degrees in the water in less than 20 minutes with that ;-)



If God meant you to be soaking in a hot tub or pool in the middle of
winter, he would have installed a hot spring under your house.

===

God heats those who heat themselves. :-)

Amen.
I just looked and it is 98! for free.
Lets see how it works when the ambient is more like 50-60.

Solar follies
 

On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 11:01:56 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
I worked on my solars today. I am just using them for the spa now but
they work well when they work.
I had a tree screwing with me and when I got that trimmed and turned
them on I had a leak. I guess these collectors don't owe me anything
because I got them in 2004 used from a guy who had them up 5 months
(until the roof started leaking)
Long story short I bought 8. Installed 6. Charley ate 1 of them pretty
much right after I installed them. I have 4 installed now. (different
location) One went bad a while ago and I swapped it out with a spare.
The spares were just stored out back under a tree with weeds growing
in them and such.
I assumed they must be junk.
I was thinking I would just buy all new and chuck them all.

Funny thing, just on a lark I pulled out the 2 from the weeds and
tested them with 10PSI air then water.
It turns out, buried in the weeds seems to be better for them than on
the roof because they were fine. I just swapped out the bad one and
brought the spa water from 65 degrees to 77 in a few hours. I am back!

I still plan on getting new ones but not right away. I may go with
glazed collectors.

OTOH I also have a 330k BTU propane pool heater I never use. I am
thinking about hooking that up to the spa. I should be able to put 40
degrees in the water in less than 20 minutes with that ;-)



You can repair them easily if it is a tube leak. The Fafco collectors you
cut the tube and inserted a rubber plug each side of the leak. The other
brand I had (junk) you cut the tube at the collectors and screwed in a
stainless screw. I think they we number 14 flatheads.

I did that but this one had so many leaks it wasn't worth fooling
with. Fix one and the next one leaks. (right at the joint)
The sun kills them which is sort of ironic for a "solar" collector.

Solar follies
 

On 2/13/2016 3:05 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 13:48:34 -0500,
wrote:

On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 08:56:35 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:

OTOH I also have a 330k BTU propane pool heater I never use. I am
thinking about hooking that up to the spa. I should be able to put 40
degrees in the water in less than 20 minutes with that ;-)



If God meant you to be soaking in a hot tub or pool in the middle of
winter, he would have installed a hot spring under your house.

===

God heats those who heat themselves. :-)

Amen.
I just looked and it is 98! for free.
Lets see how it works when the ambient is more like 50-60.


When we were in Florida for the winters I fooled around with a
homemade solar heater for the pool. I got a 4x8 sheet of plywood,
cut it in half for two, 4x4 pieces and painted on side black.
Then I got some black PVC tubing and coiled as much as I could
of it on each of the pieces of plywood, attaching the coils with
plastic retainers. Connected the two coils in series and mounted
them so they faced the sun directly. I used a submersible pump to
run water from the pool, through the coils and then back to the pool.
Thermocouples were attached in the "send" and "return" lines.

During the day I'd measure about a 4-6 degree delta between the pump
side and the return side. It worked pretty good but it would take quite
a while to raise the pool water temp significantly and the losses at
night would wipe out any gain made during the day. Junked it.

Solar follies
 

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/13/2016 3:05 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 13:48:34 -0500,
wrote:

On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 08:56:35 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:

OTOH I also have a 330k BTU propane pool heater I never use. I am
thinking about hooking that up to the spa. I should be able to put 40
degrees in the water in less than 20 minutes with that ;-)



If God meant you to be soaking in a hot tub or pool in the middle of
winter, he would have installed a hot spring under your house.

===

God heats those who heat themselves. :-)

Amen.
I just looked and it is 98! for free.
Lets see how it works when the ambient is more like 50-60.


When we were in Florida for the winters I fooled around with a
homemade solar heater for the pool. I got a 4x8 sheet of plywood,
cut it in half for two, 4x4 pieces and painted on side black.
Then I got some black PVC tubing and coiled as much as I could
of it on each of the pieces of plywood, attaching the coils with
plastic retainers. Connected the two coils in series and mounted
them so they faced the sun directly. I used a submersible pump to
run water from the pool, through the coils and then back to the pool.
Thermocouples were attached in the "send" and "return" lines.

During the day I'd measure about a 4-6 degree delta between the pump
side and the return side. It worked pretty good but it would take quite
a while to raise the pool water temp significantly and the losses at
night would wipe out any gain made during the day. Junked it.




I designed similar in 1968, but they were in parallel, and worked well.
Should have patented it. A year later someone in Stockton did and sold
them for a few years.