[Greenbuilding] SPAM: Re: Solar thermal hot water messed up

Mon May 25 12:17:50 CDT 2015

Popular Mechanics has straightforward explanations for a lot of the parts.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/interior-projects/how-to/a153/1275141/?click=welcome-ad

Erin 

From: Greenbuilding [mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Ktottotc g POP
Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2015 1:47 PM
To: Green Building
Subject: SPAM: Re: [Greenbuilding] Solar thermal hot water messed up

My security software blocked the link to the troubleshooting on that website as a dangerous site. (And no, I do not have my security set extremely high or anything like that.) So if you have other suggestions, let me know.

On May 24, 2015, at 1:47 PM, Reuben Deumling <9watts at gmail.com> wrote:

Four years is not long. There have been problematic water heater designs with faulty dip tubes, but this may not be your situation. One really good place to start with questions like this is the website set up by my friend and water heater expert Larry Weingarten. waterheaterrescue.com <http://waterheaterrescue.com/> 

On Sun, May 24, 2015 at 12:39 PM, Ktottotc g POP <ktottotc at gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for this information. I have zero knowledge of what a dip tube is. Is there any way I can check it? (I’ll google it and see if I find anything.) Also is that a part that can break? That is, the tank has never been opened since the system was installed just about four years ago.

On May 24, 2015, at 12:16 PM, Reuben Deumling <9watts at gmail.com> wrote:

Could you have a broken dip tube? A wild guess, but part of your scenario sounds like that to me: hottest water coming off the top of the storage tank, followed/interrupted by cold water that should have been introduced at the bottom of the tank if the dip tube is functioning.

On Sun, May 24, 2015 at 11:10 AM, Ktot g <ktottotc at gmail.com> wrote:

Being a holiday weekend, I cannot reach my installer for a few days, thus my question here.

I have a solar thermal hot water system with (of course) panels, a large tank, various pumps, and a Rinnai for backup.

The Rinnai is not coming on as the meter I adjust to cause it to turn on is set at 100 degrees and the temp is staying above that even though it’s pretty cloudy out. So I’m thinking the Rinnai is not the problem.

I can get very hot water; when the upstairs meter is at 140, for example, the water is very hot, as it should be. But it lasts only two or so minutes then gets cold. Obviously this makes for very short or very cold showers, makes it hard to effectively wash dishes and so on.

The pressure gauges by the tanks look fine to me (two tank ones around 140, the pressure tank at 32—should be about 30. And the solar thermal panel pumps are working (get hot, vibrate).

There’s a Grundfoss pump just past the Rinnai that seems to always be flashing between 6 watts and 0 gym, even when I turn on a faucet and run hot water. So I’m wondering if that’s the problem.

Or if there’s anything I can try to at least diagnose, if not fix, this myself. I live very far from the installer so if I have to have him out it’s going to cost me a fortune. Plus I prefer understanding how things function, fixing them myself, if at all possible.

Any suggestions?

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