I am now trying to get my solar system plumbed and running. I put about 1000' of tubing into my stamped concrete deck (which gets very hot in the sun) with the intent of claiming some of the heat for the water, while cooling the concrete down a little. I have the in and out of this big loop running back to my return lines. What I want is to run a slow flow of water through this loop to do the heat exchange.
I am trying to figure out valve positions so that some water will be:
1. Branched off the return lines
2. Forced through the solar system loop
3. Merged back into the return lines and on into the pool
The trouble is that this is a closed loop in that I cannot "see" anything happening. I was trying to get a piece of clear pipe or a flow meter or something so I can see how much water I am forcing through the smaller loop and make sure it is not too much. I am using 1.5" PVC for the main pool plumbing and 1/2" for the solar loops. I thought I could put in a restriction by partially closing a ball valve which would force some water through the solar loop. There will be a TON of friction loss in the loop, but I only want a trickle so it heats up... How can I be sure it's flowing through it?!?
A picture is worth a thousand words...
- Open valve --A-- to allow flow in solar loop
- Partially close valve --B-- to force some water through that loop
Anyone have any suggestions based on experience?
Cheers! (BTW, great forum. Fun stuff - this is all like a giant mechano set fr adults!)
Shep
I am trying to figure out valve positions so that some water will be:
1. Branched off the return lines
2. Forced through the solar system loop
3. Merged back into the return lines and on into the pool
The trouble is that this is a closed loop in that I cannot "see" anything happening. I was trying to get a piece of clear pipe or a flow meter or something so I can see how much water I am forcing through the smaller loop and make sure it is not too much. I am using 1.5" PVC for the main pool plumbing and 1/2" for the solar loops. I thought I could put in a restriction by partially closing a ball valve which would force some water through the solar loop. There will be a TON of friction loss in the loop, but I only want a trickle so it heats up... How can I be sure it's flowing through it?!?
A picture is worth a thousand words...
- Open valve --A-- to allow flow in solar loop
- Partially close valve --B-- to force some water through that loop
Anyone have any suggestions based on experience?
Cheers! (BTW, great forum. Fun stuff - this is all like a giant mechano set fr adults!)
Shep