My pool has a hill behind the house, and on that hill is a bank of 10 black plastic solar panels which heat the pool. After the filter, there is a Jandy valve which will direct water either to the solar panels, or just back to the pool. There is also a ball valve which just seals off the solar panels. The panels are made of a large tube at the top and bottom, with very small plastic tubes running between them; water runs from the top tubes down the small tubes, into the large tube at the bottom and then out to the return jets. I have no idea what brand they are, or even their age, except that my grandparents put them in when I was a kid (so, probably at least 20+ years old).
Three of them have sprung small pinhole leaks on the bottom sides of the small tubes, and it does leak quite a bit of water if the pool is set to heat. (An related mystery that I'm curious about but not dead set on figuring out is that even though the leaks are visibly on the bottom of the panels, the tops have dried water spots on them...) A recent development is the very last panel's top tube is leaking quite a bit where it is capped off and held together with a hose clamp.
Now, I can operate the pool with the water simply not going through the heater, and I lose zero water, but I would like to heat the water. I've read that leaks like this can be fixed a few different ways, everything from using epoxy to plugging the leaking lines, to adding in little plastic tee-connectors. Due to their age, I think it might be a better bet to have them replaced, but I have no idea what they cost. (Also, I don't have wads of cash anywhere, so if they're really expensive I'll just have to go without.) I've found kits online which include an entire solar setup for someone with no existing system, but I can't seem to find anyone who just sells panels on their own. Can anyone advise me on buying individual solar panels? I don't know the dimensions of the panels, or the tubing sizes, so I'm not looking for any exact suggestions on brand, etc, just, are these special order through a pool store? Through a pool repair company? Sacrifice to the pool gods? Thanks in advance!
Three of them have sprung small pinhole leaks on the bottom sides of the small tubes, and it does leak quite a bit of water if the pool is set to heat. (An related mystery that I'm curious about but not dead set on figuring out is that even though the leaks are visibly on the bottom of the panels, the tops have dried water spots on them...) A recent development is the very last panel's top tube is leaking quite a bit where it is capped off and held together with a hose clamp.
Now, I can operate the pool with the water simply not going through the heater, and I lose zero water, but I would like to heat the water. I've read that leaks like this can be fixed a few different ways, everything from using epoxy to plugging the leaking lines, to adding in little plastic tee-connectors. Due to their age, I think it might be a better bet to have them replaced, but I have no idea what they cost. (Also, I don't have wads of cash anywhere, so if they're really expensive I'll just have to go without.) I've found kits online which include an entire solar setup for someone with no existing system, but I can't seem to find anyone who just sells panels on their own. Can anyone advise me on buying individual solar panels? I don't know the dimensions of the panels, or the tubing sizes, so I'm not looking for any exact suggestions on brand, etc, just, are these special order through a pool store? Through a pool repair company? Sacrifice to the pool gods? Thanks in advance!
