DIY Solar Pool Heater

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Heard of a guy using superglue. I use the superglue gel for my arrow fletchings and they make their way through deer in tact so I might try that then
 
Often the best way to fix them is to just seal off the leaking tubes. Sometimes you can cut the tube and insert an appropriately sized sheet metal screw in the stub with some silicon on it to seal off the leaking tube. Sometimes it's better to melt them closed with a torch and a pair of cheap pliers. Probably not on the roof though.
 
Confused about the 3way valve used with these systems. The three way must have a hole to allow the system to drain. Where is the hole on the valve? Also manuals have the vacuum breaker at multiple locations, what is the best place to put this?
 
lukeyn said:
Confused about the 3way valve used with these systems. The three way must have a hole to allow the system to drain. Where is the hole on the valve? Also manuals have the vacuum breaker at multiple locations, what is the best place to put this?
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The hole is in the gate that directs the flow.

The breaker is generally on the high side on the end opposite of the outlet.
 
Water should be fed into the bottom of the panels and exit from the top at the opposite end. Care should be taken that the water has to travel the same distance to go through all the panels.

The VRV can be just about anywhere. If you put it at the very top, then you will need to have higher flow/pressure to keep it closed when running the solar. Mine is at the bottom of the panels right where they are fed. Others have them down right near the pool equipment.
 
Not sure I have ever seen a picture. I just got the Pentair Solar valve with the check valve install so that no water can pass through the hole backward when the solar is off and the pump is running.
 

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You need that check valve too (and one on the solar return line) ... My 3-way has a tiny check valve in it instead of a little hole, so when the solar is off and the pump is off, the solar can drain through the valve. But if solar is off and the pump is on, water can not be forced through the little hole in the 3-way.
 
Regarding the VRV location, it is a trade off, personally I would pick lower side of the panel opposite the feed point. In an ideal world the top of the panel would be best, but we don't live in an ideal world and siphon action from the down pipe can exceed the flow of the panels letting an upper mounted VRV suck air.
 
Hey guys, Got another question for ya.

I want to build two platforms to host a total of 8 panels, 4 per platform.

Very similar to the platform made in this link Solar Pool Heating Tutorial Project .

POOL7.gif

without the pergola.

I am planning on running a T at both the inlet and outlet of the panels to split the input and combine the output of both series of panels.

Do I need a vacuum breaker at each set of panels??????

Also, concerning the elevation of each series, should I stagger the second set of panels slightly higher than the first set? ?????

Main reason I want to use T's to separate and combine, is the panel headers are 1 1/2". I plan on running 2" then separating out to 1 1/2" to each set.
 

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