FAFCO SOLAR PANEL: ADDING ON...DO YOU NEED MORE HOSES?

[carpevacationum]

You guys have been so helpful that I'm hoping you can help me again. I ordered a 4x20 Fafco Panel from Neely Pools via Ebay and am waiting for it to arrive. They originally told me they had the add on kit but now say they don't. So.... I ordered an add on kit 1 1/2" (that is what is printed on my panel) from bargainpoolsupplies.com.

My question now is do I also need to order more hoses? Is the add on kit all I need? Can you tell I'm clueless on this?

Would appreciate any/all help!!!

Thanks so much!

 

[NWMNMom]

Add on kit? Do you already have panels up and you are adding another one to your current panels? That is what the add on kits are for - connecting a new panel to existing panels - NOT to connect a panel to your pool. Your panel should come with the hoses you need to connect to the pool, if it did not it's probably because that is the reason they are so cheap on Ebay - the setup you get is just a panel, not a panel kit. First off you need to have a hose/hoses to go from your pump to the inlet on the panel (bottom of the header) and hoses to go from the top or outlet of the panel (top of the header) that goes to your return. If you are going to use a diverter so you can bypass the panels all together (like at night or cool days so it doesn't cool off your water instead of heating it) you will need to have two sets of hoses and the diverter or bypass goes in between. Does this make sense? How large is your pool and what area of the country are you in? You may need more panels depending on those factors to create adequate heat for your pool if it is large and you are in a cool area of the country. BTW - welcome and hope we can help.

 

[carpevacationum]

Thanks for responding! I guess I wasn't too clear. Sorry about that. We actually already have one solar panel (Fafco 4x20) that we bought last year with the pool. Problem is that one is not enough since our pool is 27' round. So I ordered another 4x20 panel and just ordered a 1 1/2 inch add on kit to connect it to the first one. When I looked on our existing panel, it said 1 1/2" so I'm hoping I ordered the right one.

Now I'm trying to figure out if I need extra hoses to connect the panels to each other...not the pool...that's already connected.

By the way, we are in Massachusetts.

Thanks so much!

 

[NWMNMom]

Wellllll, alright then! The "add on kit" should work to connect the one to the other if you are running them in a series. If you don't have the right size, you certainly can get hardware to help size it to your correct plumbing. Ours have 2" input/outlet pipes.

If you check many of the threads here on the site, you will see that a lot of us have chosen to run ours parallel rather than in a series. This way we can heat the water by running it through both of them at the same time rather than through one then the other. It involves having them side by side and a T on the inlet hose or pipe (if you hard plumb with PVC) so that the water goes into both at the same time and a T at the outlet hose/pipe. I'm not a scientist/mathmetician so can't give you the particulars but we had a member who gave some data that suggested that this would be more efficient to heat the pool rather than in a series.

 

[carpevacationum]

Thank you so much!!! I really appreciate the advice. Will try to set it up this way. That makes a lot of sense.