DIY Solar--What to do for a pump?

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linzjane88

0
May 23, 2014
77
SW Washington
Pool Size
14500
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
SWG Type
CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
I think I want to try an attempt at a DIY solar heater not attachted to my main pump (looking at using this guys idea
). I am not expecting 90 degree temps but if I could bring the pool up a couple degrees I would be happy.

For a handful of different reasons I would prefer to try this instead of buying pre-made panels. Basically it boils down to quality- it looks like there are a ton of reviews of those things getting pinhole leaks in them after a season or two and at 200$+ that's not a gamble I want to take. The homemade PEX tubing setups can be enclosed in plexiglass, minimizing leaks. I also don't want to mess with plumbing anything into my main lines right yet simply because everything is hard plumbed and I already re-did it once a few months back when we put our deck in. For all of you handymen out there it's probably not a big deal to do that sort of stuff quick and cheap but for me that ends up being a multi day very expensive project ( 'wonder which fitting I need? Eh, buy one of each so I don't have to come back!') ultimately ending in calling my dad to finish it ? . If this thing turns out OK and does it's job I can consider hard plumbing things down the road.

So, if one were to experiment with a hokey homemade solar setup what type of pump would I use to get water out of the pool and into the coils? I *think* a 'water transfer pump'?

EDIT: If someone has a better idea or suggestion I am open to it! Just remember I am impatient and not overly skilled :p
 

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I'll help you out in a different way.

Ballpark 1000 watts per hour for every square meter of your solar panel while it's in bright noon day sun. Then calculate how much that amount of energy will add to your pool temperature. If it adds a worthwhile amount to your pool each day then go for it.

Most DIY pex pipe solutions have far too little piping to capture enough heat from the sun to make a worthwhile difference to their pool. And when they do have enough piping they discover it is cheaper to buy a Chinese plastic panel to start with.

If you live near a big city there are lots of these panels on the used market for cheap. I wouldn't buy one with leaks but at the same time leaks can be fixed.
 
It's cheaper, more effective, and easier to install a premade panel. When you get pin hole leaks just plug the tube that is leaking. The tube plugs are also very cheap.

A premade panel with 50% of its tubes plugged is still better at heating your pool than any DIY thing you can make.

The panels on amazon are around $100-150 for every 40 sqft of solar panel. You can't get any where close to that kind of size for less money with DIY setups.
 
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Ok I think you guys are right :ROFLMAO:. I just really, REALLY wanted to avoid messing with my plumbing. Although I must say I made 60 pounds of concrete weighted PVC tubes to hold down my ladder yesterday (because holy floating stairs batman!) and I managed to use a saw without cutting off any limbs. Maybe installing solar could be the next step in my girl DIY skills.

I am ordering a solar cover to replace our old one that finally gave up. Old one was a clear 12 ml that lasted 3-4 years. I found it really hard to manhandle on and off of the pool-particularly because it was so stiff it would get stuck on the top rail--even when I cut it in quarters (in fact that might have made it worse). Would a thinner cover be a bit more flexible you guys think?
 
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linzjane88 said:
Ok I think you guys are right :ROFLMAO:. I just really, REALLY wanted to avoid messing with my plI used a 1000 GPH fountain pump to push the water through the tubingppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppumbing. Although I must say I made 60 pounds of concrete weighted PVC tubes to hold down my ladder yesterday (because holy floating stairs batman!) and I managed to use a saw without cutting off any limbs. Maybe installing solar could be the next step in my girl DIY skills. [;p'',mm plllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll?'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''iu ioooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

I am ordering a solar cover to replace our old one that finally gave up. Old one was a clear 12 ml that lasted 3-4 years. I found it really hard to manhandle on and off of the pool-particulary because it was so stiff it would get stuck on the top rail--even when I cut it in quarters (in fact that might have made it worse). Would a thinner cover be a bit more flexible you guys think?
Click to expand...
Definitely! And it will have the same lifespan :)
 
jimmythegreek said:
Agree with above. All these ppl that post info of their success with DIY solar exaggerate their abilities to heat. You are way ahead with even a cheap solar panel laying on the ground
Click to expand...

I started adding up the cost of what I would need and it very quickly started becoming more expensive than premade. Once you factor in the upcharge for my 'skills' and all the wrong/extra parts I would undoubtedly buy it is not a great choice. :ROFLMAO:
 
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Soooo..... I bought 300' of PEX :shock:. Sometimes I just can't help myself once I get an idea in my head...even if I (and everyone else) think it is probably a bad one. I got a little 1/3 HP transfer pump from Harbor Freight. I needed to get one anyway for draining off water from my cover in the wintertime because I have been cheap for a few years but this winter I finally decided spending $70 was worth not risking a mouth full of murky cover water to get the siphon going.?

First thoughts:
-PEX is not NEARLY as pliable as I thought it would be-even after warming up in the sun. All those DIY video showing the wooden enclosures are not done for looks ?
-This is going to be time consuming
-My little transfer pump idea will actually work once I get the right size fitting. (if the PEX produces some decent warm water then I will commit to permanently added lines off my plumbing).
 
Pex pipe flexibility is variable depending on the brand, style, and size of the tubing. Pex A pipe tends to be much more flexible and also tends to cost more. Pex B pipe, the kind you find at most box stores and plumbing supplies is less flexible and cheaper.

To get the most heat out of it you need to lay the tubing down flat and not let it overlap. The name of the game is to expose as much surface area of the pipe to the sun as possible.

300 ft of pex tubing in one continuous length is going to limit you greatly in flow rates. I'm assuming you are using 1/2" pex.

Gals/min psi required
5 81
4 54
3 33
2 15
1 5

You are facing a lot of up hill battles using this type of tubing for your project, fittings are going to eat into your budget rapidly. Buying fittings from a big box store is the most expensive way to go.

If you are curious I got the info on flow rates from here:

PEX tubing technical specifications and general installation practices

Dimensional data, pressure ratings, pressure drop table, typical circuit lengths and other technical specifications of PEX tubing used in system sizing and calculations.
www.pexuniverse.com www.pexuniverse.com
 
You're right of course, it's a bad idea.

300 ft of 1/2in pex pipe is about 1 square meter of surface area (12.5 ft2) exposed to the sun. If it is 100% efficient, which it isn't close to that, then at most you can add 1000 watts per hour to your pool during mid day.

Compare that to your pool which is already absorbing about 40,000 watts per hour from the sun and it becomes obvious an extra 1000 watts due to the pex is insignificant.

I do understand the novelty of getting warm water out of a DIY pex pipe though. It actually works if your trying to heat a bathtub or kiddies pool.
 
Just to add a little more info.
As other have stated, solar heating is all about sqft of exposure to the sun.
Also, it is more efficient to heat a LOT of water a couple degrees than to heat a little water MANY degrees. So, the higher the flow rate that better. Thus the panels with 100s of parallel tubes allow you to move more water through them and add more heat to your pool.
With a single 300' run of PEX, you are not going to be able to move very much water through the tube, while the water coming out will feel warm, it is so few gallons that it just will not impact your pool very much. Almost like heating water on your stove and then running out and dumping it in , rinse and repeat.

You could move more water through the PEX by having multiple parallel runs, but now you have added the extra expense of many more fitting to be able to plumb in the parallel paths.

My opinion, return the PEX if you can.
 
To add a little more info, my current house had a DIY pool solar heater when I bought it. They used 3/4" black poly tubing on the roof in about 6 or 8 parallel loops. Total length of more than 2,500 feet. It did add some heat, but I was fighting with leaks all the time.

Ripped it out and DIY installed my panels I found used on Craigslist which add WAY more heat. Installing the used panels myself was probably no more than 1/5 the cost of professional new install.
 
linzjane88

I've been thinking of doing a similar DIY setup. The changes I would make to your example posted would be a layer of foil faced polyiso insulation below the PEX tubing and tempered glass instead of plexiglass cover. Of course that glass makes it very expensive (anyone let me know if you can find premade blanks of it reasonably priced!). Of course you get into the syndrome of heating a little water a whole bunch and not being efficient that way.

I have looked a LOT at plumbing setups and the best pump to put on there is your own pool pump! To find a truly electrically safe in water pump with good volume is going to be a lot more difficult than most folks realize. Note that none of the submersible or sump pumps you see cheaply everywhere are certified to have people in the water while they are running. Compare their construction to the electronics in an electrically powered pool robot. There is a reason they are so expensive, there is a lot of safety engineering and build rightly going into those little crawlers!
 
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