solar water heater leak
#1
07-01-09, 02:50 PM
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: usa
Posts: 14
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
solar water heater leak
i have a solar water heater on my roof and every morning there is a puddle on driveway from the solar heater leaking water at night it seems to be leaking out of the freeze valve is this normal or faulty oh ya i live in florida no freeze here
#2
07-01-09, 03:30 PM
Might not be a 'freeze' valve ... might be a 'pressure relief' valve...
This isn't really the right forum for this, but being summer, we're not that busy!
Do you know if your system is 'closed' ? and if it has an expansion tank on it?
This isn't really the right forum for this, but being summer, we're not that busy!
Do you know if your system is 'closed' ? and if it has an expansion tank on it?
#3
07-28-09, 03:26 AM
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: usa
Posts: 14
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
#4
07-28-09, 03:19 PM
If it is a closed system, then it MUST have an expansion tank! If you take an example system with say 10 gallons of water in it, and heat that water, the water is going to expand. I only know one 'set' of numbers offhand... heating water from room temperature to 180 results in roughly a 4% increase in volume. With 10 gallons, that means you would now have 10.4 gallons. Your system may not hit 180... but it could... even so, if you are heating to say 120, you probably have 2% expansion. That extra water has to go somewhere, else your pipes would burst. OR, a PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE would open to allow the excess pressure to be relieved by dumping some of the water, and it sounds to me as though that's what is happening with the puddle in the driveway.
The expansion tank probably will look like a propane tank from a gas grill. You sure you don't have one?
The expansion tank probably will look like a propane tank from a gas grill. You sure you don't have one?
#5
07-28-09, 06:05 PM
You sure this isn't evening/overnight condensation on the interior surface of the collector leaking or dripping out somewhere? A leak due to expansion would happen during the day, not overnight.
#6
07-29-09, 06:16 PM
A leak due to expansion would happen during the day, not overnight.
