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Solar heating system leaking

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  • 15-01-2012 2:19pm
    #1
    74raymie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3 ✭


    Hi lads

    Just wondering if anyone can help me. In sept 2010 I installed a solar hot water system. 2 x20 tube collectors linked to a 200 litre ss tank. This was a DIY job. Worked fine for about 9 months, then a leak occurred. I pressurised the system to 6 bar and found a leak on one of the expansion vessel joints. Job done I thought. I got the solar fluid and charging machine thingy from the local plumber and recharged it again. Great says I, for about two weeks....

    The pressure dropped from 2 bar to zero in the 2 weeks. I've now taken out the expansion vessels and pressure relief valves and pressure tested them. No leak.I also checked all the pipe work joints on tank, at collector and in attic, nothing. I think the leak may either be in the tank solar coil or in the header on one of the collectors.

    Would anybody have any other suggestions as how I could find this leak. It is small. Can you get any additive I could add to the glycol that would plug the leak from the inside of the system.

    Thanks for reading and any help would be great.
    Tagged:


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    #2
    heinbloed
    Registered Users Posts: 1,632 ✭✭✭heinbloed


    No ad-on sealant would be helpful here. The temperature and pressure fluctuations will increase/widen any existing leak very quickly.

    At 6 bar pressure the safety valve would have gone, isn't there something like it installed? The expansion barrel might be damaged.
    Since the leak occured in summer an overheating problem might have caused it. Failed sealants?

    Think about cross-contamination and it's consequences.

    Using a stetoscope at an air-pressurised system would reveal the leak accustically. There is also 'canned fog' available for an optical tracing.


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    #3
    74raymie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3 ✭74raymie


    Thanks heinbloed, I isolated the pressure relief valves as they would indeed blow at 6 bar. Checked the expansion vessels already. I was hoping for a handy solution, as if the leak is in the collectors or the tank, it'll be a pain to fix. The canned fog sounds interesting.


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    #4
    esox28
    Registered Users Posts: 800 ✭✭✭esox28


    Its going to be a pain but to find a small leak like that you will need to seperate the three componants of the system solar collectors, pipework and coil and test each seperatly.

    Imo you will need to pressurize the system with water rather than air 'more visible than an air indicator'


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