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I like step's idea of turning the barrel on it's side.............I may though just whack a tank connector through the "round" depression on the side of the tank where the label was. I've got BSP taps (as in to tap a thread).................wonder if I should try and tap the plastic there to screw a fitting in rather than tank connector?

 
Could you not incorporate an air bleed nipple on a piece of pipe at highest point? This would ensure that all circulating pipes are full of water.

air the would not leave if the nipple opened, the opposite would happen and the air would rush in to fill the space. you would need to have the water under pressure when its opened to get the air out

 
The first £ on the project, had to go BUY a tank connector for the barrel cap. Hoping a combination of the LARGE rubber backing washer and copious amounts of liquid PTFE will help seal up the 4mm hole I drilled for the temperature probe!

Barrel now on it's SIDE resting on a cradle I quickly knocked up. I drilled a hole in the side - now the top to aid filling, temp. taking etc. Drilled with a 19mm Starrett  and managed to just about to tap it 1/2" BSP. Got a bit of a tap thing going on at the drum too for easy take off.

Finished all this a bit late so not really done any measuring for any length of time. What is obvious is that without any airlock the panel outlet temp does NOT see the rapid temperature jumps.........so that heat must be going somewhere? Does that equal syphoning? Panel outlet at Binder valve showing about 35degC at the mo.

Thinking maybe that I should get the glass closer to the cans?







 
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A couple of questions then:

1) Presumably the hose from the panel outlet MUST always angle upward? I'm guessing ANY downward incline, however slight, is bad as in the simple reliance on thermal "rise" rather than a pump will have to overcome it..........and might well not?



2) Guessing I should shorten the outlet pipe?
3) I noted tonight that water had "risen" out of the top outlet........it was when I filled the system from the hose BELOW so this shows some heating & expansion? Overall it went up by about 10degC from ambient in the short time after I finished it / the sun going down. Turn the tap on tonight and got a few seconds of quite warm water tbh - though was that just the barrel heating up in the sun???



Finished off the day by stapling a bit of galvanised mesh over the glass in case any one trips and falls through it. I've set the panel up in roughly the orientation and angle it would be if sat on the house hip end so I'll leave it here now rather than keep moving it round to face the sun.

IF I remember I'll measure the tank temp and panel outlet first thing in the morning and see what it is in the afternoon without having moved the panel etc but conscious that this outlet pipe angle might need sorting!

Cheers

 
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shortest and most direct is best, but what you have will work, may take slightly longer to get the flow moving though

the rise of water level is probably the expansion, more proof that it is working

 
even better it's turned into a bar .... Guinness

really good to see a project like this, proving you don't need to spend £ks to get a working system
:lol:  Total outlay so far = £6.59 on a couple of fittings I didn't have.................plus a crate of cider!

I just HOPE it is working (and well). I really need to compare it to a "clip fin" design of comparable size where aluminium sheets are close fitted to the copper pipe matrix and the whole lot painted black. I can feel another build coming on.................

 
I'm guessing it's working? Took temperature before I left this morning and then this afternoon. The panel / barrel set up as in orientation has remained the same all day:

Time             Temp at Outlet         Temp at Tank

05.00                  10.6                           19                 

15.00                  41                              42

How does this compare to commercial ones I wonder? Not bad I suppose for a panel that's less than a metre square:

At panel outlet:



At tank:



 
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South West facing roof...........thinking it's crying out for a few panels:



And I'll probably get round to that about the same time I put the armoured to the garage underground! :lol:

 
Yes that looks to be working now.

So next step a row of panels along the bottom of the  roof. Tank high up in the peak of the roof so it thermosyphons.

Then you have yourself solar hot water.

Or even simpler, move your barrel higher up and connect a hose and shower head, and you have an al fresco solar shower.

 
Yes that looks to be working now.

So next step a row of panels along the bottom of the  roof. Tank high up in the peak of the roof so it thermosyphons.

Then you have yourself solar hot water.

Or even simpler, move your barrel higher up and connect a hose and shower head, and you have an al fresco solar shower.S
Sad minds think alike:



 
Hit 45degC in the tank today!

Now then, back in Post #15 I showed a picture of the copper pipe "matrix" I made up. The horizontal "in" and "out" pipes are 22mm and the "verticals" connecting them 22mm. I saw the 15/22 idea on a flat plate collector design from CAT - but why?  I'm now going to knock up a second panel based on this flat plate idea but adapted to suit my glass size etc. I'll then set it up adjacent to my design with the same barrel (I have another one) and then compare which is more efficient.

My question is, will 22mm pipe throughout be better than 15mm for the verticals? In the "can" version I've got 7 vertical 15mm's spaced at 66mm..........are MORE verticals better?

EDIT: I'm being DAFT! For a comparison I HAVE to do it the same as mine. :coat

 
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the idea on the smaller verticals [well on race bikes anyway, I suppose most radiators] is to get the water there quicker and smaller verticals give more surface area per size to disperse it, thats why all the fins,

you are simply working on the reverse principle of this, Id imagine the smaller verticals will gain the same heat [same size you have] but the larger in and out pipework will transfer it more efficiently to the tank.

15mm has a greater surface area for the volume of water inside it, so would probably heat the water more than the 22mm. but thats just a guess
spot on Andy, thats how we calc the sizes for building bike rads, amount of water and how much surface area we need to get it cooled/kept at optimum temp.

 
Cheers! I'll stick with the "22 across / 15 down" that I've got then.

On a more practical note & for a bit of a laugh I'VE JUST HAD A SHOWER IN THE GARDEN!  :Blushing  Had to put the chrome hose and handset back in the bathroom so dug an old set out of the shed and bleached it. Kept the undies on so as not to scare the neighbours, though with half an acre it's unlikely. Down to just under 40degC now but very pleasant. Freezing cold after though, at ten to nine re-filling the tank with the garden hose!

Had to bend a bit as the tank is a tad low but it proves a point. Gave the wife and daughter a laugh too who videoed me - bless em! Just got a peek at the footage and it's 'effin frightening - like a white whale with a skinhead, moobs and a cider gut (ladies PM me!).

 
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:pmsl:

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:Applaud

ive been thinking about this,

I think that simply painting the pipes black and having a reflector behind them would be even more efficient,

Im not seeing how the cans are actually benifitting that much to the system tbh,

they would need to be totally sealed around the pipe to have a trap of hot air for any big benefit to be gained from them,

is there something Im not thinking of?

even have the cans on the reverse of the pipes for a parabolica effect would be a lot better, you could even polish them :D

 
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