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| Pipe-laying in the trench. Since it was dug a few weeks ago up to 3 feet of vegetation has sprung up along its edges. |
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| Every joint requires you to cut 2 screw threads with this die, which is no mean feat even when you're not trying to do it in the trench. |
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| Cold line, sensor cable conduit, hot line (which needs some attention with the tape...) |
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| Coiling the heat exchangers. Strangely, they coiled beautifully in this direction, but when we started trying to bend the ends upwards, it was threatening to kink at every opportunity. |
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| So, how complicated can we make this? |
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| Copper coils successfully installed, and due a little de-kinking with the pliers. |
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| Exchangers connected up. Incidentally, you should never do what's been done here and connect the copper directly to the galvanised pipe. I predict corrosion before too long, but there's only so many times you can tell your boss "We should REALLY do it a different way". |
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| Still, at least all the parts likely to suffer from galvanic corrosion are cheap, on the outside, and easily replaceable. |
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| This was a good bit. We're using that big black tank to provide the pressure to run the water to and from the SWH, but when we came to disconnect it so that we could alter the pipework, we discovered that no one had thought to put a stop valve on the outlet. Which means you can't work on the pipes down- stream without 500 gallons of water coming out. This is what we call a DESIGN FLAW. Solution: just start unscrewing the pipes (fast!), working backwards from the nearest union, then quickly screw on a new valve, all the while being sprayed by this forceful jet of water. Refreshing on a hot day, mind (we're up in the mid-to-high 30s these days). |
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| We have water! |
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| Data logger up and running. Had a few short circuit problems to sort out when I discovered a couple of the sensors weren't as waterproof as I might have liked. |
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| I'm still in love with the colours of frazzled copper. |
6 comments:
what happenned to using plastic connectors to join galv and copper, they just melt in the sun? Ideally ceramic i guess.
Dielectric unions? I suggested those too, but nobody had heard of such a thing, nor knew where they might be got from...
Also, one of the constant frustrations is the general rarity of forward planning. You'll be staring at something which you can tell will fail tomorrow, but you'll just get a shrug: "it's working just now".
Big storm last night in which 5 sensors have shorted - seems that even when they are encased in a big blob of silicone the water finds a way of capillary-ing in somewhere. Hopefully once we get the glazing on this problem will go away.
Have you considered using parafilm to help water proof things a bit more? Not exactly an industrial material but good at joints etc.
Very impressive work going on here! Great photos, but remember (colourful) data only tells the full story!
Haven't come across parafilm before, and I suspect here is a place I'm unlikely to!
Colourful data shall be yours in a post or two's time...
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