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The Environment / Thermal Solar Panel DIY Project for domestic hot water under £100
« on: 13/05/2011 19:59:27 »
Thank you for your encouraging words.
Update 2011 After a prolonged hard frost the system froze. I had closed it down but forgot to drain it over the winter Doh
Every joint on the copper tubing required re-soldering and took ages to clean the top joints. Then I remembered that vinegar stripes off the oxidisation so threw the rest of the joints in an old pickled onion jar and topped up with some fresh vinegar. Worked a treat and saved hours of work cleaning the joints.
Got some evaflux and some lead solder which works well and lasts far longer than the lead free solder which was used initially.
Also purchased a thin sheet of polycarb to replace the perspex, more to make it aesthetically pleasing but should prove to be more functional after the guy selling it pointed out that the air pockets between the polycarb would reflect the energy from the son onto the corrugated steel sheet more effectively which sounds plausible.
Will update some more shortly.
Update 2011 After a prolonged hard frost the system froze. I had closed it down but forgot to drain it over the winter Doh
Every joint on the copper tubing required re-soldering and took ages to clean the top joints. Then I remembered that vinegar stripes off the oxidisation so threw the rest of the joints in an old pickled onion jar and topped up with some fresh vinegar. Worked a treat and saved hours of work cleaning the joints.
Got some evaflux and some lead solder which works well and lasts far longer than the lead free solder which was used initially.
Also purchased a thin sheet of polycarb to replace the perspex, more to make it aesthetically pleasing but should prove to be more functional after the guy selling it pointed out that the air pockets between the polycarb would reflect the energy from the son onto the corrugated steel sheet more effectively which sounds plausible.
Will update some more shortly.