Solar Water Heater

Diy Solar Water Heater made from scrap Aluminium and Polycarbonate sheeting and LDPE Irrigation Poly Pipe.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Solar
• Water
• Heater;Diy
• solar
• water
• Heater;Aquaponics
• Heater;
• Aquaponics
• in
• Durban
• South
• Africa

[p1nkpoopbunny]

i love that you have a green house and fish and you have alot of stuff to help remove your carbon footprint. good man! 5 stars well made looks nice and easy.

[spokedwheel]

Thanks for the interest, yes it doesn't take too much effort to make a difference.

[Rockit8]

I built one like this but smaller. The first time I used it, I turned off the pump. With the water not curculating, it got so hot that the tube melted and got several holes in it. This thing gets hot fast, so when the sun is out, you have to keep the water circulating or keep it covered. I should find a tube that can handle higher temperatures.

[spokedwheel]

@Rockit8 Fortunately I haven't had any 'melting pipes yet' maybe the tube you used was a lot thinner,(if your system is a closed loop system, then the steam build up would burst the pipe), though the water does get too hot for the fish if I leave it running constantly, that's why I have it running only from noon to 5, thanks for the interest.

[BooKittyRadley]

I wonder, when the outdoor temperature gets as low as 45 deg F (7 deg C), how hot can one expect the water in the black hose to get, and how long does it take to reach peak temperature?

Thanks.

[spokedwheel]

@BooKittyRadley Obviously the heater won't get hotter than the outside temperature but if the cold is in the wind factor but the sun is still shining then the unit should still heat up, I have my timer set to come on at 12 noon when the sun is shining directly on it and the water is pretty hot when it starts up, as I said in a previous post, it takes about a day to raise the temp from +- 16C to 30C. Where I stay it never gets as cold as 7C, it's winter here now and the temp. maintains at +- 25C.

[Rockit8]

@Rockit8

I figured out why it over heated and melted the pipe. I didnt allow it to run long enough to push all the air out. When I turned it off, wherever there was trapped air, it melted. There was no water touching the pipe to absorb the heat.

[Rockit8]

@spokedwheel

Water touching the pipe should have kept it from melting. I now believe the pipe melted only where there was air trapped in the system. I have since learned to purge out all the air.

[kchedville]

Hi Spoke, thanks for the reply...

[spokedwheel]

The box measures about 1M X 1M and I used +- 30M of tubing, it is quite well insulated with polycarbonate on the front and aluminum on the back and with the closure all around the edges, bearing in mind this is not a closed loop system with a radiator in the water but pumps continuously from the water through the coil and back into the water. If you have a closed system filled with antifreeze the water would get much hotter, when the pump switches on the water at the outlet is almost boiling.