48
DRAINING THE WATER HEATER
Solar Storage Tank
To drain the solar storage tank:
•
Turn off the water heater (refer to
“To Turn Off The Water Heater”
on page 47).
•
Close all hot water taps.
•
Operate the relief valve release lever - do not let the lever snap back or you will damage the valve
seat.
Operating the lever will release the pressure in the water heater.
•
Undo the union at the cold water inlet to the solar storage tank and attach a hose to the water
heater side of the union.
Let the other end of the hose go to a drain.
•
Operate the relief valve again.
•
This will let air into the water heater and allow the water to drain through the hose.
Heat Exchanger
To drain the heat exchanger:
•
Switch off the electrical supply at the power outlet to the water heater.
•
Remove the lower front cover from the solar storage tank.
The solar monitor located on the lower front cover is connected to the solar control module by a
ribbon cable. The ribbon cable has sufficient length to enable the removal of the lower front cover
and for it to be set to one side of the opening without disconnecting the ribbon cable from the solar
control module.
The ribbon cable can be disconnected from the solar control module if it is necessary to remove the
lower front cover completely from the work area in front of the solar storage tank.
At the completion of this procedure, if the ribbon cable from the solar monitor has been
disconnected, reconnect it to the solar control module prior to replacing the lower front cover (refer
to
notes
on page 46).
•
Attach a 12 mm (½”) diameter clear hose to the heat exchanger drain valve hose tail connection
(refer to step 5 of
“Attach Closed Circuit Fluid Level Hose”
on page 37).
•
Disconnect the drain line from the solar circuit relief valve at the top of the solar storage tank.
Remove the spring clip from the solar circuit relief valve and remove the valve.
Warning:
The solar circuit may be under pressure. Take care when removing the solar circuit
relief valve, as a sudden discharge of pressurised hot vapour may be experienced. This discharge
will create a sharp sound of vapour being released.
•
Open the heat exchanger drain valve and remove the plug from the end of the hose.
The closed circuit fluid will flood the hose.
•
Place the end of the hose into a container and drain the closed circuit fluid from the heat
exchanger.
Note:
The heat exchanger can contain up to 16 litres of closed circuit fluid. A suitably sized
container should be used to accommodate this amount of fluid.
The closed circuit fluid contains food grade additives (rust inhibitor, anti-freeze agent, colour) and is
harmless to the environment. However, it is good practice to recover any excess closed circuit fluid
and remove from site for appropriate disposal.
