Solex Roofing Installation Manual 22
Solex Energy Ltd +44(0)1305 837223 www.solexenergy.co.uk
When splitting the tubes apart, great care must be taken not to
damage the surface of any of the tubes. A pair of scissors
(not a stanley knife) should be used. The point of the scissors
is pushed through all the tear lines of the strip, and the tubes
pulled apart in both directions as far as necessary. This
should be done with care, as sometimes the split can start to
run off toward a tube wall. If this happens, use the scissors
again to re-start the tear.
The tubes should be arranged neatly so that there are no
kinks which could disrupt the flow of water. The redundant top
flange and centre strips may get in the way and can be
removed at this point if desired.
The absorber is then run out along the next course as before.
In situations where the roof has already been battened, a
problem occurs at the course ends where the absorber has to
loop under the galvanised batten. In these cases the choice is
to either thread the absorber under the batten, or to cut out a
section of batten and re-fix it. If it is chosen to thread the
absorber under the batten, then the section of split tubes must
be arranged very carefully to prevent any of them kinking or
squashing.
If it is necessary to join the strip, the ends are trimmed off
square using a pair of scissors, and the ‘wings’ on the tubes
cut back for about 50mm. A little silicone oil is sprayed on
both the copper joining tubes and the insides of the manifold
tubes. The joining tubes are inserted, and the O clips put on
and crimped using the pliers supplied.
10. Manifolds
– copper manifolds are used to terminate the
absorber strips. The manifolds have 22mm open ends for the
connection of the flow and return pipes. The manifolds are
connected with silicone tubing, and O clips similar to those
used on the absorbers. The manifolds are short enough to
not be damaged by freezing water. Where any copper
components are used on the roof there must be at least 50mm
of supply pipe each side of them to allow for ice expansion.
The pipes and manifolds should lie in the EPDM covered
channel, under the battens. The top of the inlet manifold or
chain of manifolds is capped with a short length of silicone
tube and a plug, as is the bottom of the outlet manifold or
manifold chain.
Where the roof is sufficiently large to necessitate dividing it
into parallel absorber circuits, all the inlet manifolds are piped
in line up one side, and the outlets up the same or opposite
side (depending on an even or odd number of courses.
Sometimes it is necessary to return a pipe from an inlet or
outlet across the roof, for instance when dividing a roof of 7
