P.22
SUNSIPHON
8) EXTENDED VACATION PROCEDURES
For short summer vacations no action is required.
During extended summer vacations of four weeks
or more it is advisable to either cover the solar col-
lectors with an opaque material or to manually drain
the collector loop HTF. SunEarth recommends that
you cover the collectors, if practical. If you choose
to drain the HTF in the collector loop follow these
steps:
Connect one end of a garden hose to the ball hose
bibb (No 11) and place the other end in a five gal-
lon bucket. Open the valve and gravity will drain
the heat transfer fluid into the bucket. A licensed
recycler, reclaimer or incinerator must dispose of
the Dowfrost HD HTF.
DO NOT DUMP DOW FROST INTO A
STORM SEWER, ON THE GROUND OR INTO
A bODY OF WATER
.
Follow the material safety data sheet instructions
attached to this manual for the proper handling
and disposal of the glycol fluid mixture.
bE CAREFUL! THE HTF MAY bE
EXTREMELY HOT!
If the installation includes a time switch make sure
the clock is not preset to go on during your absence.
Remove the “ON” tripper from the clock face of a
mechanical time switch or reprogram an electronic
time switch to remain off.
It is not necessary to drain the solar storage tank dur-
ing extended vacations.
When you return home, contact your service con-
tractor to recharge the system with HTF. Reset the
time switch if necessary.
9) ROUTINE MAINTENANCE AND
TROUbLESHOOTING
The following simple procedures are intended to
optimize the performance of your SunSiphon solar
water heating system and also to extend the life of
the primary components.
9.1 Fluid Quality: It is extremely important to
monitor the quality of the Dowfrost HD HTF on
a periodic basis. The chemical composition of the
heat transfer fluid may change over time. System pH
must be maintained between 8 and 10 to avoid dam-
age to the collector loop and absorber plate piping.
The specified glycol HTF is Dow Chemical
“Dowfrost HD”. Technical and engineering data
for Dowfrost HD is available at www.Dow.com.
Ask your installation contractor to establish a main-
tenance schedule to inspect, balance or replace the
glycol HTF as needed.
9.2 If you live in a dusty climate it is beneficial to
wash off the dirt that settles on the collector glass
once a month. Clean glass allows the collector to
maintain a high level of thermal performance.
9.3 Check the exterior pipe insulation annually and
patch or repair any exposed surfaces or degraded
areas. Repaint as necessary with high quality exte-
rior latex paint.
9.4 In the unusual instance of collector glass break-
age, the glass should be replaced immediately. Do
not allow moisture or debris to enter the collec-
tor casing. Contact your installation contractor to
change the glass.
9.5 If you detect a HTF or water leak, or the collec-
tor loop pressure drops unexpectedly, contact your
installation contractor immediately to diagnose the
problem and recharge the system.
fig.27
VAlVE POSITION # 3 – SOlAR BYPASS
fig.26
VAlVE POSITION # 2 – SOlAR PREHEAT
