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The piping of the system should be considered before a final decision is made
on how the collectors are mounted. Piping should be made of copper tube of
the type meeting local codes, insulated with Armaflex or similar, and painted
or wrapped with aluminum tape where exposed to ultraviolet radiation.
Care should be taken in the spacing of collectors as attachment of piping
is easiest with properly aligned collectors. The collectors and piping to
the storage tank should be slightly sloped downward (3” in 8 feet) to allow
draining in case of freezing conditions. A manual air vent should be installed
at the top of the collector on the outlet. Soldered connections should be made
with 95/5 solder.
The outlets of the collector are 1” copper pipe nipples.
The copper union makes attachment of piping to collector
easy. Teflon tape or high temperature, high quality pipe
sealant should be used when making threaded connec-
tions. The collector inlets should be piped similarly but
without the air vent.
Flat Plate Collector Piping
The controller heat sensor is mounted to the nipple
outlet of the collector (Figure 14). A stainless steel
screw clamp should be used. The entire nipple should
be wrapped thoroughly with insulating tape so that the
sensor is isolated from the outside air.
Sensor Mounting at Collector
