Beckett SolarHot - Manual (Page 21)

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© SOLARHOT 2006-2009
Chapter 10: Charging the system
I recommend that prior to filling the system you pressurize it with compressed air (to 60 p.s.i.) to check
for leaks. The system should be able to hold pressure for 15 mnutes wthout pressure loss. Once you
have ensured that the system doesn’t leak, you are ready to fill the system.
Dranback:
1. If you have used a standard hot water tank for your dranback tank, wth the use of a funnel
(f there s a top-mounted port) or the use of an nverted boler dran, pour dstlled water nto the
drainback reservoir until the reservoir is filled.
2. If you are using a top-mounted port for filling, use a dipstick to determine when the water is
close to the top of the dranback tank.
3. Once the drainback tank is filled, insert the brass plug or Pressure/Temperature valve prior
to turnng the system on.
4. Turn the system on and let t run for a few mnutes.
5. Lsten for the fall of water nto the dranback tank to ensure that the system s workng, then
turn the pumps off.
6. Wat a few mnutes. Check to make sure that the water returned to the same level that t was
when you filled the tank. If it doesn’t, you need to double check to make sure you have enough
slope on all of your components to allow proper dranage.
Glycol:
1. Using the shraeder valve on the bottom of the expansion tank, release the pressure to 30
lbs.
2. Open both boler drans on the collector sde of the loop.
3. Usng a hgh head style pston pump, connect the outlet sde of the pump wth a washer hose
to a boler dran on the system.
4. Connect a flexible hose from the inlet side of the pump to a 5-gallon pail that contains a
pre-mixed solution of inhibited propylene glycol and water. The maximum freeze temperature
of your site determines the concentration of the mixture. Reference NOAA weather data and
http://www.raypak.com/afreeze.htm to determne the correct concentraton. Typcally a 50/50
ratio is sufficient.
5. Connect a hose from the other boler dranback to the 5-gallon pal.
6. Turn the pump on and start chargng the system. As the pump runs you should see ar come
out of the hose into the bucket. The air should quickly change to air mixed with glycol. If you
keep the pump runnng you should see over tme the amount of ar comng out of the system
reducng. Ultmately, you should not see any more ar bubbles comng through the system.
7. Once the air bubbles have stopped close the exiting boiler drain valve.
8. Contnue chargng the system untl the pressure (as measured by the pressure/temperature
gauge on the system) reaches 15 ps + 2 ps for every foot of head.