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[Pacificperson]

If you want to use tubing for a home made heater, I would suggest that you look at the black tubing used for irrigation or landscaping. It has a lot of carbon black for UV absorption and it should hold up for several years in the sun. Plus, it is cheap. You should be able to get a 25mm x 300m spool. I don't know if it will make dent in the temperature of a water mass size of a swimming pool. though.

[Naam]

Pacificperson, on 2012-01-01 17:04:18, said:

If you want to use tubing for a home made heater, I would suggest that you look at the black tubing used for irrigation or landscaping. It has a lot of carbon black for UV absorption and it should hold up for several years in the sun. Plus, it is cheap. You should be able to get a 25mm x 300m spool. I don't know if it will make dent in the temperature of a water mass size of a swimming pool. though.

indeed ideal for a DIY system. however the diameter should be much smaller to increase ratio surface:water contents. it seems to be available in Thailand. some years ago a landscaper attached a few meters to my existing PVC-pipe irrigation. have no idea of prices but a UK supplier offers it for £ 0.75/meter. fixing the hose on the roof in a meandering pattern should be no problem. the few necessary stainless steel parts can be manufactured for a few hundred Baht.

a disadvantage is the lack of flexibility which means one has to make big loops at the ends of the solar "field". 300m of that black pipe would be the equivalent of two big panels of which i posted pictures = definitely a big "dent" in pool temperature!

[Naam]

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The tubing keeps itself rigid and round. The cost here in Phayao was 630 per roll (200m).

http://www.thaivisa....rrigation-tube/

Edited by Naam, 2012-01-06 13:21:09.

[Naam]

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The tubing keeps itself rigid and round. The cost here in Phayao was 630 per roll (200m).
http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__2583666

[craigt3365]

Raro: Can we get an update on your pool temp?  We're just a tad below 27.  Back into the lower part of our comfort range.

[Naam]

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Posted 2011-01-20 13:32:25
Not sure if any one will read this but It has been a couple of years now and it seems that the sun is too much for the irrigation tube, at least in places.
At first glance I immediately thought it had been hit by the strimmer blade but after closer inspection it was clear that the hose is brittle and degrading from what must be the sun.

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Posted 2011-01-22 20:56:31
We are still using the original hosing. Last year we moved it all to an adjacent field and found no problems at all. Last week I took about 200 metres to use as irrigation for our driveway privet hedge and again, everything was OK. A few of the drippers had salted up and needed cleaning, but the pipe itself (3+ years old now) was fine.
Maybe it was a different make. At the time we paid 800 Baht per roll. Don't know the maker offhand, but can look.

[raro]

craigt3365, on 2012-01-06 13:38:54, said:

Raro: Can we get an update on your pool temp?  We're just a tad below 27.  Back into the lower part of our comfort range.

I have burned my thumb on New Year's night with that sparkling thing on the bottom of that hot air balloon thingmy...cannot swim for the time being and will report back later.

[haveaniceday]

Just one little thing to remember regarding this thread, when Raro started his endeavors, it was in a cold snap, Emergency declared in some parts of the country due to the cold, (laughable in my opinion, but not the point),  the water coming out of my water tanks in the morning, was , well cold,  comparing temps to then is a total waste of time and even misleading.

[Naam]

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Just one little thing to remember regarding this thread, when Raro started his endeavors, it was in a cold snap...

and in a couple of weeks nobody will think about installing some solar heating for his pool... except me because my pool doesn't get any sun radiation

[craigt3365]

We hit 27.5 today.  Yes!

[Naam]

Pattaya 3rd Road, 300m right side after crossing Pattaya Klang (driving from "downtown"), Irrigation shop which carries various sizes of black irrigation tubing. smallest ø outside 15mm, wall thickness 1mm = ø inside 13mm. 600 Baht for one roll 200m length. maximum bending radius ~40cm.

[negreanu]

Was quoted 180k from a pool supplier in BKK to install heating unit (Electric) for a 9mx3m pool.  Seems a bit extreme?  Solar is not a option.  Pool is covered gets no sun and sits around 23-25c.

[AllanB]

I think you are bunch of wimps, my pool is 22c get in and get swimming..............

But if you really want warmer water in the winter you are barking up the wrong tree, Your main problem is the cold nights, your heat losses occurs then, so that is where you start. Otherwise you are constantly playing catch-up.

Someone else suggested bubble-wrap, but make a feed roll to apply it to the water and a polyester hem to the perimeter, for shape retention. If you buy a dark colour you will get pretty good solar heating during the day and insulation during the night. They work in the UK where the solar gain is much less and the nights colder.

[Rimmer]

Irrelevent off topic post removed

[craigt3365]

Pool is a bit over 28 now.  Perfect!

Raro: how's your heater working???

[m3dave]

raro, on 2011-12-26 14:18:42, said:

Pool temperatures below 28° are just unacceptable, I agree. To cope with the freezing temperatures in raro's pool, we are seriously contemplating to use a submersible pump and a long black garden hose exposed to the sun (on the roof maybe?) and pump the water through the hose. Anyone tried it before? Does it work?

    a friend in England heated his pool by cutting holes in loads of bottles then passing a standard garden hose through them stacking them in a pyramid in a sunny corner of his garden and positioning a few nice rock plants to disguise it, added a very low volume submersible pump and what do you know it works a treat , so more sunshine, its got to work here.

[Naam]

my only brother's elder brother will have (God and Thai customs willing) by the end of next month 24m² solar panels installed on his roof and will therefore not bitch again about pool water being to cold.

[negreanu]

If anyone wants to buy some cheap solar rings referenced above just PM me I have 10 of them that the mrs doesn't want to use them so just sitting here.

[Naam]

Naam, on 2012-01-31 09:50:14, said:

my only brother's elder brother will have (God and Thai customs willing) by the end of next month 24m² solar panels installed on his roof and will therefore not bitch again about pool water being to cold.

its not 24 but "only" 20m². roof panels are fixed, piping has to be connected to the system. not easy! i am still sweating making drawings with a zillion check-valves and manual valves that solar and aircon heating can each work independently as well as synchronous. the latter not withstanding the fact that heating by aircon has become superflous.

p.s. Thai custom cared a shite for "solar" and levied 40% duty on "PVC"

Attached Files

•  sol 1.JPG   2.16MB   10 downloads
•  sol 2.JPG   1.86MB   20 downloads
•  sol 3.JPG   349.2K   21 downloads

Edited by Naam, 2012-04-10 08:47:28.

[WarpSpeed]

Oh my! Galvanized unions Naam? And is that exchanger water to gas with no boundary to protect it in case of corrosion penetration? Recipe for an expensive A/C failure but I like your heat pump creativity.. Did you recharge the system yourself?

[Naam]

WarpSpeed, on 2012-04-10 23:40:01, said:

Oh my! Galvanized unions Naam? And is that exchanger water to gas with no boundary to protect it in case of corrosion penetration? Recipe for an expensive A/C failure but I like your heat pump creativity.. Did you recharge the system yourself?

the innerts of the (bloody expensive) heat exchanger are made of Titanium which (most probably) will not show any corrosion 20 years after they carried me to the crematorium. reason: inside pool, no sun radiation, therefore CL only 0.2-0.4 ppm except after shocking.

until now the system had two functions, i.e. cooling the enclosed pool area (our alternate living room) and heating the pool water. with the solar panels the function pool heating ceases to exist and the 36k btu/h unit will be used just for airconditioning. if there is no water flow (there won't be any in future) condenser cooling is taken over automatically by a stepless fan.

by the way, it took me some time to find a contractor who built and installed the unit according to my "design".

[WarpSpeed]

Naam, on 2012-04-11 03:32:24, said:

WarpSpeed, on 2012-04-10 23:40:01, said:

Oh my! Galvanized unions Naam? And is that exchanger water to gas with no boundary to protect it in case of corrosion penetration? Recipe for an expensive A/C failure but I like your heat pump creativity.. Did you recharge the system yourself?

the innerts of the (bloody expensive) heat exchanger are made of Titanium which (most probably) will not show any corrosion 20 years after they carried me to the crematorium. reason: inside pool, no sun radiation, therefore CL only 0.2-0.4 ppm except after shocking.

until now the system had two functions, i.e. cooling the enclosed pool area (our alternate living room) and heating the pool water. with the solar panels the function pool heating ceases to exist and the 36k btu/h unit will be used just for airconditioning. if there is no water flow (there won't be any in future) condenser cooling is taken over automatically by a stepless fan.

by the way, it took me some time to find a contractor who built and installed the unit according to my "design".

Titanium?? OK well naturally I assumed based on what I've been reading thus far that a lesser material was being used and as I thought it was your own manufacture I was hoping you didn't use just plain copper tubing instead of something like copper nickle which is much harder and resistant to corrosion and the drilling effect of turbulent vortices formed within the exchanger. Carry on then...

But are they still galvanized unions though? They seem so and that makes them a serious weak point in what otherwise seems to be a strong and potentially effective design something along the lines of what I wanted to design some years ago before it was quite as fashionable to save energy as it has become..

[Naam]

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But are they still galvanized unions though?

eff the unions Warp. they have no more function. and if you need a Titanium heat exchanger at a bargain price let me know. freaking thingy cost me more than what i paid for the actual aircon unit.

Edited by Naam, 2012-04-11 18:21:09.