Jump to content

DIY hot water system needs replacing - Sunamp?


Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, dpmiller said:

OP, why not just flush the system, replace the PHE, and carry on- for now?

That’s the quickest route to get up and running, even if that goes on to borrowed time again. Then the immediate pressure will be off you, and we can work on a solution / investigation of what is actually causing this contamination. I’ve pulled out 20 year old systems with less crud in them tbh.

Was the water that was flowing through that elbow ( in your pic ) potable water or primary heating water?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 29/03/2022 at 10:48, Nelliekins said:

This elbow was between the PHE and the cylinder, so I am expecting this throughout now...

 

The elbow full of mineral deposits was in the recirculating side. This closed circuit was presumably filled originally from the same water supply that's constantly flowing fresh water through the other side of the PHE, heated to roughly the same temperature, so may well be be even more contaminated. It looks like extremely hard water to me. As I said earlier, a water softener would be one way to make this scheme work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Radian said:

 

The elbow full of mineral deposits was in the recirculating side. This closed circuit was presumably filled originally from the same water supply that's constantly flowing fresh water through the other side of the PHE, heated to roughly the same temperature, so may well be be even more contaminated. It looks like extremely hard water to me. As I said earlier, a water softener would be one way to make this scheme work.

 

That's the weird thing - our water is not that hard. I previously misread this information, and reported the Clarke value as PPM - it's actually 75ppm, which is still relatively low IIRC.

 

Circulating pump is coming out this afternoon to be inspected / cleaned.

 

water_quality.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 24/03/2022 at 18:13, Nelliekins said:

The cylinder is being kept at approx 70C

That's hotter than we've ever kept ours - lower would reduce hard water precipitation and improve boiler efficiency.  You won't get as many showers out of it, but a 30kW boiler could easily play catch up with a single shower output.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, Nelliekins said:

 

That's the weird thing - our water is not that hard. I previously misread this information, and reported the Clarke value as PPM - it's actually 75ppm, which is still relatively low IIRC.

 

Circulating pump is coming out this afternoon to be inspected / cleaned.

 

water_quality.png

 

Something's not adding up with that report. There seem to be some pockets of hard water nearby Chorley, maybe your getting your supply from one of those areas?

Hard%20Water%20Map%20of%20Uk.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The statement from UU is that "the water supply to this area can vary in hardness from soft to slightly hard". That seems a total cop-out to me. But Worthington Lakes are literally 2 miles from our house (we are south of Chorley on the border with Greater Manchester) so there is every chance our village gets water from there. And the water there is definitely soft.

 

I might just get it tested, though, to be on the safe side!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

It’s probably all the lead and tin keeping the scale away

Uranium and Lithium.

 

  

4 hours ago, Bitpipe said:

@SteamyTeahas a hit rate of about 1:1000 posts

image.png.64a8eee996943fc79483c2e47a4cfd71.png

 

ProDave 0.37%, SteamyTea 0.63%, PeterW 0.4% and the winner, @joe90 0.74%

Edited by SteamyTea
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

It’s probably all the lead and tin keeping the scale away

No, we're in the nice bit of Cornwall. It's the sandstone filtering the water around here rather than the chalk where we used to live.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Gone West said:
16 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

It’s probably all the lead and tin keeping the scale away

No, we're in the nice bit of Cornwall. It's the sandstone filtering the water around here

Don't filter out the Devon Farmer's nitrates too well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, dpmiller said:

and what's the filter and scale situation on it?

Filter replaced every year, but only because of a note on the calendar. No noticeable issues with flow or water quality from the boiling water.

 

Tap itself gets cleaned maybe once a month, never noticed any scale on the end.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...