We have a solar hot water system that has stopped working. All the digital displays look normal etc but water is not hot. I did a Google search last time this happened and worked out how to fix it by resetting a button that had popped out.
Have done that this time but still not working. We turned the electric booster on to give us hot water in the meantime but even that isn't working (when switch is on the meter reading is not going up for electricity usage)
Any ideas on what it would be before I spend my lifetime annual ice cream budget on a call out fee? Please and thank you
Solar hot water system not heating
loulou1 on 25/02/2017 - 18:56
Comments
Think I can pay their fee in ice cream?
Lol, no harm in trying!
Do you think it means that the thermostat thinks the water is already hit and that is why it isn't heating it? The display has collection temp of 27 and the other reading is approximately 80
Thermostat makes sense when you mention the Booster is not functioning also.
With heatpumps, one of the most common issues is a build up preventing the water pump from spinning.
When you mention solar, I presume you have a panel on your roof to heat rather than a HVAC system working in reverse?Two panels on the roof.
Next question, if someone were to have a thermostat from another hot water system, are they interchangeable? I am not suggesting I will do it myself because that is never going to happen but I am curious
Hope it is not a dux system otherwise no more icecreams. They are known to have problems.
It is conergy branded. No hot showers here tonight. Can't even work out where the thermostat is.
Thermostat will be attached to the hot water tank and will be specific to the tank - you won't be able to interchange one from a different hot water tank. A new thermostat can cost $200+ installed.
It could be your tempering valve. It controls the max temperature of the water coming out of the system. If it fails sometimes you will just get could water other times just really hot.
Are the pipes hot on the tank?
sorry missed your comment. the power point was turned off last night as hubby was concerned about it running when it isnt working. the pipes are not hot now and i believe they were not hot before being turned off either.
the display is showing water collection is 27 degress and the other reading is 38 or something (not 80 as i previously wrote). So the system knows the water is not hot but is not fixing it. Does that make sense?
Get someone out it sounds like an electrical issue but I am not very experienced with solar.
Already done and solved.
It Was a simple build up of scale etc on the impeller to the pump. Cost $125 for labour, no parts needed.
Try to turn off the solar supply and let it use electricity or Gas.
I think it is the weather play up.
hi i don't believe it is weather related as the water out of my hose is far hotter than the water out of my shower.
When i turn the electric booster on nothing happens, the electricity meter reading does not increase.
thank you for taking the time to comment though :)
so this morning i turned it all back on and now the electric booster is drawing power again, but still producing cold showers.
Takes some hours to heat up my friend. Either the thermostat or element is playing up. See my post below.
we have hot water again :) using the booster
guess i am just too impatient (a trait of mine i am very aware of)
Either the thermostat OR the element. Thermostat is easy to change and costs about $25. You can test the element by disconnecting the leads and putting a multimeter (Ohms) across the terminals. It will show either full Conductivity (Good) or Nothing (Dead).
thank you. given that i now have hot water using the booster which one would you say it is please?
I think you better get an expert out. Maybe replace both whilst the tradesman is there. Thats the safest way to go and minimal extra cost. But let the tradesman do the diagnosis since he will be providing the guarantee.
Personally when your problem has occurred with me it could be either. If you want to save money change the thermostat yourself and see if that fixes your problem Its very easy to do. Just make sure you don't electrocute yourself! Be certain to turn off the power. That might not be so easy with a solar power generator.
If you are getting hot water when using boost but not solar, there is a fair chance the circulation pump is buggered. This pumps colder water up to the panels on the roof and returns it hot to the tank.
During the day if the tank is not at set temperature and the panel is hotter than the tank water, the pump should run. These are generally extremely quiet, but if you listen very carefully and closely you should hear it if it is functioning..It is clearly not the element if boost is working…
And by the sounds of it, its not the thermostat either..Pump is making a noise but I guess that doesn't necessarily mean it is working
Yes, agree now that you have hot water, you can rule out the thermostat as being the problem!
Very difficult to troubleshoot when we don't know the model details and anyway, messing around with this yourself could lead to damage or danger to yourself.
If you are in Perth I will be happy to have a look in exchange for an ice cream but I prefer Magnums. If I can fix it you can reward me with a pack of Eneloops.
.i am in Brisbane but if you come take a look I will provide two magnums , if you fix it I MAY provide eneloops..
Model is CSE315ST36, pump is SB04-15.offer of magnums is now withdrawn :P
This comment is not much use for your specific problem (which appears solved), but may be useful later.
I live in a hot area of NSW and have solar hot water. It is the Apricus tube style with the heater in the house and a pump to circulate water (as mentioned by a previous poster). A couple of things I've experienced:
1. On two occasions after summer we have not had hot water. The reason was that at some stage during summer the water became so hot that the thermostat was triggered. Of course, we didn't notice that this had happened till the weather cooled down and we needed the the booster to operate. The solution to this problem is to reset the thermostat.
2. Another time it stopped working and the display indicated a pump problem. I checked the ceiling and vermin had chewed through the sensor wire connecting the tubes to the pump.. Easy fix.
3. Another occasion I had a short on the circuit that powered the pump. After isolating all appliances on the circuit, it showed the solar pump as the issue. That can get expensive.problem 1 we have had in the past and fixed it ourselves :)
Problem solved. $125 for the tradesperson to come out and unscrew the pump (we had tried but were unsuccessful with the tools we had). Turned out the impeller had some scale build up. He cleaned it, put it back together and it is working well again now. The tool is $20 to buy from bunnings but we did not buy it beforehand as we didnt know for sure that was the problem and didnt want to be wasting money.
What was this tool?
Just something to open the pump thing. Like a big spanner? Not sure.
Sounds like it could be a thermostat issue, which you will need to call someone out for.