Honolulu
New Member
We two weren't getting hot water on hot days, on our 27 year old 2-panel system. I could manually switch the circulating pump at the controller it would work okay. Reviewed all the components and thought somehow that I could fix it. Turns out, with minor good luck I did, so posting here for the benefit of anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation.
I could switch on the circulating pump at the Goldline controller, so the pump is good. But the pump doesn't run on hot days when it should have.
Heater tank anode is recent, heater element circuit breaker not tripped.
Checked resistance on the two thermistors and their valued seemed to correspond with the Goldline manual chart.
Put the accessible thermistor in cold water, resistance changed as it should. I don't like going on the roof (six foot seven, 300 pounds) so I didn't check the upper thermistor.
Vented the heater tank, no air came out, vented the collector and no air came out. Had a merry time getting the pressure relief valve to re-seal, but eventually it did. Note to self: if you do that again, be prepared to replace the valve. They are a standard product and cost about $25 at the local hardware store.
Considered the mixing valve that we got when the kids were small... could it be stuck? Not going to mess with it, for now.
THEN... while on the roof venting the collector (see above) I noticed that the thermistor on the collector outlet had fallen off. No freaking wonder the pump didn't run, the upper thermistor was just hanging there, no longer attached to the collector outlet, and never got hot enough for the controller to switch on the pump. I cleaned off the corrosion with a wire brush, cleaned the collector outlet, slathered both with silicone grease to they wouldn't corrode further, zip-tied the thermistor to the pipe, covered it with electrician's tape and yet three more zip ties. Job done!
After some thought, I should simply have used a stainless steel hose clamp to secure the thermistor to the collector outlet, after greasing it up. But I was down off the roof already. Someday...
I could switch on the circulating pump at the Goldline controller, so the pump is good. But the pump doesn't run on hot days when it should have.
Heater tank anode is recent, heater element circuit breaker not tripped.
Checked resistance on the two thermistors and their valued seemed to correspond with the Goldline manual chart.
Put the accessible thermistor in cold water, resistance changed as it should. I don't like going on the roof (six foot seven, 300 pounds) so I didn't check the upper thermistor.
Vented the heater tank, no air came out, vented the collector and no air came out. Had a merry time getting the pressure relief valve to re-seal, but eventually it did. Note to self: if you do that again, be prepared to replace the valve. They are a standard product and cost about $25 at the local hardware store.
Considered the mixing valve that we got when the kids were small... could it be stuck? Not going to mess with it, for now.
THEN... while on the roof venting the collector (see above) I noticed that the thermistor on the collector outlet had fallen off. No freaking wonder the pump didn't run, the upper thermistor was just hanging there, no longer attached to the collector outlet, and never got hot enough for the controller to switch on the pump. I cleaned off the corrosion with a wire brush, cleaned the collector outlet, slathered both with silicone grease to they wouldn't corrode further, zip-tied the thermistor to the pipe, covered it with electrician's tape and yet three more zip ties. Job done!
After some thought, I should simply have used a stainless steel hose clamp to secure the thermistor to the collector outlet, after greasing it up. But I was down off the roof already. Someday...
