your opinion please

[gpack]

Hi,
I'm a complete novice so would really appreciate some help.
I went to see a customer who asked me about his solar hot water system. Thermo max tubes on the roof, a 130ltr vented cylinder, pump station, micro bore pipe work and cooking oil as the heating material.

System installed in 2009 but didn't work efficiently, kept overheating, a guy he new removed fluid and replaced with cooking oil. Kept having problems and now doesn't use.

Is there any way to salvage this system??

 

[tamz]

Try Flora

 

[broggo]

Cooking oil used as glycol??


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[JAP&H]

Heard of this muttered around merchants, thought it was a wind up/myth.

If the system is full of cooking oil it will be a swine to clear out, especially if it's emulsified!

 

[Flamethrower]

A job like this sounds like it will cost more to repair than to install a new system, what horses a*** decided to put cooking oil in it?
If anything is salvagable then a few things need to be researched, i.e. what type & size of Thermomax collector (number of tubes) is it Either HP (HEATPIPE) or DF (direct flow) the type will be on the manifold. The DF may be a bigger problem to clean.
If you attempt to clean the system you should use a specific solar cleanser which are quite caustic be warned!
I imagine by the sound of it it will be a long job.
But if the customer is up for it, you should make them aware that there are not guarantees that something else may have been damaged in the system i.e. pump etc
I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Nostrum]

Really, do these people honestly think, after all the R&D that goes into these systems through the hundreds of companies involved in the solar industry, that they have thought of such a cracking,innovative and ground breaking idea that involves filling your solar system with cooking oil?