home made pool heater

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duraleigh
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home made pool heater

Postby duraleigh » Thu 26 Aug, 2010 23:06

Correct?
I don't know. I do suspect it will be very difficult to produce something as efficient as Fafco or other solar providers make......just a guess.


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jjboods
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home made pool heater

Postby jjboods » Fri 27 Aug, 2010 07:39

I'm not necessarily comparing heating efficiency. But based on pure physics/flow dynamics, shouldn't a similarly sized panel with large tubes/pipes increase flow and reduce PSI?
jjboods
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home made pool heater

Postby jjboods » Thu 09 Sep, 2010 09:17

I have been looking at Fafco's Sungrabber. Is there any reason to pay $25 for their add on kit when I can buy 2 fernco couplers at home depot for $8?
duraleigh
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My Pool: 24X52 DIY Concrete and liner
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home made pool heater

Postby duraleigh » Thu 09 Sep, 2010 09:55

I have no idea but perhaps Fafco could provide some reasons why theirs is better. When I was persuing this a year ago, I found them to be quite helpful.
24x52 DIY concrete block and liner
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lbridges
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Location: Space Coast, Florida

home made pool heater

Postby lbridges » Thu 09 Sep, 2010 13:50

jjboods wrote:I'm not necessarily comparing heating efficiency. But based on pure physics/flow dynamics, shouldn't a similarly sized panel with large tubes/pipes increase flow and reduce PSI?


As a physicist, I respond yes, but...

For heating you should be more concerned about heat transfer efficiency than flow. Pushing 10gpm through the typical 4X12 foot, in-ground pool style FAFCO panel is less heat efficient than pushing 5GPM through the same panel.
bodypuncher

home made pool heater

Postby bodypuncher » Mon 13 Sep, 2010 10:13

My FAFCO is a few seasons old and springs leaks way too easily. I suppose if you roof mount it and leave it there it is OK. At the end of each season, unrolling and rolling it, and handling it to store it, puts dents, nicks etc on it. A few times it has sprung leaks. It is large and clumsy to roll up again and put the belt around it for carrying and storing. I barely brushed against a golf ball size rock hidding in the grass and it leaked. I'm about ready to "retire" it and go with a home made black hose model.

FAFCO's design works very well, despite the durability issues. It works without need to accommodate pressure/flow. I think they do that by calculating the flow area of the little pipes to, cumulatively, match the regular inlet and outlet of the pump and pool. I've seen some DIY'ers branch off into larger flow areas and this, of course, drops pressure. So I think trying to keep the flow area the same (reduce diameters when branching into parallel lines) is the key.
Guest

home made pool heater

Postby Guest » Sat 19 Feb, 2011 09:42

colin wrote:Can anyone give suggestions to a home made pool heater using black pipe on a roof. What size pipe should I use to maintain proper pressure and not to over work my pump? Any suggestions would be great

Thanks
Guest

home made pool heater

Postby Guest » Thu 09 Jun, 2011 15:54

:D Can those of you who ordered tell me what pump you ordered from HARBOR FREIGHT? Thanks!
thepoolzone
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My Pool: My pool is 18 X 36 inground, vinyl. I have a sand filter that I recently replaced with glass media. Sparkling clear and about 80 degrees today!
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home made pool heater

Postby thepoolzone » Wed 15 Jun, 2011 23:02

I have some experience with the solar panels that are sold in the market. They are polypropelene and they have a system of 1 1/2" diameter tubes on them. Some models have baffles in them that obstructs the water from going through the network of tubes too easily. On the top and bottom, there is a header tube which feeds the water to the smaller tubes. You lay the "panel" consisting of approx 36 rows of tubes out in the son on a flat surface such as the ground and then put your return pool line on the outlet side of the "header tube" and then connect the output of your filter to go to the input Header tube. They sell a very simple diverter valve that you put in between the panel and the pool pump so you may close it on a coudy day for instance and divert the water from the filter to the pool, by passing the panel.

They can raise the temp of your pool about 10 degrees so it's worth it!

Good luck!
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Jd

home made pool heater

Postby Jd » Wed 29 Jun, 2011 16:15

Question: Looking to build my own solar heater on my garage roof (above my 20x40 pool 1.5hp pump).

I was initially thinking using long PVC pipes run back and forth (black ones or white ones painted flat black). But seeing that most seem to mention coils, not sure which would be better. Someone mentioned in a reply back a few pages that PVC would be better so I can only assume PVC would be in straight sections.

Also since my current piping is 1.5", I am assuming I want to stay close to that so either 1.5" or 1" (tee'd)?

I'm north (boston) and want to get the most out of the roof area. I also figure the straight pipes would be easier to drain, but not sure if the turns at each end would put more pressure on the pump.

I am thinking using flex hose at the ends and rather than a quick turn have it go every other row. So the water would feed into top row, then skip down a two rows because of bend in pipe, then down two more rows, and so forth. Then the other "T" would do the same but starting on the skipped row. This would make the bend in the turns less severe hopefully putting less pressure on the pump. This would fill in the whole section of the roof using as much space as possible.

Thoughts?
1Bob

home made pool heater

Postby 1Bob » Sat 08 Oct, 2011 15:09

1 inch pipe is .730 ID +/- (36 feet/gallon)
1.5 inch pipe is 1.28 ID (12 f/g)
2 inch pipe is 1.65 ID (7 f/g)

The numbers may be off for your particular pipe, but the point is that as far as volume it take 4.5 each of 1 inch pipes to eqaul one 2 inch or 3 each - I inch pipes to equal the volume of a 1.5 inch pipe. When including friction losses one might up it a pipe or two.

I have not built or bought a system yet,

12 X 24 Intex pool

Bob
magnolia41
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home made pool heater

Postby magnolia41 » Thu 13 Oct, 2011 00:54

You can search online about some instructions and ideas how and whats the best thing to do about your Pool heater problems. Just have your time to research and I'm assure you that u can fix your problems.
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mas985
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home made pool heater

Postby mas985 » Thu 13 Oct, 2011 12:42

lbridges wrote:For heating you should be more concerned about heat transfer efficiency than flow. Pushing 10gpm through the typical 4X12 foot, in-ground pool style FAFCO panel is less heat efficient than pushing 5GPM through the same panel.

?? Higher flow rates should have better heat transfer efficiency albeit with some diminishing returns.
Mark
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jimferguson
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home made pool heater

Postby jimferguson » Sat 07 Jan, 2012 03:58

I was looking for this type of information only. I am not experience with home made pool solar. I have two two heater in my home. Both i have brought from market.But now i can also try to make a home made heater to save my money on heater.

heating and cooling Overland Park | Kansas City heating and cooling
diverpico

home made pool heater

Postby diverpico » Sun 08 Jan, 2012 04:00

I am about to construct a pool in Spain... and all of you might say I dont need a heather and your right ...but my wife does so I am exploring the possibility of building my own..
But before I go into the requirement for the tubes and size and all that I want to know is if anyone has ever built a pool from scratch and if so was insulation ever considered... I am considering installing 2" polistyreen foam before the concrete goes on... All pools are constructed of cement here... to prevent the loss of heat through the soil...

The other thing that has me a bit baffeled is that most of you have cut into your pump inlet/outlet to install the heather but since I am building I would like to install independent piping for the sole use of the heather. I am also installing a solar powered pump to move the water in the pipes, so should I take the cold water from the bottom and put the hot in at the top or in the middle both or the cold at the top and the hot at the bottom...

Thank you

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