Hi , I have a 315L 30 tube Apricus which works extremely well but lately, when the pump is on there is a whistle ? noise which rises in pitch and then falls and lasts until the pump turns off , this does not occur first thing in the morning or later in the afternoon and not in the middle of the day when the temperature is hot . It appears to be coming from the tank , cannot hear anything from the pump.
I have also noted changes in water temp in the shower on a couple of occasions lately
any ideas
thanks
Apricus noisy tank and temp variation
(23 posts) (10 voices)-
wroscoe
MemberPosted Wednesday 20 Jan 2010 @ 2:48:26 am from IP # -
LanceTurner
Key MasterWroscoe, really you should talk to the supplier, sounds like something they should be looking at under warranty...
Posted Wednesday 20 Jan 2010 @ 4:39:29 am from IP # -
Enviropoint
Memberhello wroscoe,
you are probably right that it is the pump, especilly if the noise stops when the pump stops.
i have found that nosie can come from an old pressure linitng valve(PLV) of the Duo valve. both of which are on the cold water inlet.
my staff always replace the PLV. the duo valve generally will be okay.
i am sure the supplier's plumber can sort it out for you.
happy days ahead
Posted Thursday 21 Jan 2010 @ 11:29:53 am from IP # -
Skysolarman
Memberwroscoe
It can be difficult to explain i have heard of this problem many times before but moreso in indirect systems , I dont think its the pump totally , more likely to be a combo problems relating back to the pump , for example if you have had days of high temperatures in the cylinder you can get a gas build like a static energy up at the top of the cylinder walls which can in turn cause problems with stratification layerss which may answer your water temp changes...the stainless steel can then act as a absorber of the pumps frequency ..thats the sound you hear...cant remember the answer to fix it if this is indeed your problem but have you tried open the PTR and releasing say 20 litres of water
Posted Thursday 21 Jan 2010 @ 9:27:51 pm from IP # -
Skysolarman
Memberwrosco
What brand and model pump do you have
Posted Monday 25 Jan 2010 @ 9:30:13 pm from IP # -
wroscoe - I can tell you what the problem is straight away. The noise you have in your system is thermal shock, it doesn't effet the system performance in anyway in fact the system is working so well thus this problem has occured.
Thermal shock is the cold water (incoming feed) coming into contact with the super hot water from the manifold when the system is in SSD (shut down) or very hot. The cold water hit's the super hot water and expands so rapidly that it gives off a bubbling or banging sound.
The reason you are getting this sound during the hottest part of the day is simply because that is when the system is working at its peak. morning and evening your manifold won't be in SSD or very hot so thermal shock is not an issue.
Please contact your local supplier or installer and ask them to contact Apricus and they will reslove the problem for you.
You have no problem with your pump. those pumps operate at up to 110 deg. they will get no hotter than say 75-80 deg due to system top out at 70 deg. (+5-10 deg for heat given off by pump operation)
What state are you in wroscoe??Posted Wednesday 27 Jan 2010 @ 5:19:07 am from IP # -
Skysolarman
Memberwroscoe to my knowledge that pump you are using only can pump water to maximum 80 degrees only and not 110 degrees..your system dosent sound right to me .The pump could get hotter even if its not running through a pressure build up in the manifold transferring the heat thermosyphonically....do you hear explosions in the tank as brado suggested...if so your system is thermosyphing when your pump is turned off
Posted Thursday 28 Jan 2010 @ 4:16:46 am from IP # -
You should not get thermosyphon issues if a swing check or non return valve is installed upstream of the pump on the flow line. You may get some heat passed through the valve depending on how far upstream the non return is from the pump. The sounds in your tank is super hot water from the manifold in contact with cold.
Do you only hear these sounds when a hot water tap is opened?Posted Thursday 28 Jan 2010 @ 10:59:36 am from IP # -
Skysolarman
MemberA check valve will stop thermosyphoning back towards the pump therefore the pump is protected from superheated water but once too much pressure is built up in the collector and the manifold is steam it will take the least point of resistance and that is in the opposite direction from the non return valve back towards the tank.
2 things will possibly happen , the tank will overheat and or this will start thermosyphon within the solar circuit...the advantage of this if there is one is that the water will pass the pump at a cooler temperature after having already given up its heat in the tank and will actually help with coolling the collector down
Posted Friday 29 Jan 2010 @ 1:10:08 am from IP # -
wroscoe
Memberthe installer changed the pump to see if that would fix it but the tone / whistle is still there plus it now has occasional loud bubbling noises as well , all noises occur only when the pump turns on and cease when the pump turns off , the sytem was fine for the first 3 months too
Posted Friday 29 Jan 2010 @ 7:18:36 am from IP # -
Super-Solar
Memberwroscoe - the noise will be there when the hot tap is on when the system in in SSD yes. thats the introduction of super heated water from the manifold to the storage tank.
Don't panic. its not effecting your system. its just working super well! Apricus are exploring options for the best solution for this issue and once the best option has been found it will be applied. thanksPosted Tuesday 2 Feb 2010 @ 2:43:22 am from IP # -
Skysolarman
MemberThe bubble noises is steam from your collector entering your tank creating a mini explosion , you say you only hear it when the pump is on which means your pump is turning on when your collector is at a temperature that would cause your cylinder to boil maybe and possibly do damage to your pump...i agree with super solar your system is working well ..maybe too well , get them to check the top-out temperature of your controller..BRADOs comments are correct but also check the controller settings as i have suggested...if it is set to 90 degress it means the collector has to get to maybe 102 to make it pump so you can imagine that temp water hitting much cooler water the sound it would make
Posted Monday 8 Feb 2010 @ 9:01:47 pm from IP # -
newairly
MemberI am also having a noise problem, but it is quite different.
Mine occurs only when the system has topped out in temperature on a sunny day. ie. tank inlet temperature 80C. This means that the pump is not running so all the collector heat stays in the manifold. The temperature can get very high. Because the water pressure is also quite high, about 4 bar minimum from the supply, the boiling point of the water is 152C or above. However if the manifold gets higher than the BP localised boiling occurs, but only in the manifold. This does not cause the super hot water to transfer to the tank because the temperature of the pipework away from the manifold is lower and the steam pockets collapse so there is no net change in volume beyond that of the small amount of steam. However it can be quite noisy causing a thumping/rumbling noise which penetrates the house. I suspect that this is because the pipes are attached to the wall. It comes in bursts of a few seconds at a time. Causing the pump to run, eg. by turning on a hot water tap which lowers the inlet temp, stops the noise quickly because cooler water is introduced.
Note that boiling in the manifold can not cause the water in the tank to boil and that the tank does not release water from the relief valve which only opens at 10bar. At that temperature the boiling point is 185C, much to high to reach.These are my observations and conclusions based on sensible application of physical principles.
My installer has been informed and I hope that Apricus will have some recommendations for him.
Posted Wednesday 10 Feb 2010 @ 5:46:12 am from IP # -
Jimmy
MemberAnother possibilty; if there is not enough hot water being drawn during the day and the 'top out temperature' is set too high on the controller it will generate excessive temperature/ pressure in the pipe work. This will cause a lot of noise in the system which will only be relieved when there has been a fair amount of hot water drawn from the system.
cheersPosted Sunday 2 Jan 2011 @ 11:49:48 am from IP #
