The Solar System at the Painted Pony Resort

As noted in a previous post the solar system heating the pool required some reworking.  A new pump station was installed which contains all the essentials for filling, monitoring, and running the solar system.  This unit, built by SunMaxx Solar, contains fill and drain ports, an inline pump, a one way valve, an electronic controller, a flow meter, a pressure gauge, an air purge, a pressure relief valve, and analogue thermometers.  It replaces a  series of parts installed inline which did many of the same functions except the pressure gauge and flow meter are new.  Previously, to check flow and pressure required a trip to the collectors to draw off some coolant which had to be replaced simultaneously to maintain flow throughout the system.  Now a simple visual inspection reveals the flow rate and the same for the pressure.  The original pump was left inline as a backup but all the old copper plumbing and brass fittings were removed.  The unit comes completely insulated minimizing heat loss which insures the maximum amount of heated fluid reaches the heat exchanger (the connecting pipes were also insulated).  The system is still connected to the shortened PEX lines but these will be replaced with stainless steel flexible insulated piping, eliminating any possibility of overheating and blowouts.

The pool was at 71 last night and the maximum temp observed at the solar collectors since installing the pump station was between 115-120 F. 

SunMaxx pump station