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Closed hydronic system capacity with tracer

Jpurdy647
Jpurdy647 Member Posts: 11
in Plumbing
I want to determine the total system volume for a job I am doing, so we can base our antifreeze calculation off of it.

Has anyone used a tracer to determine this? If so what company do you use that will take your samples and do the measurements for you? Also do they provide the Tracer chemical?

In an online search I could not find any companies offering this service but I may have been using the wrong key words.

Comments

  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,611
    I researched this for a project about a year ago and had difficulty finding a company as well.
    I believe they use a fluorescent dye with a known concentration. After the dye has thoroughly circulated, they test the concentration in the water.
    You might start by asking companies that test water quality in hydronic and industrial systems.
    Please post if you find a company that does this. I ended up guessing the volume of that system and missed the mark considerably. :s
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,474
    @Jpurdy647
    Don't know where your located but where I used to work we used Gurney Water Treatment I believe they are located in MA. They used to take a water sample, then put in a quart of "stuff" let it mix for 24 hours come back and retest. The could nail the system volume by doing this.

    I know you can test, add a known quantity of glycol and retest and do the same thing but the math calculation is a killer...not for me.

    I am sure any reputable water treatment could do this for you

  • Jpurdy647
    Jpurdy647 Member Posts: 11
    With glycol I would use a refractometer, I would need to use a considerable amount of glycol to be able to get a decent measurement, and then when I increase the amount of glycol in the system I'll be dumping some of the mix out and wasting. It be nice to know exactly how much is in the system add the proper amount of glycol, haven't recorded for future reference, and then be done with it. I'm in New Hampshire so Mass might actually be pretty good, and if water treatment places do it, I might call around to another few water treatment places and see if they offer the same service
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,474
    edited September 2018
    @Jpurdy647

    Gurney is in Sutton, MA 1-508-865-9526.

    I haven't been in contact with them in a while so I have no other contact information

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