glycol longevity

pat_3

left unchecked,what adverse affects can a glycol mixture have on a heating system/snow melt system?also,how often should it be checked and or changed?

Al Letellier

glycol

Left unchecked, it can cause more havoc than you care to get into. I'm not a big fan of glycol and will use it only when absolutely necessary. It should be checked annually at the start of the heating season. Use quality instruments to check the freeze protection level and the corrosiveness of the product. The manufacturers all provide test kits for corrosion inhibitors and we use a good spectograph to measure freeze protection. This kind of a system is a good candidate for a service contract!!!

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Jerry Boulanger_2

Properly applied...

that is put into a clean system, diluted with good quality water or purchased pre-mixed, and not diluted/contaminated with raw water makeup, a hydronic glycol solution should last for years. Check the pH, the concentration, and the inhibitor strength as mentioned above and there shouldn't be any problems. Every fluid-cooled engine in the world can't be wrong.

hot_rod

Good advise from

the gentlemen above. A clean, flux, oil, and dirt free system is very important. Without this you really compromise the fluid from day one.

Any component that may allow O2 into the system would be another problem. Non barrier tube can present problems, and the higher the operating temperature the worse the O2 ingress potential.

A yearly, or every other year check up on a new tight system should be adequate. If the inhibitor levels have slipped, a boost kit is all that is needed, generally.

Don't over heat the glycol. Generally 300 F is the upper limit, beyond this temerature you will cause the fluid harm. Stagnent solar panels can easily exceed this temperature and fry the glycols. Solar fluids are available with higher operating temperatures if this is a concern.

Properly installed and maintained it should last a long time, 10- 15- 20 years??

NEVER connect a glycoled system to a fresh water fill/ makeup system. First additional water may harm the glycol inhibitor,and dilution from a small, un-noticed leak will weaken the mix and dilute your freeze protection %s. A LWC, of course would be a must, to protect the appliance and pumps in the event oif a leak.

If needed a glycol fill system can be built or purchased.

I agree glycol should be used only when necessary for freeze protection, as it adds cost, maintenance, and is more prone to leak at threaded connections

Stay away from the low dollar glycols, something has been left out!

Oh, and adjust your pump spec as needed to the thicker fluid!

hot rod