Solar system Information Needed

Constantin

if anything was left. If the solar collectors are left open to the atmosphere like that, it would only be a matter of time before all liquid left in the collector would boil off. 3 years seems like enough time to get everything out... on the other hand, if they used glycol in the system, the distillation process over time may have removed all water but not all glycol.

Furthermore, if IIRC, glycol also raises the boiling point of water. Only a solar expert could probably tell you for certain if solar systems can sustain temperatures where glycol mixtures boil off altogether. My guess as a layperson/mere HO is that the blue sludge is some sort of decomposed glycol that has evaporated from the solar section and condensed inside the cooler pipe section inside home

John@Reliable_9

Would anything be left?

Have a customer who removed solar water heater 3 yrs ago but left panels on roof. We installed a new boiler 6 months ago and removed old piping & shutoffs to roof just to get out of the way, nothing came out of pipes at that time. Now customer needs to remove panels for a new roof and roofer is concerned that panels still have "stuff" in them. Customer now tells me that since we removed pipes & shutoffs they have been dripping something lite blue. I'm thinking maybe just condensation/leftover mix from panels. Does this sound right?

John@Reliable_9

Constantin , layperson here too ................

when it comes to solar systems, thanks for your input.
John@Reliable

Scott25

oil

Recently worked on tearing out an old solar system that had an oil product as the heat transfer fluid. I Cut open some copper pipe from that job today and the copper still had a film on it. Maybe what ever was used is getting warmed and gravity is taking its toll slowly. Just a guess

Wardner

Location?

Where is the job located?

Kinda sounds like "stick 'em on the extra work" senario.

Home owner should advertise. Somebody with an aerial lift might remove the collectors at no cost. HO is at no risk for roof damage as it is being replaced. Plug the collector ports with corks.

Duncan_13

Light blue

Light blue would probably be a copper compound like copper sulphate, maybe caused by glycol.

I agree that anything that was in there should have been cooked away in three years time.

The only thing I can think of is this...

At night, the panels cool down. The warm, moist air in the house is migrating up into the panels. When it hits the cool surface of the panels, the moisture condenses.

Eventually, under the right conditions (several cool, cloudy days), enough condensate builds up inside the panels to start draining out. So yes, I think you're on the right track.

Just a guess.

John@Reliable_9

Thanks, All &Duncan

S Ebels

What planet do you need info on??

Sorry, couldn't resist. My bad. (G)