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-   -   A7 AirTap install (ASHP hot water heater) (https://ecorenovator.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2286)

Xringer 06-28-12 11:51 PM

A7 AirTap install (ASHP hot water heater)
 
Here's the links:

AirGenerate

http://airgenerate.xbitech.com/Media...ion_Manual.pdf

Web links?
An Affordable Heat-Pump Water-Heater Retrofit- GreenSource Magazine

Airgenerate_AirTap_Installation_Upgreen Store - YouTube

http://411plumb.com/airgenerate-a7-airtap-review/



Specifications: (Ambient Temp. 68˚F)
Max Water Temp: 130˚F
Energy Factor 2.2
1st Hour Rating (40 gal tank): 44.5 Gallons
Output kW 6.5 kW (Hybrid average)
Dimensions 18" x 14" x 14" (height)
Weight 50 lbs
Noise 50 db
http://media.treehugger.com/assets/i...effiencyv2.jpg

AirTap™ Installation Requirements
Volts 115
Amps 6 operating (12A start)
Phase 1
Frequency 60 Hz
Space (ventilated or ducted) 250 cubic feet
Space (unventilated) 1,000 cubic feet

http://content.costco.com/Images/Con...uct/593179.jpghttp://www.mearesplumbing.com/wp-con...ter-AirTap.jpg

The goal is to discontinue burning oil for hot water and use the A7 AirTap ASHP.

Step 1. Will be product testing (as described in the manual), hopefully this weekend.
I'll post my findings and some pictures.

Step 2. Select the size and shape of the hotwater storage tank (aka electric hotwater heater), and order it.

Step 3. Install the hardware, when the tank is delivered.

Here's a block diagram of the new system.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...W/Untitled.png

Vlad 06-29-12 01:04 AM

I don't really get this concept.

You use oil or gas to heat air inside your house and after you take this heat and steal it for water heating????

In warm climate yes it makes sense because this is your "free" AC. But when you heat your house I just don't get it.

For this reason I am going to use ground loop (closed water loop) as a heat source and I will build water to water 2 ton HP.

Xringer 06-29-12 07:59 AM

ASHP is the new GSHP
 
The basement isn't heated. We use 2 Sanyos to heat (and cool) upstairs.

The A7 will dehumidify and cool the basement during the summer months without using much power.
But during the colder parts of the winter, when the basement temperature drops,
it's going to take more power to heat the water.

A GSHP would be nice, but digging a deep ditch in the backyard is pretty much impossible.
I might be able to do it someday when they invent a cheap Laser excavator that can cut soild granite.
:rolleyes:

I have two ideas that might help out with winter power usage.
I may use one or both of these ideas.

1. Vent warm attic air down to the basement during sunny days.
2. Use backyard PV to power the A7 during good sunlight hours.


The basement slab (and walls) get pretty cold during the winter.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...asementGeo.jpg
About the same temperature as the water main coming into the house.

MN Renovator 06-29-12 10:09 AM

"1. Vent warm attic air down to the basement during sunny days."

Adding high dew point hot outside air to your basement is a great way to bring condensation to your basement which brings mold. Not to mention that the moisture will spread to the rest of your house and you'll be living in wet swampy air.

Xringer 06-29-12 11:37 AM

When it's cold, we do get some humid days (not so much on sunny cold days), but the A7 is also a dehumidifier.

We have metal items stored in the attic, and there doesn't seem to be much of a rust problem up there.
I don't think that pumping attic air to the basement is going to add overwhelming humidity.

The benefits of drying the basement air is one of the things I'm looking forward to.
My machine shop tools are rust magnets.. :(

The fancy new Zenith dehumidifier we got last year is going to find a new home at my daughter's house.

S-F 06-29-12 02:17 PM

The dehumidifier can also be used in the winter. And it probably should be. But they net increase the temperature.

The air in the attic will only be reasonable for a small portion of the year.

All of Vlad's points seem to be reasonable. In the summer the dehumidification and cooling is nice though.

You will have to make a bypass from your attic to the basement. You'd better be sure to insulate and seal that up really well when it's not in use.

I don't think you should do anything to make your house colder in the winter. If you need those two huge monster heat pumps to keep a ranch warm I personally think you have more pressing issues than concern for an extra $1 a day or so on oil to heat your water.

Honestly I see so many issues with this plan that my head is spinning. The amount of work and materials costs will negate any savings you will hope to achieve. We all need hobbies and tinkering with this thing might be a fun project but I wouldn't touch it and I couldn't in good conscience recommend it to anyone.

On a different note, I know a guy who has installed one of these hot water heat pumps and he runs his dryer exhaust through the coil. He coordinates large hot water usage with running the dryer. I have been thinking about using one of these in the summer ONLY! and reverting to gas in the winter.

Xringer 06-29-12 05:47 PM

A7 unboxing..
 
I didn't really need a second 24k BTUh for the den. 8K BTUh would have worked fine.
But, I didn't have an 8K BTUh unit sitting unused in my garage.. :)

Maybe taking warm air from the attic is just crazy and I should forget it..
So, I'll look into running the unit off PV. That shouldn't be to hard to do.


The package came in this afternoon and it was in pretty good shape.
The test run was good. Took about 3 minutes before the coil got warm.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...W/P1000568.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...W/P1000571.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...W/P1000576.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...W/P1000581.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...W/P1000585.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...W/P1000591.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...W/P1000582.jpg

Geo NR Gee 06-29-12 08:15 PM

How often do you think the Airtap is going to be running?

Xringer 06-29-12 09:54 PM

That's going to depend on a bunch of factors. I really don't have any idea right now.

If it ran 24 hours a day using 368 watts, that would be 8.832 KWh per day..
At $0.1661 per KWh, that's about $1.47 a day.

So if it runs 8 hours during a summer day? That's 49 cents..

If the average daily run time is between 8 and 16 hours a day, that would be nice.
Cheaper than burning $2 worth of fuel oil..

The cost of home heating oil here in MA has been slowly going up for years.
I don't expect it to get any cheaper over the next 5 or 10 years..
http://www.mass.gov/eea/energy-utili...eason-peak.png

Even if the A7 wasn't useful during cold weather, we might still be
able to cut the amount of oil burned by a good percentage.

Ryland 06-29-12 10:11 PM

I don't have a large enough basement for a heat pump water heater, they want a minimum square footage, otherwise I was thinking about going with something like the Air Tap as well, but as I see it, most of the heat in the basement is coming from the floor and walls, that is why in the summer when it's 90F upstairs the basement isn't that much warmer then when it's 50F upstairs in the winter, so in a round about way a water heater like this is a ground source heat pump and from what I read it should cost you about the same to run as the dehumidifier you currently have running if it runs as much as mine does (about half the time), so it's a win win! dry basement, hot water.

Xringer 06-29-12 11:46 PM

My problem now is figuring out Where to install a tank..
This evening, I went down and looked at the back of my boiler.
There a 3/4" nipple sticking out (on the rear left side) that has a T&P valve on it.

I think it would be a quick install, if I skipped buying a tank (HW heater).
Just build a little shelf for the A7, beside the boiler and run the HX loop into the 3/4" hole.
I can install the T&P elsewhere.

If the HX loop was fed into the rear left side (3/4 from bottom), it would intermingle with existing domestic HW HX coil..
http://www.woodboilers.com/admin/upl...sssection2.jpg
The water jacket hold 72 gallons of blackish water..

The main problem with the idea is the thin insulation, and leakage up the chimney.. :(

S-F 06-29-12 11:49 PM

I like this idea because you can disconnect the heat pump in the winter.

Xringer 06-30-12 07:31 AM

It's easy to add a by-pass to a tank. I had that on my old Solar HW tank.
In case of leakage, you always want to install a pair of cut-offs in/out of the tank.
So, just add one more cut-off before the pair for a total by-pass ('H' manifold?).

New model electric HW heaters have very good insulation. It's two inches of good foam.
The GE user guide said, NOT to add an insulation wrap kit to the tank. It won't help.
And, it might effect the warranty.

Xringer 06-30-12 07:46 AM

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...W/P1000582.jpg

Notice the A7 has a 120vac outlet on it's back-panel. The manual warns not to exceed 1 amp.
Seems like a good place to plug in a run-time timer...

But, another idea popped into my head.. :D

What if you plugged in a GTI? With a 200w PV panel connected?
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...Solar/l005.jpg

Might give the A7 some help during the sunny parts of the day... :cool:

If AC power out of the GTI remained less than 368 watts, it wouldn't feed power back onto the grid (not legal in some places)..
Since the A7 would consume all the PV power provided, and shut down the GTI, when the thermostat opened the circuit.

Xringer 06-30-12 07:54 AM

1 Attachment(s)
Found a 40gal tank in stock at HD. $258
GE40M06AAG | GE® Electric Water Heater | GE Appliances
For another 80 bucks you can get 10 more gallons..
Since we are a low demand family, I'm voting for the 40 gal.. Comments?

Dang, this thing weights over 100 pounds! My back is already killing me.. :(


Edit:
I noticed this unit has two 4500 watt elements (at 240vac), I wonder if you put these two elements in series,
4500/240=18.75 amps. 240/18.75=12.8 ohms x2=25.6 ohms. 240/25.6 =9.375A x 240=2.25 KW... (or 1.124 KW at 120vac)..?.


I'm thinking that burning 1KW might be useful to keep the tank luke warm,
during those extra cold January days when the A7 is dropping the basement to 40F !! :eek:

~~~Edit~~~
I was just thinking about what Vlad said "This elements have 2 thermostats. They never work together"..
I misunderstood. Now I look closer at the diagram, I can see that one element will work at a time..
Which means that: Unmodified, the total load is always going to be 12.8 ohms. 120/12.8 = 9.4 amps. 120v x 9.4a = 1128watts..
In series, that power would drop to half. 564w..
But, if I wired them to run simultaneously, 2.256 kw! :) (@120vac).

I'm thinking that 1128w (3849 BTUh) would be less work.
It's around half the heating of the A7 and might not be too hard to pay for.
If it was on 10 hours a day, that's $1.78, a little bit less than oil.. :)

Geo NR Gee 06-30-12 08:23 PM

Please post when you get it hooked up and how long it comes on if you can check that? Could you plug it into one of the new electicity usage meters that you posted about? I think that new meter shows how many minutes and hours the device operates.

Vlad 06-30-12 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xringer (Post 22728)
Found a 40gal tank in stock at HD. $258
GE40M06AAG | GE® Electric Water Heater | GE Appliances
For another 80 bucks you can get 10 more gallons..
Since we are a low demand family, I'm voting for the 40 gal.. Comments?

Dang, this thing weights over 100 pounds! My back is already killing me.. :(


Edit:
I noticed this unit has two 4500 watt elements (at 240vac), I wonder if you put these two elements in series,
4500/240=18.75 amps. 240/18.75=12.8 ohms x2=25.6 ohms. 240/25.6 =9.375A x 240=2.25 KW... (or 1.124 KW at 120vac)..?.

Using those elements at 1.124 kw puts 3835 BTUh into the tank..
Not much, but that's not bad, considering the A7 sends around 6500ish BTUh to the tank during normal operation.

I'm thinking that burning 1KW might be useful to keep the tank luke warm,
during those extra cold January days when the A7 is dropping the basement to 40F !! :eek:

This elements have 2 thermostats. They never work together. Check manual. I installed electric HWT with the same 2 elements 4.5 KW each. Here is how they wired :

How to wire water heater thermostat

Vlad 06-30-12 10:59 PM

So this hot water heater requires separate HWT. Also it makes sens only to use it in summer time, or you will have walk-in cooler-basement. It is not bad if plan to store beer or wine or meat. There is no magic if you get BTUs you have to make them or steal them. Using this unit in heating season will eventually steal your heat from your heated space. It is just matter of time.

Because it will work properly only in warm season I would get condensing unit from split AC (and just revers it) or HP and put it outside. Also outside thermostat can control start HP or just use regular elements. If outside goes bellow efficiency point (too cold) your electric elements kick in or you start using hot water from whatever heater you might have (it can be oil boiler or on demand gas heater). As soon as you above efficiency point (worm weather) your thermostat switches back to HP.

I gave my example with ground loop but you can use air. You don't have to dig tranches for this. Just make your system smart enough to choose the source of heat.

Capacity or this unit is very low, you can use it only as supplementary heater if you have family of 2 plus 2 kids.

AC/HP split could be 2-3 ton capacity and this is enough for DHW.

In my opinion this unit is a waste of money and potential trouble maker.

Xringer 07-01-12 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vlad (Post 22736)
This elements have 2 thermostats. They never work together. Check manual. I installed electric HWT with the same 2 elements 4.5 KW each. Here is how they wired :

How to wire water heater thermostat

I looked at the manual again, but I can't see any reason why both heating elements can't be re-wired in series, and be controlled by just one thermostat.

Xringer 07-01-12 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vlad (Post 22737)
So this hot water heater requires separate HWT. Also it makes sens only to use it in summer time, or you will have walk-in cooler-basement. It is not bad if plan to store beer or wine or meat. There is no magic if you get BTUs you have to make them or steal them. Using this unit in heating season will eventually steal your heat from your heated space. It is just matter of time.

Because it will work properly only in warm season I would get condensing unit from split AC (and just revers it) or HP and put it outside. Also outside thermostat can control start HP or just use regular elements. If outside goes bellow efficiency point (too cold) your electric elements kick in or you start using hot water from whatever heater you might have (it can be oil boiler or on demand gas heater). As soon as you above efficiency point (worm weather) your thermostat switches back to HP.

I gave my example with ground loop but you can use air. You don't have to dig tranches for this. Just make your system smart enough to choose the source of heat.

Capacity or this unit is very low, you can use it only as supplementary heater if you have family of 2 plus 2 kids.

AC/HP split could be 2-3 ton capacity and this is enough for DHW.

In my opinion this unit is a waste of money and potential trouble maker.


Our demand for hot water is very low (A retired couple).
Right now, we run the oil burner for 1/2 hour once a day. (1/2 gallon of oil or about $2).

People are actually using this type of (slow recovery) ASHP system to heat hot water.
And, maybe it won't be as effective during the colder months, but it does work.

If December comes and I find it's getting too cold in the basement,
it will be very simple to switch back to oil burner for 30 minutes a day.

Vlad 07-01-12 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xringer (Post 22738)
I looked at the manual again, but I can't see any reason why both heating elements can't be re-wired in series, and be controlled by just one thermostat.


Yes you can rewire the way you like it. You only have to consider thermostat's difference.

In my case I used only 1 element (actually never used it but it is there for back up) and 1 thermostat to control it. Lower element I took out and used it's hole as an extra water connection for HX circulation. It's thermostat I use for circulation pump control.

There is no NO or CAN'T for DIY.

I think many DIY guys reading this forum are able to build even better unit from just junk.

Just get an old AC condensing unit and build one. Your Sanyo unit is much better unit and more powerful use R290 in it and you will beat this hot water toy :).

berniebenz 07-01-12 06:04 PM

Another A7 AirTap install
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by S-F (Post 22722)
I like this idea because you can disconnect the heat pump in the winter.

Thanks Xringer for posting all your wild and meandering thoughts about this unit.

Got mine several days ago and am planning to install it on my 45 gal condensing propane fired WH. This WH, an early Heat Transfer Products 90K BTU/hr input “Voyager“ with internal HX for in floor hydronic heating, has been in DHW and In floor radiant service 17 years now. A most reliable WH excepting the HSI, now converted to spark ign.

This WH has no taps on the top so I plan to sit the A7 on isolation foam directly on the flat top of the WH. No use for their brackets. The condenser tubing will enter the WH thru the T&P side port with the T&P moved to the side port of the A7 adaptor fitting. My concern is inserting this A7 tubing bundle into the WH without getting it hung up on the combustion chamber and all the HX tubing already in there. <http://www.htproducts.com/literature/lp-41i.pdf> A trial and error job.

The WH and 2 zone in floor system is on /in the back wall of a large attached 2 car garage, 35’x35’x10’ (with little used in floor heat). The plan is to use the A7 for about 9 months of the year, reverting back to propane for the sub 32F period here in N. Nevada at 4700’. Maybe with an outside thermostat and
house calling for heat, yet to be worked out.

More later. Keep up the good work, guys!

Xringer 07-01-12 07:42 PM

I am a wild and meandering kinda guy.. :)

I will be meandering over to Home Depot early this week to see about the tank. (and other hardware).
Going with the GE 40 gallon, since it cost less and should have a little less loss compared to the 50 gal.

I'm not going to add-on to my oil boiler, because it's really old.
I've already had a major repair, due to rust..

IIRC, the welder charged me around $400 for this job.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...t/DSCF0267.jpg
(took this pic during the pressure test. It leaked).
Rust can happen in areas where you can't see. What worries me now is, is the bottom plate.
If it starts leaking down there, I'll have to uninstall the whole unit and flip it
on it's side to cut out the bad section and weld on a new plate..

That would leave us without any hot water for a long time.. (I work very slow).
So, having two HW heaters is better than one.. If one is really old.. :)


Not sure how the R22 copper tube will loop inside a regular water heater tank,
in the artist conception pics, it's nice loops.. In real life, it might be messy.
If the area has a lot of square corners in it, you might try having a bit of
curve in the copper as you push it in. (If that's possible).
Even a little curve might allow it to feed around in somewhat of a loop,
instead of just jamming up, folding over and kinking up.. (cutting off R22 flow)..
If that happens to me, my backup plan is to use the HX I've already purchased for this ASHP HW project..

PaleMelanesian 07-02-12 12:49 PM

Sort of related: I picked up a GE Geospring heat pump water heater this weekend for half price from sears. They told me there's a new model coming out. $600 out the door and it should pay back in ~2 years compared to the regular electric heater I have now.

I need to relocate it as the current one is in a tiny closet and these need airflow. That's my next house project - plumbing and wiring for the new heater. 220V so still no kill-a-watt to read it.

Daox 07-02-12 01:06 PM

Wow, that was a steal of a deal. Nice find!

Xringer 07-02-12 02:43 PM

Wow, such a deal! Congrats! And it's going to work great in Texas!

Well, the bad news is, my back is still super sore, so no tank today..
But, the good news in the power monitor came in today.. It's nice!

Xringer 07-05-12 06:29 PM

FREE! Hotwater ASHP HW heaters!
 
At Lowes, they have this now..

GE GeoSpring 50-Gallon 10-Year Hybrid Electric Heat Pump Water Heater (ENERGY STAR)
Item #: 386797 | Model #: GEH50DEEDSR $999.00
Was: $1,199.00 (Save 16% thru 07/15/2012)

Sears has the same deal, on GE GeoSpring™ Hybrid Water Heater
NEW Item !| | Sears Item# 04232200000 | Model# GEH50DEEDSR

Free???
NStar (power co) is said to be handling out $1,000 Rebates!!
But, they demand "Must be installed by licensed contractor".. No DIY... :(


~~~~

Anyways, I picked up the tank today and some small parts I'll need to install it.
(The cost is adding up!! I hope this thing works)!!


Pretty danged heavy for an old guy with back pains.. :(
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...W/P1000628.jpg

The A7 is ready to go.. :)
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...W/P1000629.jpg

This weekend, I hope to find a place to install this stuff.

berniebenz 07-05-12 06:51 PM

A7 + GE Hybrid Electric Heat Pump Water Heater?
How is this going to work?

Xringer 07-05-12 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by berniebenz (Post 22867)
A7 + GE Hybrid Electric Heat Pump Water Heater?
How is this going to work?

That box in my basement isn't a hybrid WH heater. It's the plain old electric HW 40 gallon heater
I referred to in post#15 above http://ecorenovator.org/forum/22728-post15.html


I posted about the GE GeoSpring 50-Gallon Hybrid in response to PaleMelanesian's post about to great deal he got on his new ASHP HWH..

berniebenz 07-05-12 09:15 PM

Difficult to back track on the iterations on this thread but, the A7 is not to be an add-on to the old oil fired HWH, but you are apparently anxious to install it. The new GE hybrid is already an ASHP so doesn’t need the A7 attached. The old WH is being replaced with the new GE? Where are we with the A7? We old Farts think slowly.

Xringer 07-05-12 09:49 PM

Okay, I guess it is too wordy. I always think of alternative plans as I go along..

I got leery of using the old steel oil-fired boiler.. It's super old and could start leaking,
and we would be without any source of hotwater.

So, the safe route is to use a new tank and install/use the A7 the way it was intended.

It should look somewhat like this, when I'm done..

http://images.lowes.com/product/conv...52003003xl.jpg

Here's a pic of someone's install before inserting the HX loop.
http://knoji.com/images/user/airtap-install.jpg

SimpleManLance 07-06-12 08:29 AM

i really like this idea, though in most cases i cant really see its benefits. im anxious to hear how this work out for you though. sounds like it should reduce your oil usage.

PaleMelanesian 07-06-12 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xringer (Post 22865)
At Lowes, they have this now..

GE GeoSpring 50-Gallon 10-Year Hybrid Electric Heat Pump Water Heater (ENERGY STAR)
Item #: 386797 | Model #: GEH50DEEDSR $999.00
Was: $1,199.00 (Save 16% thru 07/15/2012)

Sears has the same deal, on GE GeoSpring™ Hybrid Water Heater
NEW Item !| | Sears Item# 04232200000 | Model# GEH50DEEDSR

Free???
NStar (power co) is said to be handling out $1,000 Rebates!!
But, they demand "Must be installed by licensed contractor".. No DIY... :(

That's the new version. It's ~5% more efficient based on the yellow Energy Star tag. I'll happily take that slight loss for half the price.

I'm DIY all the way on this. I had to clear a bunch of space in the crawl space to fit the plumbing. (new location is an add-on so there was a cement wall in the way) Now to start actually running pipes.

Patrick 07-08-12 11:17 AM

Xringer, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the A7 directions say to disconnect the regular heating elements?

Does your boiler have sacrificial anodes to prevent corrosion?

Xringer 07-08-12 02:01 PM

I don't think so. It says disconnect the WH power during install.

On the Ebay page, it says "For maximum savings, it is recommended that the existing water heater be disconnected."

But, using the heating elements might be required if you have company and a few more folks need to take showers.. :)

Seems like you could set the A7 to 125F and set the heaters to 110F..
When the A7 wasn't keeping up with demand, you pay extra.. :)

There is a port on top where the Anode screws in. I'm assuming it's there.
Maybe I'll pry off the plastic cap, cut out the insulation and remove the Anode for inspection.
I think it might need to be well grounded to the tank, so maybe Teflon tape might not be the best way to re-install it..?.

The A7 brackets attach to the water in/out pipes (nipples).

I've already pulled the hot & cold nipple (PITB). I will replace the hot with the special brass nipple from the A7 kit.

The cold nipple is short and has flow restriction (small check-valve), so I'm going to replace that one with a 6" iron nipple.

Using the short (stock) cold water nipple causes the U-bolt clamp to rest
on the connecting cold water input pipe..
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...DHW/ironip.jpg
Since I'm going to use 3/4" Pex, the extra tall nipple will allow the clamp to rest on iron. (It can be real tight).

Here's my test fit photo.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1.../nBrackets.jpg

Xringer 07-08-12 02:29 PM

Notes on nipple removal
 
Note on nipple removal. In the reviews, I found out that some GE factory nipples leaked, causing product returns.
(Some folks found it very difficult to remove factory nipples).
The A7 requires the hot water nipple to be replaced with the special brass T-nipple included in the kit.


My goal was removing both for them. The cold nipple came right out with the pipe wrench.
But, the hot side was stuck solid. I added a 26" extension handle to the wrench. (1" heavy aluminum tube)
But the whole heater turned when I applied force.. :(

So, I placed a 4 foot aluminum tube on top of the heater, laying it in between the cold nipple and the T&P valve. (on it's smooth side).
That allowed me to pull the two aluminum handles together (like scissors), and remove the stuck nipple.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...W/niptrick.jpg

berniebenz 07-08-12 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xringer (Post 22908)

The A7 brackets attach to the water in/out pipes (nipples).

I've already pulled the hot & cold nipple (PITB). I will replace the hot with the special brass nipple from the A7 kit.

The cold nipple is short and has flow restriction (small check-valve), so I'm going to replace that one with a 6" iron nipple.

Why would you use an iron cold line nipple, with the dissimilar metals problem? A ¾ x 6” brass nipple is only about $5.

berniebenz 07-08-12 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xringer (Post 22908)

But, using the heating elements might be required if you have company and a few more folks need to take showers.. :)

Seems like you could set the A7 to 125F and set the heaters to 110F..
When the A7 wasn't keeping up with demand, you pay extra.. :)

My propane fired DHW is also used, with internal HX, for in-floor radiant system. Therefore my plan is to use an outside thermostat to control the gas fired system. Fire the propane system when outside temp is below set point and in-floor system is calling for heat. This in addition to your idea of setting the A7 to 125F and set the heater to 110F.

Xringer 07-08-12 03:08 PM

anode hex exposed
 
1 Attachment(s)
I popped the anode cap and cut away the foam. There is a hex-head on the tank.
It looks like it's about 1 & 1/16" (1.0625") across. Not a size that I own.. :(

My guess is a 1" socket from Sears will do the trick..
1 in. Socket, 6 pt.- Craftsman-Tools-Mechanics & Auto Tools-Sockets


1" was too small.. :mad:
Went back, pay another buck and got the 1" & 1/16" socket!
1-1/16 in. Easy-To-Read Socket, 6 pt. STD, 1/2 in. drive- Craftsman-Tools-Mechanics & Auto Tools-Sockets
and it worked fine!!

berniebenz 07-08-12 03:23 PM

Or you could just ask GE what, if any, their anode system is, life expectancy, and replacement cost. You did buy a glass lined tank, did you not?


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