Got the hotplate installed last night. After a lot of sanding and mixing epoxy..
Now here comes the bad weather..
NWS - National Mosaic Enhanced Radar Image: Full Resolution Loop
It's 8AM and the storm clouds are rolling in.. So, we might have to turn
the oil back on soon..
After the J-B Weld had set for 6 hours, I turned on the oil (at midnight) and moved
the boiler temp up from 90 to about 125 degrees, for a bit faster cure.
I do have some voids on the some of the edges, but I think the plate
is pretty well bonded to the boiler. (At least 90%).
The hot plate now has an aluminum top cover (Heat Shield) that has 1" of FG insulation on all outer surfaces.
(No pics yet, I didn't want to epoxy my old camera in there)..
I hope to keep any 'killer' heat inside the cover, so we get a good 180-250
degree hot-spot under the plate.. (WHEN the sun comes out)!
If it comes out, the heater is ON and the tracker is ready to track..
~~~
Edit: 13:53 06/09/2010
08:00 125 degrees F
09:20 122 F (morning water use).
09:30, we left for Candle-pin bowling..
12:45 135 F
13:39 139 F (Solid overcast now)..
139 - 122 = 17 degree gain!
That's not a lot of direct sunshine, if it wasn't so cloudy today!
It's been a pretty hazy day so far and there's a lot of passing clouds..
So far, the system seems to be working as hoped.