11,000 BTU DX GEO Heating - Page 4

MEMPHIS91 · 10-05-15, 06:39 PM

Jeff, THAT MAKES SENSE! I guess I thought it was the violent action of the brazing that forced the black stuff into the pipe, I was assuming any gas flowing out would stop this from happening, but since your wisdom has once again kept me from doing stupid things, I TOTALLY understand now. THANK YOU. I got some old paintball co2 tanks laying around. Could helium tanks (the pink ones) be a good option? I'm not sure how expensive they are.

pinballlooking, I will try to get some pictures of my setup posted soon. The basic idea is the condenser is 20 feet of 316 stainless steal coil in the bottom of the fish tank. Stainless has no effect of the fish. I should have that part finished by the end of the week.

I got some more done today. I went with 1/8" for the oil return line.

MEMPHIS91 · 10-06-15, 06:29 PM

Well I didn't get to far today, I did get the reversing valve hacked. I clamped the suction side closed and extend the tube from the solenoid valve to the suction side of the compressor.

Here are the pictures of my AP setup. Got 8 barrel halves and 4 grow towers with a IBC tote and 35-40 brim. Been going for over a year now. This is only phase one, phase two will be 14 more barrel halves.
Water and air pump are both solar powered.

And the view at night when the LED lights come on.

pinballlooking · 10-06-15, 08:53 PM

Thanks for posting pictures of your system. Do you get good growth over the winter? What temp does your water stay at?

MEMPHIS91 · 10-07-15, 05:28 PM

I didn't get much done today I had a regulator on my oxygen bottles mess up.
pinballlooking, The system did ok last winter, but I was unable to keep my water warm. I will have the temp set to 65-70F this winter.

jeff5may · 10-07-15, 09:40 PM

Pardon me for asking, but why did you close off the suction line of your reversing valve?

MEMPHIS91 · 10-07-15, 09:58 PM

Because I am not switching the direction of flow. It will only heat, I just need it to switch from sending heat to the air condenser to the water condenser. But I still needed the suction to operate the valve.

jeff5may · 10-09-15, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MEMPHIS91

Because I am not switching the direction of flow. It will only heat, I just need it to switch from sending heat to the air condenser to the water condenser. But I still needed the suction to operate the valve.

Aha, that's what you're doing! Solenoid actuated switching of heat between your aquaponic fish tank and greenhouse airspace is brilliant. I assume your fish tank will have another dx coil in it, not a forced flow hx. When this dx coil is disconnected from the compressor discharge, its outlet will have discharge pressure present, which will tend to fill the coil with liquid backwards. In essence, the dx coil will act as a subcooling liquid receiver. This will affect your system charge and hold some oil as well. Considering your dx ground loop size, a suction line accumulator near the compressor would be a prudent addition.

MEMPHIS91 · 10-09-15, 07:16 AM

Yes I though about the different size/pressure/temps on the air source/fish tank condensers. And yes it will be DX, 20 feet of 1/4" 316 stainless steel. The compressor has a small accumulator on it already and I'm going to add 2 loops into the 3/8 copper coming into the suction side. Do you think adding a full size larger accumulator would be needed?

I had a set back yesterday, but I got it fixed last night, and will post more pictures and a update tonight. (More tools had to be bought.

)

Also I am cutting the dual cap tubes in half, therefore making 4 cap tubes. The idea behind this is I KNOW they will need to be shorter like with the HP Water Heater. This will allow me to crimp one shut without having to open the system again and again, then once I know the needed length, I'll make the prefect size new one and fine tune everything.

MEMPHIS91 · 10-09-15, 05:39 PM

So today went MUCH better. The problem I ran into was that I cooked my reversing valve. I had been very careful but using map gas, but it just has WAY to wide a flame, and it takes much longer to heat up therefore heating the entire valve enough to cook the nylon o rings on the piston shuttle.

So I found the cheapest reversing valve I could find in town and picked up a nice torch set.

I got everything brazed back up!

And I started on the electric side of things.
From left to right. On/Off, High side and low side temps, and INK BIRD controllers that will be displaying air temp and fish tank water temp.

More to come soon.
Shalom

MEMPHIS91 · 10-12-15, 08:00 PM

Got all the electric done, fan guard built (there will be a grate over the blades when I'm done), and the Discharge/suction gauges installed.

10-05-15, 06:39 PM	#31
MEMPHIS91 Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Oxford, MS USA Posts: 496 Thanks: 69 Thanked 87 Times in 61 Posts	Jeff, THAT MAKES SENSE! I guess I thought it was the violent action of the brazing that forced the black stuff into the pipe, I was assuming any gas flowing out would stop this from happening, but since your wisdom has once again kept me from doing stupid things, I TOTALLY understand now. THANK YOU. I got some old paintball co2 tanks laying around. Could helium tanks (the pink ones) be a good option? I'm not sure how expensive they are. pinballlooking, I will try to get some pictures of my setup posted soon. The basic idea is the condenser is 20 feet of 316 stainless steal coil in the bottom of the fish tank. Stainless has no effect of the fish. I should have that part finished by the end of the week. I got some more done today. I went with 1/8" for the oil return line. Attached Thumbnails

10-06-15, 06:29 PM	#32
MEMPHIS91 Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Oxford, MS USA Posts: 496 Thanks: 69 Thanked 87 Times in 61 Posts	Well I didn't get to far today, I did get the reversing valve hacked. I clamped the suction side closed and extend the tube from the solenoid valve to the suction side of the compressor. Here are the pictures of my AP setup. Got 8 barrel halves and 4 grow towers with a IBC tote and 35-40 brim. Been going for over a year now. This is only phase one, phase two will be 14 more barrel halves. Water and air pump are both solar powered. And the view at night when the LED lights come on. Attached Thumbnails

10-09-15, 05:39 PM	#39
MEMPHIS91 Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Oxford, MS USA Posts: 496 Thanks: 69 Thanked 87 Times in 61 Posts	So today went MUCH better. The problem I ran into was that I cooked my reversing valve. I had been very careful but using map gas, but it just has WAY to wide a flame, and it takes much longer to heat up therefore heating the entire valve enough to cook the nylon o rings on the piston shuttle. So I found the cheapest reversing valve I could find in town and picked up a nice torch set. I got everything brazed back up! And I started on the electric side of things. From left to right. On/Off, High side and low side temps, and INK BIRD controllers that will be displaying air temp and fish tank water temp. More to come soon. Shalom Attached Thumbnails

10-12-15, 08:00 PM	#40
MEMPHIS91 Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Oxford, MS USA Posts: 496 Thanks: 69 Thanked 87 Times in 61 Posts	Got all the electric done, fan guard built (there will be a grate over the blades when I'm done), and the Discharge/suction gauges installed. Attached Thumbnails

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

10-06-15, 08:53 PM	#33
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 563 Times in 462 Posts	Thanks for posting pictures of your system. Do you get good growth over the winter? What temp does your water stay at?

10-07-15, 05:28 PM	#34
MEMPHIS91 Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Oxford, MS USA Posts: 496 Thanks: 69 Thanked 87 Times in 61 Posts	I didn't get much done today I had a regulator on my oxygen bottles mess up. pinballlooking, The system did ok last winter, but I was unable to keep my water warm. I will have the temp set to 65-70F this winter.

10-07-15, 09:40 PM	#35
jeff5may Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA Posts: 2,427 Thanks: 431 Thanked 618 Times in 516 Posts	Pardon me for asking, but why did you close off the suction line of your reversing valve?

10-07-15, 09:58 PM	#36
MEMPHIS91 Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Oxford, MS USA Posts: 496 Thanks: 69 Thanked 87 Times in 61 Posts	Because I am not switching the direction of flow. It will only heat, I just need it to switch from sending heat to the air condenser to the water condenser. But I still needed the suction to operate the valve.

10-09-15, 07:16 AM	#38
MEMPHIS91 Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Oxford, MS USA Posts: 496 Thanks: 69 Thanked 87 Times in 61 Posts	Yes I though about the different size/pressure/temps on the air source/fish tank condensers. And yes it will be DX, 20 feet of 1/4" 316 stainless steel. The compressor has a small accumulator on it already and I'm going to add 2 loops into the 3/8 copper coming into the suction side. Do you think adding a full size larger accumulator would be needed? I had a set back yesterday, but I got it fixed last night, and will post more pictures and a update tonight. (More tools had to be bought. ) Also I am cutting the dual cap tubes in half, therefore making 4 cap tubes. The idea behind this is I KNOW they will need to be shorter like with the HP Water Heater. This will allow me to crimp one shut without having to open the system again and again, then once I know the needed length, I'll make the prefect size new one and fine tune everything.