BailOut
03-24-2007, 10:32 PM
I spent 10 hours on this stuff while gathering the equipment, learning how to work on some of these things (it was my first time soldering copper and brass for one, and my 4 sprinkler-key-able sumps were not labeled), doing the actual work, testing it all, making it pretty, etc., but it was totally worth it.
1) Our "Instant Hot Water Recirculating System" died earlier this week due to a failure of the electrical regulator which made it spin too fast, which made it break all of the propeller's teeth off, which in turn blew the propeller bushing, which in turn got stuck at the one-way valve downstream (thank goodness that thing was there, otherwise we'd have little pieces of plastic circulating in the potable water system in our home) and seized the motor.
I never paid much attention to that unit as our home is just 3 years old, we're the second owners and it always "just worked". We would always get hot water at any tap in the home within 5 seconds which greatly helped us cut down on water usage. Yes, it's a trade-off but a wholly worthwhile one... using some electricity to save some natural gas at the water heater and lots of water itself (which is a precious resource here in Nevada) as we're not running the tap while waiting for hot water.
However, when I went to Home Depot to look for a replacement unit I learned just how inadequate the old unit was. They only carry one model but it's a doozie! It's the "Watts Instant Hot Water Recirculating System", model 500800, USD $200.
This is a 25W system where the old one was 50W and this little bugger has 2 features that make it even more efficient:
- It has an analog clock and dip-switch system that let's you program when it will be on or off throughout a 24-hour cycle, in 15-minute increments. I have it set to turn off throughout the night but to be ready for showers in the morning, and then to turn off while we're at work but to be ready for the evening's activities. It will basically only be able to run for 8 hours per day instead of the previous 24.
- It comes with a "Sensor Valve" that you install on the tap that's furthest from the hot water heater. This little thing has some thermal-reactive components in it that open/close a shunt according to the temperature, and the main unit senses the change in resistance and starts/stops heating/circulating accordingly. In other words it heats the hot water in all your pipes and then shuts off, and doesn't kick on again until the Sensor Valve opens when the temperature drops to a pre-determined point. The old system ran continuously.
It was difficult for me to install this as I'd never worked with soldering plumbing-type metals before, etc., but it it was well worth it. I expect to save at least 1kWH/day, or 30kWh/month with this unit as compared to the old one and it is already putting out better regulated water temperatures. :woot:
2) The pressure vacuum breaker on my sprinkler system blew out last Fall and it's getting close to the time to "wake the lawn up" so I got around to repairing it. I never liked the old one anyway since it leaked about a liter an hour out of the diaphragm (which you can do nothing about since it's part of a casted housing) whenever it was running. We live in a desert (Nevada) so I'd rather xeriscape and be done with it but the Home Owners Association (HOA) for our subdivision demands we maintain a lawn in both the front and back yards.
As such I visited the local plumbing supply warehouse and they hooked me up with a "Wilkins 720A Pressure Vacuum" breaker assembly for USD $83 and another $9 of extra supplies (a length of 1" pipe, some couplers, etc.).
I cannot tell you how much easier it is to work on these things when you can replace the complete assembly rather than trying to break the brass components apart, and how nice it is to just cut off the upper risers, tape and thread the new assembly on, then just use the couplers to put the whole thing back together.
No more leakage, a definitive 150 PSI cap, new thermal insulation, etc. makes for a shiny new sprinkler system that is more robust and will use 16 gallons less water each warm month! The old components will be recycled in this quarter's scrap metal (and other things we can't recycle every day) turn-in hosted by my city. :cool:
1) Our "Instant Hot Water Recirculating System" died earlier this week due to a failure of the electrical regulator which made it spin too fast, which made it break all of the propeller's teeth off, which in turn blew the propeller bushing, which in turn got stuck at the one-way valve downstream (thank goodness that thing was there, otherwise we'd have little pieces of plastic circulating in the potable water system in our home) and seized the motor.
I never paid much attention to that unit as our home is just 3 years old, we're the second owners and it always "just worked". We would always get hot water at any tap in the home within 5 seconds which greatly helped us cut down on water usage. Yes, it's a trade-off but a wholly worthwhile one... using some electricity to save some natural gas at the water heater and lots of water itself (which is a precious resource here in Nevada) as we're not running the tap while waiting for hot water.
However, when I went to Home Depot to look for a replacement unit I learned just how inadequate the old unit was. They only carry one model but it's a doozie! It's the "Watts Instant Hot Water Recirculating System", model 500800, USD $200.
This is a 25W system where the old one was 50W and this little bugger has 2 features that make it even more efficient:
- It has an analog clock and dip-switch system that let's you program when it will be on or off throughout a 24-hour cycle, in 15-minute increments. I have it set to turn off throughout the night but to be ready for showers in the morning, and then to turn off while we're at work but to be ready for the evening's activities. It will basically only be able to run for 8 hours per day instead of the previous 24.
- It comes with a "Sensor Valve" that you install on the tap that's furthest from the hot water heater. This little thing has some thermal-reactive components in it that open/close a shunt according to the temperature, and the main unit senses the change in resistance and starts/stops heating/circulating accordingly. In other words it heats the hot water in all your pipes and then shuts off, and doesn't kick on again until the Sensor Valve opens when the temperature drops to a pre-determined point. The old system ran continuously.
It was difficult for me to install this as I'd never worked with soldering plumbing-type metals before, etc., but it it was well worth it. I expect to save at least 1kWH/day, or 30kWh/month with this unit as compared to the old one and it is already putting out better regulated water temperatures. :woot:
2) The pressure vacuum breaker on my sprinkler system blew out last Fall and it's getting close to the time to "wake the lawn up" so I got around to repairing it. I never liked the old one anyway since it leaked about a liter an hour out of the diaphragm (which you can do nothing about since it's part of a casted housing) whenever it was running. We live in a desert (Nevada) so I'd rather xeriscape and be done with it but the Home Owners Association (HOA) for our subdivision demands we maintain a lawn in both the front and back yards.
As such I visited the local plumbing supply warehouse and they hooked me up with a "Wilkins 720A Pressure Vacuum" breaker assembly for USD $83 and another $9 of extra supplies (a length of 1" pipe, some couplers, etc.).
I cannot tell you how much easier it is to work on these things when you can replace the complete assembly rather than trying to break the brass components apart, and how nice it is to just cut off the upper risers, tape and thread the new assembly on, then just use the couplers to put the whole thing back together.
No more leakage, a definitive 150 PSI cap, new thermal insulation, etc. makes for a shiny new sprinkler system that is more robust and will use 16 gallons less water each warm month! The old components will be recycled in this quarter's scrap metal (and other things we can't recycle every day) turn-in hosted by my city. :cool: