FOAK: ancient solar heating

Specifically, Sun Harvester, dating from the late 1970s.

Still works, but the control panel relays that are supposed to kick in
seem to stick and click madly.

Does anyone know someone who can sort it?

 

Got any photos/schematics/diagrams/links etc? I may be able to help.

JB

 

I could sort the control circuit, which is what it sounds like. But
alas, i'm a good run away. Should be easy to sort by anyone that knows
relay logic & fault finding.

 

Never installed one of those. How much RAM does it have ?



Paul.

 

I can have a look

 

<Neill from Young Ones>
Oh man, not the Sun Harvester. Like, that's a bummer.
Take out the back wall of your house, that will.
</nfyo>

Check the ignition wiring for a bad earth, err..

Seriously, it could be nothing more than a bad earth or neutral
connection, depending on what herbs the designers /installers had been
ingesting the week they installed it. Chattering relays often point to
something like that. Also, depends on what controls the circulation
/timing or whatever it's based on - I take it it's pumped and it's
roof-mounted? Might be a simple temperature sensor on the riser pipe
from the panel or on th panel itself that's at fault - not connecting
cleanly or vibrating.

 

That might be nice. It's in The Doctor's Ma's old house, which we're
renting out. Obviously the solar heating isn't used in winter, but come
summer it does chatter irritatingly some time, a bit like Rope.

The house is in Mayfield, near Tun Wells. Email is in my sig.

 

Wow! I actually worked very briefly selling those systems back in the 70s.
IIRC the company was shut down due to its inflated claims for what their kit
could do and dodgy selling techniques. I left them when I realised how
dodgy they were.

 

They were dodgy. Private Eye wrote them up every other forttnight, I
remember. Amazingly, the kit has worked well for three decades, though.

 

AFAIK the kit was fine - the problem was the ways that they were selling it.
I'm proud to say that I only sold one - and the purchasers got their money
back!

 

The RAM isn't that big an issue as it can page to StorEdge Photon A5200 disc
arrays.

Or, have Sun moved away from cheap 'n' cheerless HappyMeals to joyless
Harvesters?

I'll get my coat.

 

You're behind the times old man.

SAN boot is where it's at nowadays ..

Paul.

 

Can't you extricate the electronics - it needs putting on a bench in a
lab

relays chattering are normally down to power supply problems - which
means you might have a dc-dc converter in there somewhere

 

Erk. I'd rather not.

We've just rented the house on a short term let now, and the solar won't
be working until the summer, really, so we'll leave it for the moment.