Lime Scale......

[frank horton]

This is my 15 year old solar water heating panel and tank.....works brill on the soalr side....
the tank is ST/Steel inside and out inc the 2 heating coils.......coils, one for solar and the other for the wood boiler.....
take no notice of the blue pipe.....
the tank was totally cleaned out last season......
the 2 plumbing fittings, *air seperator's* on the left are from the boiler.....and I'd like to clean out the coil......noticed last year it didn't seem as efficient......
the coil is horizontal in the tank.......
So plan to drain down and disconnect from the boiler then use 2 elbows on the coil and extend up wards so I can flood the coil....
BUT what with......?
pls dont recomend a named product as it wont be available here.....
So what chemical to use.....?

To clean the kettle I boil up 1/2 litre in it and then add white wine vinegar and leave for a few mins.....
dont quite fancy buxxering about with boiling water up a ladder......
Did think of replacing it with a new system but the cost of €2800euro's made me think again...
any help pls.....

 

[Mick Annick]

We have very hard water here, vinegar is cheap and very effective at getting rid of it. The DIY sheds here sell it in 25L drums!

 

[Shox Dr]

Citric Acid will do it

 

[Pete.]

You can de-scale that with formic acid.

 

[Morrisman]

Citric Acid will do it

I bought several kg of that to derust steel, it works well on lime scale too and is essentially harmless to the environment.

 

[voipio]

If the coils are part of closed loop circuits, scaling really shouldn't be a problem inside the coil.

Is this the main hot water tank, or just a large header for the solar thermal panels?

 

[gaz1]

If the coils are closed loops, scaling really shouldn't be a problem inside the coil.

Is this the main hot water tank, or just a large header for the solar thermal panels?

its just an emersion heater above the panels as many would know it as

 

[voipio]

Is it me, or is it possible to see through the panels? Have they lost some of their heat collecting coatings and become less efficient? In the images I've seen of that sort of system, the panels are not transparent.

 

[frank horton]

The panels are norm for here….
mostly the inside is black. Mine have frosted glass…
the cheaper panel
cheaper panels just use see thru glass…
the very cheap panels use a coil of 10-16mm dia plastic tube….
it,s almost 300liters and on a summers day it’s just under boilint….

have. A couple of gallons of white wine vinaigre so will give that a try….

thanks for the help…