CONIFER SOLAR CONSULTING
Jon Klima, Owner
360 Trout Lane, PO Box 23, Guffey, CO 80820
Phone: 719 479-2281, Email: jon.klima@gmail.com
Click on any of the links below for more information. Controller retail repair costs Used/rebuilt controllers for sale Index to selected controller articles from past CoSEIA newsletters Index to selected controller tech & installation/application manuals Controller question? Maybe I can help, email me. I wrote The Solar Controls Book© back in 1981 for the solar controls classes I was teaching at Red Rocks Community College in Golden, CO. I've updated this book and, at over 200 pages, it reflects the changes that have taken place since its original publication. Click here to see the Table of Contents of this three section book. |
The goal of this web site is to provide those solar pioneers who installed solar heating systems back in the 1980s and 90s, and those who inherited these systems, a means to keep their systems running. Bad controllers often are the cause of such systems being shut down. Look through this site to see if what's here can help you get your solar heating system back up and operating. Conifer Solar Consulting supports the solar industry by designing and repairing active solar thermal system controllers and providing controls-associated consulting. Conifer Solar Consulting (Jon Klima, Owner) is a member in good standing of the For more general consumer information go to the CoSEIA web site, www.coseia.org/ConsumerCenter.html. Also www.coseia.org/Resources.html has a very extensive list of solar electric and solar thermal web site resources. |
A Few Controller Maintenance Hints
Every service technician should carry a can of TV tuner cleaner such as that found at Radio Shack. Often a controller problem can be fixed by simply spraying a bit of the TV tuner cleaner into the ON-AUTO-OFF switch (or other additional switches).
Check for tightness of all sensor and controller terminal board wire terminations before assuming the controller is bad.
Make sure the controller is not mounted under any pipes such that, if a leak were to occur, the controller would be exposed to the dripping fluid.
Make sure the controller is not mounted on any surface that is exposed to high heat or vibration, such as pump motor housings or the side of an air handler unit. Such a mounting will often lead to cracked solder joints on the printed circuit board.
Although many sensors are installed using ordinary thermostat wire between the sensors and the controller, the better installations will use twisted shielded wire, such as Beldon 8762, for the interconnecting wire. When using shielded wire, terminate the shield on the ground screw at the controller only. Do not terminate the shield at the sensor end, let it float.
Carry a tooth brush with you. It comes in handy to clean corrosion off of a controller printed circuit (PC) board. If the corrosion hasn't eaten away a trace, sometimes just cleaning the corrosion (which is conductive) off of the board will solve the problem.
Did you know the Heliotrope DTT-80 (and other non-display models) can be used with 10 K ohm sensors rather than 3 K ohm sensors? However, to do this, either the high limit (gray wires) sensor wires must not be used (not connected) OR a simple modification to the controller circuitry must be made. If you need a 10 K ohm controller and want me to make this modification to a DTT-80, I still have several DTT-80s and will make the modification at no added cost.
Links: I've had several people ask what new solar heating controllers are persently available. Here are several links to check out.
GoldLine GL-30 Differential Temperature Controller, uses 10 K ohm temperature sensors, both controller and sensors available at ENERGY SUPERMARKET, http://shop.solardirect.com/product_info.php?products_id=150
Heliotrope Delta-T controllers, DTT-84 and DTT-94, uses 10 K ohm temperature sensors. http://www.heliotropethermal.com/
Steca GmbH, Controller models TR 201, TR 301, TR 502, TR 603, TR 704, Sundra, and Santana http://www.steca-solar.com
Tekmar line of controllers including a proportional model, use 10 K ohm temperature sensors, http://www.tekmarcontrols.com/
IMC Instruments, Inc., Eagle line of controllers that use 10 K ohm temperature sensors, http://www.imcinstruments.com
Resol GmbH, click on the English version, then click on solar controllers, http://www.resol.com
This page was last changed on 8-7-2008