Ground Source Heat Pumps

Fort_2

And gt10 and gt11 in operation as well? 

beardymarrow

Fort_2 said:

And gt10 and gt11 in operation as well? 

Yes, exactly 

Fort_2

Does it have to be in heating mode, or same applies in hot water mode? 

Dont want to make too much adjustments as may struggle to set everything back. 

Will wait for cooler  days to test heating. 

beardymarrow

Fort_2 said:

Does it have to be in heating mode, or same applies in hot water mode? 

Dont want to make too much adjustments as may struggle to set everything back. 

Will wait for cooler  days to test heating. 

DHW mode is fine. Just bear in mind that it's more demanding than producing CH so the deltas might be slightly off from optimum. 

lstevensuk

Looks like I have a leak in my ground loop  I'm losing about a cup of Glycol every day and can't see any leaks around the
boiler or the manifold. It's been installed about 10yrs, I've only owned the property for 4 years and only have a very rough idea where the trenches might be. It's a 1930s semi with radiators and it's not exactly that efficient. Approx 7500kw per annum.
I did speak to a leak specialist who said they can put a gas through the system and maybe find it that way, however it would need emptying of Glycol by someone else, the storing of that and then re-filling. And very expensive day rates from everyone involved. Looking at around £2k to put a stick in the ground where the leak might be.
How do I even start going about finding the leak, other than mini digger/spade and luck! Thanks 

beardymarrow

lstevensuk said:

Looks like I have a leak in my ground loop  I'm losing about a cup of Glycol every day and can't see any leaks around the
boiler or the manifold. It's been installed about 10yrs, I've only owned the property for 4 years and only have a very rough idea where the trenches might be. It's a 1930s semi with radiators and it's not exactly that efficient. Approx 7500kw per annum.
I did speak to a leak specialist who said they can put a gas through the system and maybe find it that way, however it would need emptying of Glycol by someone else, the storing of that and then re-filling. And very expensive day rates from everyone involved. Looking at around £2k to put a stick in the ground where the leak might be.
How do I even start going about finding the leak, other than mini digger/spade and luck! Thanks 

Yeah, they'd use Helium as it is a very small molecule so will rise to the surface. I would say its very unlikely to be a leak in the actual pipe itself, unless it's suffered from some major disturbance. Much more likely to be the manifold, inside the heat pump or an underground joint where the pipe from the manifold joints onto the slinky (unless the slinky goes all the way to the manifold). Can you isolate part of the loop from the manifold one at a time to prove for definite it's after the manifold? Turn each part of the loop off for a couple of days, in turn? 

lstevensuk

beardymarrow said:

lstevensuk said:

Looks like I have a leak in my ground loop  I'm losing about a cup of Glycol every day and can't see any leaks around the
boiler or the manifold. It's been installed about 10yrs, I've only owned the property for 4 years and only have a very rough idea where the trenches might be. It's a 1930s semi with radiators and it's not exactly that efficient. Approx 7500kw per annum.
I did speak to a leak specialist who said they can put a gas through the system and maybe find it that way, however it would need emptying of Glycol by someone else, the storing of that and then re-filling. And very expensive day rates from everyone involved. Looking at around £2k to put a stick in the ground where the leak might be.
How do I even start going about finding the leak, other than mini digger/spade and luck! Thanks 

Yeah, they'd use Helium as it is a very small molecule so will rise to the surface. I would say its very unlikely to be a leak in the actual pipe itself, unless it's suffered from some major disturbance. Much more likely to be the manifold, inside the heat pump or an underground joint where the pipe from the manifold joints onto the slinky (unless the slinky goes all the way to the manifold). Can you isolate part of the loop from the manifold one at a time to prove for definite it's after the manifold? Turn each part of the loop off for a couple of days, in turn? 

What a genius idea isolating the loops! Assume I'd just turn off one of these? It would run ok but just less efficient?

beardymarrow

lstevensuk said:

beardymarrow said:

lstevensuk said:

Looks like I have a leak in my ground loop  I'm losing about a cup of Glycol every day and can't see any leaks around the
boiler or the manifold. It's been installed about 10yrs, I've only owned the property for 4 years and only have a very rough idea where the trenches might be. It's a 1930s semi with radiators and it's not exactly that efficient. Approx 7500kw per annum.
I did speak to a leak specialist who said they can put a gas through the system and maybe find it that way, however it would need emptying of Glycol by someone else, the storing of that and then re-filling. And very expensive day rates from everyone involved. Looking at around £2k to put a stick in the ground where the leak might be.
How do I even start going about finding the leak, other than mini digger/spade and luck! Thanks 

Yeah, they'd use Helium as it is a very small molecule so will rise to the surface. I would say its very unlikely to be a leak in the actual pipe itself, unless it's suffered from some major disturbance. Much more likely to be the manifold, inside the heat pump or an underground joint where the pipe from the manifold joints onto the slinky (unless the slinky goes all the way to the manifold). Can you isolate part of the loop from the manifold one at a time to prove for definite it's after the manifold? Turn each part of the loop off for a couple of days, in turn? 

What a genius idea isolating the loops! Assume I'd just turn off one of these? It would run ok but just less efficient?

Exactly . Of course neither of us know if the loops are over or undersized already, so keep your eye on the loop temperatures (Gt10 and gt11) as well as the compressor temp gt6 (if you've got an ivt/bosch) while you're doing it. You could adjust the pump speed to somewhat compensate if necessary. 

DeeWestern

And bizarrely you want to keep your fingers crossed that the thing keeps leaking even after you've turned off both loops in turn!

I presume one set is the 'out' feed and one is the return 'in' feed - recommend you turn off the out one as there's a suspected leak somewhere.

Looking down from the top at the top of your heat pump, you want the pipes coming from the blue connector, the red is the return:

lstevensuk

Great thank you. Just checking I find the 'out' loop first from your picture then turn off both the valves on that loop? @beardymarrow it is an IVT pump. Are there ranges I need to make sure they keep inside for the G10, 11 & 6? And the pump speed?