My solar water heater is backflowing hot water into the cold taps. How can I stop this?
Topic :Hot water backflow
On certain days when there is no clouds in the sky my solar water heater becomes too efficient and the tank (80gal.) can’t seem to handle all the hot water. You turn on the cold water faucet and out comes scalding hot water, I need to run the cold water faucet for a couple of minutes to bleed off all the hot water till finally cold water starts to come out. I replaced the tank and mixing valve recently (worn out) but I still get hot water feeding back into the cold water supply line.
I’m wondering what is causing this to happen, and what do I need to do to fix it? Any and all suggestions would be appreciated!!
The problem is tough to diagnose without being there, but it’s most likely convection of the hot water forcing itself into the cold water feed.
A check valve on the cold water side should help eliminate the problem. You can pick them up at a larger plumbing supply house. An expansion tank may also be in order for the hot side if there isn’t one already on the system.
