So I succumbed to the lure of financial inducement and have spent the past week doing paying work.
In the little time I have managed to finagle the hot water system has been mounted in position but all the connections are going to have to wait a little longer until I get more of the relevant water and electrical systems in place.
The mounting system is a little strange (to me anyhow) . . .
There is a pressed metal (almost foil thickness) frame which mounts from the outside
This is held with 5mm stainless machine screws into 5mm rivnuts previously located in the frame (described earlier) and the by now seemingly standard white silicone roof and gutter sealant controlled by masking tape etc..
If I follow my own rules and procedures the process now seems quite painless and I no longer have "siliconephobia" . . . I'm cured . . . I'm cured . . .
This leaves a small gap between the opening recommended and the frame into which the front edge of the HWS fits and surrounds the frame which has a strip of sealing tape around the outside presumably to keep out water from the outside.
I don't know if it's just me but it seems that the designers of these components have never heard of "gravity", "wind" and "capillary action".
But then some of my friends remind me I am being presumptuous in suggesting designers may have been involved in the production of these items. . .
So this rather fragile front edge of the HWS has to be persuaded into the slot left by this manner of fitting and over the "seal" all the while being hidden from view inside the wall!
Eventually this process was accomplished - but not without a minor hiccup.
Having no faith is the sealing system provided by the manufacturer I applied a liberal amount of silicone to the front frame and pushed the HWS into position before screwing it in place.
Of course the next day when checking everything out I discovered the silicone had (of course) leaked into the joint and it was now "impossible" to remove the HWS for service.
A considerable amount of "friendly persuasion" was necessary to remove the HWS, a process I considered probably better performed now than in some "outback" location when a repair or service was necessary.
Several other potential shortcomings were also observed . . .
- there is a pressure blow off valve fitted (which even the manual says may leak occasionally due to expansion) but there is no provision for allowing said water to escape!
(I'm going to have to figure that out later), and
- when located the only things holding this assembly together were three long metal thread screws which passed through some bent tabs in the frame and screwed into the flimsy face panel of the HWS.
Obviously this thing is designed to sit on some sort of shelf as it will be full of 25 litres of water and it would just tear itself apart so a shelf was designed in, but i seems that some more restraint would be in order.
The body of the unit has a polystyrene insulating cover with large chamfered corners so it lends itself quite nicely to some large "chocks" fabricated from "angle iron".
It was also decided to put in a thin rubber mat to provide for a little resilience when under way and to prevent too much chafing.
The chocks being tried in position
Rubber mat being marked for the chock positions
The rubber mat cut to fit over the chocks.
You can just see the slits which allow the mat to form flaps which cover the chocks when in position.
The heater in it's final position.
And from outside
It's turned out quite nicely.
The only drawback being it needs the cab of the truck tilted out of the way for any major work.
I can live with that !
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