Anyone using tin for transfer plates?

[BHetrick10]

A friend of mine is remolding his house and is using tin for transfer plates. Obviously tin isn't as good as a conductor compared to aluminum, but if you use more of it who cares. He told me of a few people in our area that have used tin.

As in tin roofing sheets.

I hope to help him get everything hooked up within the next two weeks.

Whats everyone's thoughts.

 

[Bob Rohr]

A friend of mine is remolding his house and is using tin for transfer plates. Obviously tin isn't as good as a conductor compared to aluminum, but if you use more of it who cares. He told me of a few people in our area that have used tin.

As in tin roofing sheets.

I hope to help him get everything hooked up within the next two weeks.

Whats everyone's thoughts.

One of the main issues with the thin aluminum transfer plates, the ones made from flashing material, was what we called the "oil can" effect. Like the old oil cans that you would pop the bottom to dispense the oil. Thin gauge material makes a racket when it goes through temperature changes, this noise transfers to the floor.

So one manufacturer had the great idea to let one side of the plate hang loose without nailing it to the floor. This was to allow the expansion without the oil canning noise. Problem was the heat output was not much better than plain pex tube dangled in the space. Eventually the thin transfer plates left the market. Not before plenty of un-happy customers were created.

It is also hard to get a tight grip onto the tube with thin gauge metals and if the pex can slide it will make a creaking noise in the plate. With heavy extruded plates the tube needs to be hammered into the groove. So that noise potential is eliminated.

Constant circulation would help quiet them down, as well as weather responsive controls to lessen wide temperature swings.

If you are sold on this approach, I would use a pex al pex tube to lessen the expansion movement in the plate. Use a lot of plates to keep the operating temperature as low as possible, Fasten the heck out of them!

hr

 

[BHetrick10]

Got the system up and running on Friday. He didn't have any heat in the house. It was 55 inside. We cranked the mixing valve the whole way and dumped 170 water into the radiant. We figured we would hear it making lots of racket as things heated up. Well a few days later everything is still quiet. Backed off the mixing valve since the floors have warmed up. We have three loops. Two with tin one with the cheap thin plates. Our water temps are lower on the return on both tin loops than the plates. Looks the the free tin was was worth it.

 

[BoilerMan]

Good to hear it worked for you. What kind of return temps do you have at what supply temp, how long of run at how many gpm?

TS

 

[BHetrick10]

Well things aren't 100% yet. Our one friend gave us a bunch of circ pumps. I did the math a found a grundfos 15-42 would be great. Neadless to say after I built everything and wired the circ it woulnt work. It acts like the gasket is too thin. If I tighten the four allens up the shaft bottoms out and stalls the circ. Had a 009 but it was bad to. So right now it has a 007 in it. Its to small but working ok. We are seeing if we can find any other free circs.

We have 3 280' loops right now. All 1/2" pex. Supply was 155 average return was 128-130. A good bit lower than what were shooting for but the floors were still on the cool side when I got these readings.