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5-Way Solar Adapter for your Storage Hot Water Tank

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A 5-way adapter is a clever bit of plumbing which allows water to be simultaneously added and removed from a single 3/4" threaded connection point at the bottom of a standard hot water storage tank. As such, it is a very cheap way of using standard components in a sophisticated solar water heating installation.

This cross-section diagram shows the two apertures inside the tank, and the three external connections:

The following standard plumbing fittings can be easily assembled to make your own 5-way adapter:

* Triple union tee 3/4"C x 1/2"C x 3/4"C
* 3/4" F tee
* Two 3/4"M x 1/2" Compression unions
* 1/2" Female Compression union
* a short length of 10mm OD clear plastic tubing (10mm nylon beva tubing is preferable and recommended at these temps)

......and here is how they fit together to make the 5-way adapter:

Note that this design of 5-way adapter contains no probe tube in the "to solar" water flow for a temperature sensor. In the K4 design, with its solar powered water pump, no temperature sensors are required.