Jim Katen Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 This is a water source heat pump in a high rise condo unit. What is the white-plastic-clad cylindrical object on the lower (inlet) water line? The plastic sheath covers an impenetrable foam cylinder. Click to Enlarge 46.37?KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Expansion tank? Obviously, that's a guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayton Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 It might be some type of water filter to prevent scale build up on the heat exchanger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Fabry Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 It doesn't look like water actually touches the device- it looks like the piping passes through it. I couldn't find a photo of the exact unit but a few that were similar returned when I searched "magnetic boiler descaler" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted March 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 I looked like the water pipe passed right through this object. The outer white shell was styrene plastic and held on by velcro. When I removed it, I saw a cylinder of dense, hard foam and no obvious way of dismantling it further. A small multi-conductor cable passed from the heat pump into this foam. If it's a descaler, why encase it in foam? My hunch is that the foam is there to provide thermal insulation. But if so, why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Meiland Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 Maybe there's a temperature sensor in there being insulated by the foam? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted March 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 Maybe there's a temperature sensor in there being insulated by the foam? Possibly. But if they wanted to know the temperature of the incoming water, why not just put an internal sensor in the unit? Why measure it a foot outside the unit? And why the monster foam insulation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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