To me the reports of not seeing leaks is not terribly reassuring. It’s not surprising when you consider that enough water has to get past tightly compacted shingles under an L foot, travel between the threads and the wood of a tightly threaded lag bolt, and then saturate attic insulation enough to migrate through drywall to be “seen”. Even though my 5 year warranty will have passed, what worries me (here in Florida) is that after 5 or 10 years of no leaks has passed a storm comes through and peels the array off the roof because dry rot has set in around the lag bolts reducing the pull out resistance of the rafters. I like to be able to tell my customers that I always use engineered flashings designed for the specific purpose of preventing water from damaging their home. I don’t want to cut corners on the one thing that every customer fears the most. Besides, it is your only shot at not voiding a roofing warranty that they may have.
Kurt Johnsen Kurt Johnsen Energy Systems NABCEP Certified PV Installer 621 SW 26th Place Gainesville, FL 32601 352-222-9495 On Sat, Aug 29, 2015 at 1:11 PM, Ray Walters <r...@solarray.com> wrote: > Excellent point, sir. I have looked at quite a few from the attic, later > when doing upgrades, and I haven't seen leaks. But NO, I have not > carefully gone back on every install to confirm. No news is good news, but > that still doesn't mean 100% leak free. Also, I'm working in a drier > climate, where small leaks don't cause big problems. Actually many of the > systems with L feet I've looked at are not even my own, and (horror) they > were sealed with gobs of silicone. > I'm doing an inspection on a place with hot water and PV on an shingle > roof that is 15+ years old, L feet, no flashings, silicone, and I will do > my best for the list, to get in there and really check from the attic > side. Take photos if I can, and I'll loosen a few screws to check for any > signs of rot around the screw hole. > Really these days my favorite product might be a smallish flashing/ large > L foot with butyl tape peel off on the bottom. It would go under the > shingle above, so its an actual"flashing", but not so far up that you get > into the next row of nails, or have to cut the shingle much. > We also need to really look at the sealant above the flashing and make > sure the shingle above the mount is sealed down properly if disturbed. I > think trouble with shingle roofs starts when wind and rain can blow back up > under a loose shingle. What is the correct method to seal a shingle back > down anyway? Heatgun? More roof approved caulking? > Chime in ye of more roofing knowledge. > > R.Ray Walters > CTO, Solarray, Inc > Nabcep Certified PV Installer, > Licensed Master Electrician > Solar Design Engineer303 505-8760 > > On 8/28/2015 1:43 PM, Benn Kilburn wrote: > > Here is a devils advocate question for everyone (*including myself*) who > is claiming "no leaks after x-years". > > Are we assuming "no leaks" because the home/system owner has not reported > any or because there are no water stains on the ceilings below the arrays > *or* are we actually looking in the attic and seeing that there are > absolutely NO water marks where the attachment points are? > I would think that there is a big difference? But having not gone back to > every install and actually getting up and looking around *inside the > attic*, would it not be presumptuous to assume that there have been no > leaks? > > *Benn Kilburn * > CSA Certified Solar Photovoltaic Systems Electrician, SkyFire Energy Inc > 6706 – 82 Ave NW | Edmonton, AB | T6B 0E7 > P: 780-474-8992 | F: 888-405-5843 | www.skyfireenergy.com > [image: email] <b...@skyfireenergy.com> [image: facebook] > <https://www.facebook.com/SkyFireEnergy> [image: twitter] > <https://twitter.com/SkyFireEnergy> [image: linkedin] > <https://www.linkedin.com/company/283735?trk=tyah&trkInfo=tarId%3A1408655033432%2Ctas%3Askyfire%2Cidx%3A2-2-5> > [image: google] <https://plus.google.com/+SkyFireEnergy/> > > [image: SkyFire Energy Logo_horizontal] > > On Wed, Aug 26, 2015 at 1:52 PM, <m...@seesolar.com> wrote: > >> I remember the "early days" of installing, which for us was early 1990's. >> We used stainless steel rod hangers straight into rafters, which left us >> with 4" threaded rod sticking up out of the roof. We used thru the roof for >> sealing under a nut and fender washer. I've visited a couple of those sites >> recently (still no leaks after over 25 yrs of production). By the way, we >> have changed our mounting methods since then......... >> >> Max Balchowsky >> Design Engineer >> Golden Bridge Development >> 1048 Irvine Ave Suite 217 >> Newport Beach, Ca. 92660 >> 760-403-6810 >> "Building a Better Future For The Next Generation" >> > > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & > settings:http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette:www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios:www.members.re-wrenches.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > >
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