<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:12.7272720336914px">I am unable to find anything in the Florida code that precludes covering a plumbing vent. The code does require the vent to be 6" above the roof surface I believe.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:12.7272720336914px"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:12.7272720336914px">I was unable to determine if these vents need to be vertical with no bends in the attic. Obviously you wouldn't want to create a trap in the attic, but a couple of 45's to relocate a plumbing vent to accommodate more PV seems like a desirable thing to do sometimes. Does anyone know if these can be relocated, i.e. to an adjacent roof surface?</div><div style="font-size:12.7272720336914px"><br></div><div style="font-size:12.7272720336914px">On my own home I had a vent to deal with. I broke out my saws-all, split the lead like a banana and peeled it back, cut the pipe at an angle, and folded the lead back into the pipe after applying sealant between the lead and pipe. There is a 1" gap between the rim of the pipe and the back of the module. My theory on this working safely is that, a) there will be far less rainwater falling in and around this pipe with a module over it, and b) it is about 24" from the roof ridge and there is a module over it so there will be very little water sheeting down from above the vent. Code notwithstanding, I felt this was a solid method on my own home, and I have inspected it after 6 months of Florida downpours and found no issues.</div></div><br><br><div id="WISESTAMP_SIG_gmail_session" href="http://WISESTAMP_SIG_gmail_session"><div style="font-size:13px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><div style="margin:0px 0px 8px"><p style="margin:0px"><span><span>Jason Szumlanski</span></span></p><p style="margin:0px"><span><span></span></span></p><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;display:inline">Fafco Solar</div><br><p></p><div style="clear:both"></div></div><img src="https://wisestamp.appspot.com/pixview.gif?p=chrome&v=3.50.0&t=1411568333175&u=d0c775731865b324" width="1" height="1"></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Sep 24, 2014 at 6:38 AM, Bill Loesch <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:solar1online@charter.net" target="_blank">solar1online@charter.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<div><br>
Bruce, August, et al,<br>
<br>
This is but one more example of confusing terminology. A plumbing
vent is not an exhaust vent!<br>
<br>
A plumbing vent (what August calls a cold vent) is provided to
allow the sanitary drain traps (and perhaps more) to operate
properly. Without the properly functioning traps you would have
sewer gas smell and sewer gas from the plumbing fixtures. This was
commonplace when indoor plumbing was introduced to early adopters.<br>
<br>
An exhaust vent is another animal entirely. An exhaust vent
carries the combustion products to a suitable exterior location
for dilution with ambient air. With the advent of power vented
combustion appliances, a direct vent (one that takes in combustion
air from the outside and naturally exhausts combustion products to
the outside) is IMHO the only responsible way to install any power
vented appliance in a freezing climate. (Power vented appliances
come in both condensing and non-condensing flavors-they can
penetrate the side wall or the roof). Originally, two separate
pipes (with two independent properly separated penetrations) was
used. That technique is still often used today. More recently
concentric vents have been introduced both for condensing and
non-condensing applications. A concentric vent can simplify some
installations by putting the exhaust pipe inside a larger air
intake pipe allowing for one, albeit larger, penetration. As you
might imagine if the exhaust flow is hindered/diverted/redirected
by an inappropriately located solar module combustion gasses will
be re-ingested into the intake air. Not good for equipment
performance. My understanding is the power vented <u>appliance
manufacturer</u> dictates what kind of separation/clearances are
needed with their product. My guess is you find they want at least
a foot of separation between the top of the " inverted cone" and
the module. Probably not what you had in mind for an aesthetically
pleasing installation.<br>
<br>
I hope this helps,<br>
<pre cols="72">Bill Loesch
Solar 1 - Saint Louis Solar
<a href="tel:314%20631%201094" value="+13146311094" target="_blank">314 631 1094</a></pre><div><div class="h5">
On 23-Sep-14 6:54 PM, August Goers wrote:<br>
</div></div></div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre><div><div class="h5">Bruce and All,
Sorry, I hit send before I had a chance to complete my thoughts. What I
meant to say was that I've found AHJs often allow us to cover cold
plumbing vents but I've never tried or had any luck with covering hot
vents including condensing boiler PVC vents. Once again, if in doubt you
could see what the plan checker or inspector thinks.
Best,
August
-----Original Message-----
From: August Goers [<a href="mailto:august@luminalt.com" target="_blank">mailto:august@luminalt.com</a>]
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2014 4:15 PM
To: 'RE-wrenches'
Subject: RE: [RE-wrenches] Modules over vents
Bruce,
I'll send you the CA plumbing code vent section offlist (attachment too
large for this list). The way I read the code is that you technically
can't cover any type of plumbing or hot vent. However, and I've run into
little resistance from AHJs in the Bay Area by covering these. You might
want to check in with your plan checker.
Best,
August
Luminalt
-----Original Message-----
From: RE-wrenches [<a href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org" target="_blank">mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>] On
Behalf Of Bruce Leininger
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2014 3:49 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Modules over vents
Hi all. We're designing a system on a roof that is literally infested
with plumbing, exhaust and combustion vents. The combustion vents are PVC
and none of the vents are more than 1.5' above the roof.
A racking company says that we can cover them with modules, since the
modules will be at least 4' above the roof. They have not yet provided
any building code references to say that this is ok. Do any of you know
if the building code allows this?
Thanks.
Bruce</div></div></pre></blockquote></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div>