Chiller Issue

[combsatl]

Thought I'd give a quick update to this post. After a TON of searching I managed to find a new capacitor from newark (electrical supply co) - a whole $4.38 so I bought two.. just in case - and got it installed. I can't believe the difference this new cap made compared to the old one.. not just the fact that it actually works, but the chiller is NOTICEABLY quieter.. and, of course, it doesn't have molten insulation pouring out the side.

I'm going to run it down on my RO water for a week or so to make sure there isn't anything else wrong with it but I think it's back in business.

 

[rdnelson]

Good Deal. A few months ago I got a $2500 table saw for $23. LOL Neighbor said it hadn't worked in a couple of years and just wanted it gone. One start capacitor and one switch ($23 from Grainger) later and I have a nice table saw.

 

[combsatl]

That's awesome. Wish I could find deals like that, lol.

 

[merkywater]

Eric the good thing is, when the LEDs come in you shouldn't need the chiller anymore! That's how it worked for me anyway!

 

[combsatl]

Unfortunately - my tank is on the top floor of my house, in my office with all my computers, servers, etc and it's normally quite hot. During the summer it's brutal up here. I'm going to have a separate 15amp power circuit run up here and I"m going to invest in an IT spot cooler for the office so it stays cool.. maybe then I won't need a chiller.. but I'm still betting I will, lol.

 

[merkywater]

combsatl;724576 wrote: Unfortunately - my tank is on the top floor of my house, in my office with all my computers, servers, etc and it's normally quite hot. During the summer it's brutal up here. I'm going to have a separate 15amp power circuit run up here and I"m going to invest in an IT spot cooler for the office so it stays cool.. maybe then I won't need a chiller.. but I'm still betting I will, lol.

Yea that can make a difference. You probably will have to stay with the chiller then.

 

[rdnelson]

I will let you touch it when you come over tomorrow. LOL

combsatl;724550 wrote: That's awesome. Wish I could find deals like that, lol.

 

[combsatl]

rdnelson99;724664 wrote: I will let you touch it when you come over tomorrow. LOL

Does your wife know?! lol

 

[gnashty]

combsatl;724743 wrote: does your wife know?! Lol

lol

 

[combsatl]

Btw - Gary - EcoPlus said I have to freaking ship the chiller back to the place it was originally purchased, then they send me a replacement. Such a pain in the *** lol. I think I'll just hold onto it.. the stat reads 104 now so I'm OK w/ it.

 

[johniii]

Fwiw if anyone had chiller problems I can repair them. Capacitors compressors refrigerant. As long as the exchanger is not leaking. It can be repaired.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

 

[ichthyoid]

combsatl;724576 wrote: Unfortunately - my tank is on the top floor of my house, in my office with all my computers, servers, etc and it's normally quite hot. During the summer it's brutal up here. I'm going to have a separate 15amp power circuit run up here and I"m going to invest in an IT spot cooler for the office so it stays cool.. maybe then I won't need a chiller.. but I'm still betting I will, lol.

How about just a small AC unit? Maybe $100?

 

[frantz]

I'm going to have a separate 15amp power circuit run up here

If your running a whole new electric line why go with 15a? 20a is the modern standard and you'll get much more service out of it for a very small increase in $$. And of course upgrade the first outlet in the circuit to GFCI!
Glad you got the chiller fixed!

 

[gnashty]

combsatl;724814 wrote: Btw - Gary - EcoPlus said I have to freaking ship the chiller back to the place it was originally purchased, then they send me a replacement. Such a pain in the *** lol. I think I'll just hold onto it.. the stat reads 104 now so I'm OK w/ it.

Did they say they would pay the shipping? if so thats not a bad deal considering what you paid. Maybe if you "smarten up" they can send you the replacement part....lol - hope you remember our previous conversation, otherwise this just sounds rude..

 

[combsatl]

gnashty;724960 wrote: Did they say they would pay the shipping? if so thats not a bad deal considering what you paid. Maybe if you "smarten up" they can send you the replacement part....lol - hope you remember our previous conversation, otherwise this just sounds rude..

lol, of course I remember our conversation. I may ask them if they can send me a Stat and swap it out.. because it's a PITA to unhook everything, box it up (with a box I don't have), ship it back, etc. When I spoke with the EcoPlus guys they said "well, if you don't have a box you can just go to the UPS or Fedex store and pick one up.. they're $5." I'm guessing that means I'll be paying for return shipping. I'll Googleize how to replace a stat on those units and see what I come up with.

Edit:

Frantz;724896 wrote: If your running a whole new electric line why go with 15a? 20a is the modern standard and you'll get much more service out of it for a very small increase in $$. And of course upgrade the first outlet in the circuit to GFCI!
Glad you got the chiller fixed!

I think my house is 15amp.. but it could b 20? The guy who sold me this defective chiller said he was an 'independent contractor' and said it was 15amp.. but who knows. He also said I 'blew the capacitor on the chiller because it didn't have enough power'.. and before that said the blown capacitor looked 'completely normal'. Moron.

I'm no electrician and I have no idea when it comes to that type of thing. I think Rich is going to take a look at things for me and let me know what he thinks.

 

[ichthyoid]

Good move ^.

FWIW- In 35 years I have seen lots of caps fail, they had plenty of current capacity on the circuit. It happens.

 

[combsatl]

ichthyoid;724987 wrote: Good move ^.

FWIW- In 35 years I have seen lots of caps fail, they had plenty of current capacity on the circuit. It happens.

Yeah - it happens. Just pissed me off that he wouldn't stand behind what he sold me. My final email to him wasn't very pleasant, lol. I'd love to post it here but I'm not sure the ARC would let me. I think some folks would find it rather humorous.

 

[rdnelson]

Caps do fail a lot. In more cases than not, a problem with a smaller motor is turns out to be the capacitor. That is how I got a $23 table saw. LOL As for 15 or 20 amp, we could do either way. The only real difference in the install is the size of the wire needed. 20 requires #12 wire which is a bit more expensive than the #14 needed for a 15A circuit. The price of the breakers would be about the same either way.

There are a couple of things that could prevent going with a 20 Amp but really it boils down to cost of materials.

To clear one thing up for those following this, under continuous use (anything such as lights and pumps that run for 3 hours or more non-stop) you can only load a circuit breaker to 80%. That would mean on a 20 amp circuit you can go as high as 16 amps continuously. On an aquarium, I would figure everything is continuous duty. The fixtures are on for 8-10 hours at a time. The pumps are on 24/7. The heater or chiller for the most part is not continueous but in a cold snap the heater may run for hours and the same for a chiller during a warm spell.