Chillers - where is yours?

[acroholic]

The way you'd run your chiller return on a 180 (single tank system) is to tun one of the two return lines through the chiller itself, then back to the tank. No need to buy a new pump.

 

[gnashty]

Acroholic;620216 wrote: The way you'd run your chiller return on a 180 (single tank system) is to tun one of the two return lines through the chiller itself, then back to the tank. No need to buy a new pump.

Without cutting out a good bit of my plumbing (which is all new) this would be quite a feat and not very clean. Almost worth adding a pump..especially since the chiller would be outside the stand. I have a new mag 7 just sitting...

sump to sump would also allow me to yank it offline without having to turn my return off.

 

[cr500_af]

gnashty;620215 wrote: Yeah, I thought it was internal...why wouldnt it be ya know..

I am done with my plumbing so trying to tie it in would be a real pain. not to mention the cost of a new pump. I could run an in sump pump, soft tubing to the unit and make the pump kick on about a full minute before the chiller kicked on so I wouldnt have to run it constantly. Or does a chiller require constant flow when its off?

It doesn't require it, but I run my feed pump 24/7. Partly for simplicity, partly because if I don't, then I will forget to disconnect and drain it for the winter... and the water that sits in there for a couple of months is FOUL.

 

[acroholic]

You could do it that way, but it would be inefficient and you'd be unnecessarily running another pump 24/7 and the heat it would ad to the system. I just redid my plumbing/manifold system because I used to have my chiller set up the exact way you are thinking.

Post #20 here:
http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54061">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54061</a>

Just looking at your options.

 

[gnashty]

I know Dave, I do appreciate the recommendations. I wish I would have designed the plumbing around this need before hand as I spent a great deal of time and $$ on the plumbing and it took alot of help. I run my UV thru my right return so it would have to go left...but my chiller would go on the right side of the stand...kinda sucky situation.

Isnt there a way that I could use my RKE to turn the chiller pump on before the chiller would kick on? Say the chiller kicks on at 79 degrees, I would have the pump kick on at 78.5. I would basically set it up like a heater. Wouldnt that work? Then I could also set it to kick on for a couple minutes each day to keep the water from getting foul inside it.

I forgot about the seasonality of it like barry mentioned...so I would like to be able to remove it easily from the system and store in the garage.

Edit:

Acroholic;620222 wrote: Post #20 here:
http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54061">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54061</a>

Just looking at your options.[/QUOTE]

Holy moly Dave - I dont have that kind of room...lol

 

[cr500_af]

I'm sure you could do it that way... and in the winter, you could just make your feed pump a timer function, so that it runs for, say, five minutes a couple of times a day. No stagnation that way.

The trick is, if your chiller comes on at 79 and your pump at 78.5, then you could in theory have your tank stay between those two numbers for much of the day... so your pump could be running a lot anyway.

 

[gnashty]

cr500_af;620228 wrote: I'm sure you could do it that way... and in the winter, you could just make your feed pump a timer function, so that it runs for, say, five minutes a couple of times a day. No stagnation that way.

The trick is, if your chiller comes on at 79 and your pump at 78.5, then you could in theory have your tank stay between those two numbers for much of the day... so your pump could be running a lot anyway.

I would pull it offline in winter and store it - thats why it is attractive to me to have it sump/sump vs being a part of the system.

I see what you are saying...that is tricky..unless my heater is set to 78....still tricky

 

[cr500_af]

There is a relay that you could use that will let you "power on" both pump and chiller at the same time, but it will let you adjust a delay on whatever is connected to the relay (i.e. the chiller). My brother gave me one for my skimmer (to make sure the feed pump runs for a minute before the recirc pump starts). You would feed the relay and the feed pump from a PC4 at the same time, with the chiller wired to the output on the relay. There is a simple knob on it to adjust the time (which, if I'm not mistaken, is from 3 seconds to 3 minutes).

 

[rbredding]

chillers....


I've got an old aquanetics tower chiller that sits directly next to the 90 gallon system.

when it turns on.. I can hear it at the other end of the house... (when the chiller's not on, I can not hear my tank outside of the room it's in)

the unit I've got is probably somewhere around 13-15 years old..


it is controlled directly by my apex (it came with a single stage controller, but I don't use it)

 

[gnashty]

Ok, so Dave turned me on to a 1/4HP Eco Plus unit at a GREAT price. Its from Salty Supply. Its on sale, free shipping, and I found a 5% off your first order coupon code (PM me if you want it) which makes it a very attractive price shipped to my door.....PM me if you want to know how much - not sure I can post it..

I just need to calculate my needs to make sure this is the one, but I feel pretty good about it..