Massive overkill chiller? Risky?

[stevenp]

I have my temps under control, but it's kind of a pain. If I were to buy a chiller, I would want one that I could use down the road on a bigger tank. I have a 20 gallon nano. Has anyone ever tried, say a 1/10hp chiller on such a small tank?

Short term solution would be an iceprobe, but I've heard that 20 gallons is a bit more than they can chill.

Steve

 

[aweeks95]

hey steve you could always buy a small chiller for you tank and when you get a larger tank you can sell the small chiller to me....
ya know if you had a sump you could put 2 ice probes in it and never even know...but at that price (around $200) you could buy a small chiller that would be good for up to 25-40 gallons and just plumb it in. the only problem is that they require another power head in your tank to pump the water to it...more freakin cluter. the volume of external pumps is too large to use with chillers so a smaller power head would need to be used.

on another subject steve....could you send me the link of the top off switches again....and do you think they would work with a power head if i spliced the switch to the cord? i know you said something about being close to the max on your switch with an air pump...i just want to drop a power head into a 5g bucket next to the tank for now for my auto top off.

 

[stevenp]

I was thinking about how to run either... With the iceprobe, I would put in either my fuge or Remora. If I went for a real chiller, I would use a closed loop with a mag or something similar.


Steve

 

[stevenp]

Andy, here you go.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11725

Links and pics.

Steve

 

[aweeks95]

thanks for the links....just watch out on the closed loop with the mag.......again most smaller chillers have about a 150-200 gph max...

 

[denvig]

Here are some other links that may help. I use the Reef Fanatic Level Controller w/2 Float Switches. Works great.



SpectraPure Single Tank Liquid Replenisher (LLC-S)
http://www.spectrapure.com/St_alc_p1.htm

AquaMedic Aquaniveau Level & Refill Control
http://www.aqua-medic.de/index0.html

Tsunami AT1 Top Off System
http://www.championlighting.com/e/e...link=/Products/productinfo.html&item=main:at1

Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155
http://www.tunze.com/usa/index.html?lang=en-gb

Reef Fanatic Level Controller w/2 Float Switches
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...ROD&Product_Code=RF-RFLC&Category_Code=Dosers

 

[denvig]

Just saw that some of the links no longer work but you can do a search for the products.

 

[_Eric_]

I run a 1/3 on my 75, but I got that size because I am working on a 220.

 

[nunofs]

I believe the only risk in having a very oversized chiller is that it may cause a very quick drop in temperature... however, there are ways around that, namely by playing with the flow through the chiller: if you have lower flow than the minimum recommended for that chiller (or, on the other end of the spectrum, higher flow than the maximum recommended) the chiller won't be working as efficiently and the temperature won't drop as quickly.

Nuno

 

[Piscevore]

Lets say your heater is set at 77. Your chiller is set at 81.
There will never be a huge 'temp drop' because the chiller is going to kick in as soon as the water temp goes over 81. What the oversized chiller -will- provide is a larger gradient of effectiveness. The iceprobe things only lower a few degrees. So if your tank water gets too hot (because of house temp and lights) they may only be able to chill the tank down to say, 83, and they'll run for a long time. A 1/4 horse chiller (arguably way over kill here) would prevent the temp from ever going up, even if the room was -really- hot, because it has much more potential to remove heat from the water.
Its like putting a 18,000 btu A/C in a 10x10 room Its gonna work real quick, but its not going to like, turn your room into a meat locker

 

[nunofs]

There will never be a huge 'temp drop'

Ryan, I didn't say there would be a huge temperature drop, only a "very quick drop"... which can be bad by itself.

Nuno

 

[Piscevore]

Right. That is what I see as flawed logic nuno... If the chiller is set to turn on at 81 degrees, when it hits 81.2, its gonna kick in, and when it hits 81, its gonna stop. In theory, it is such a small change, that the amount of water actually chilled is very small.

The problem with an underpowered chiller is that working at full tilt, it can't cool quickly enough and the tank reaches high temp, or it has to work continuously to keep up. Which we agree on

I think what you are trying to say is that, with a huge chiller and a small tank, you are afraid it would essentially pump cold water into his display tank,because it was chilling the water so much. I don't know what the exit temperature on water from a chiller is or whether it is adjustable, but i'm willing to bet having a sump would essentially make this a mute point (essentially a mixing area, pre display tank).

A smart chiller would chill the water it touches to temperature X (81 degrees in this case) and this problem would not exist. My guess, and your assertion, is that it chills at full tilt until the thermostat turns it off, making a potential for cold spikes.

 

[nunofs]

Right. That is what I see as flawed logic nuno... If the chiller is set to turn on at 81 degrees, when it hits 81.2, its gonna kick in, and when it hits 81, its gonna stop.

Ah, there's our misunderstanding... you're assuming a 0.2 degree range between on/off, I was writing based on my chiller which has a 2 degree range.

On my chiller (a JBJ Arctica with integrated controller) I set the desired temperature to 82 F... the chiller will turn on at 83 F (1 F above the desired temp) and will only turn off at 81 F (1 degree below the desired temp)... so it's that 2 degree range that I was referring to when I said it could be very fast with an oversized chiller.

But as I mentioned above, if you use the "wrong" flow through the chiller (too low or too high) you can stretch out the temperature drop to make it longer, and it won't be an issue.

Nuno

 

[stevenp]

Ok, I found a used 1/10 Arctica for short money. Hopefully it's not already sold. I think this size would be OK for my 20, not too much overkill?

Steve

 

[Chuck Spyropulos]

Flow

You should always follow the manufacturer's recommendation on flowrate through the chiller. Otherwise the unit could overheat, causing the compressor to burn out or, at best, decrease the life of the compressor.
Get the size chiller recommended for your tank, or maybe one unit larger.

Ah, there's our misunderstanding... you're assuming a 0.2 degree range between on/off, I was writing based on my chiller which has a 2 degree range.

On my chiller (a JBJ Arctica with integrated controller) I set the desired temperature to 82 F... the chiller will turn on at 83 F (1 F above the desired temp) and will only turn off at 81 F (1 degree below the desired temp)... so it's that 2 degree range that I was referring to when I said it could be very fast with an oversized chiller.

But as I mentioned above, if you use the "wrong" flow through the chiller (too low or too high) you can stretch out the temperature drop to make it longer, and it won't be an issue.

Nuno

 

[stevenp]

The Arctic is recommended for "under 130 gallons" but I've seen other 1/10 chillers rated for smallest tank size of 25 gallons.

Sound OK?

Steve