re:chillers, where do I put this one?

[jhale]

I just got a used 1/2 hp red sea chiller from Stan Mucha, cool.
Now where the heck do I put it?
If it goes next to the tank I'm going to have to make a bench or some kind of enclosure to go over it, on wheels. It will have to be plumbed with spaflex and have enough slack to move out of the way of a cabinet door opening.
Or do I place it far away, and get a large sequence pump to handle the distance? another few hundred, hooray.

 

[alrha]

thats why i dont have a chiller.

 

[House of Laughter]

I would put it in the fireplace and drill the walls for the plumbing.



House

 

[wedfr]

put it in a place to dampen the noise i have a feeling its gonna be a loud sucker. then find the pump you need to run it from that distance

 

[jhale]

the fireplace does not get much use.
but we do use it at least once a year

I'm going to try it close to the tank. if it's not too loud I won't have to buy a new pump. otherwise it might have to be pretty far away from the tank, meaning a large pump.

I have no choice but to have a chiller. the room the tanks in is too big to run the a/c 24/7. the electric bill would be insane.

 

[Josh]

You can't put it in the fireplace. A fireplace is a lot of value in a home, you shouldn't drill it.

[ June 08, 2005, 12:02 AM: Message edited by: JoshSaul ]

 

[jhale]

I don't think your allowed to put a hole through the fire box, it would be illegal. It could sit in the fireplace, but I don't want to give up the option of having fires. though it would be very ironic to have a chiller in the fireplace
is that what you were thinking Jim?

 

[pecan2phat]

The best scenerio is to place it in an enclosed room with an exhaust fan (like a bathroom) or a small spare bedroom with a window fan. The chiller will put out a considerable amount of humid hot air when the unit is on. It's like a no win situation, you spend the bucks for a chiller, then find out it restricts your existing return pump, then go out and buy a bigger pump to compensate for the head loss or buy a dedicated Mag 9.5 for it only to find out it heats up your tank temp by 3 degrees and finally if the chiller is set in the same room as the tank, you need to turn on or purchase a room AC anyway becuase the tank is cool but the room is 88 degrees.

[ June 08, 2005, 01:13 AM: Message edited by: pecan2phat ]

 

[glipper69]

pecan,

couldn't have said it better, but the chiller is still definately worth the piece of mind.

MY recommendation would be to put it as far away as possible from the tank. otherwise like they said above it will cool your tank but while doing so it will blow out a ton of heat which will in turn reheat your tank. before you know itthe thing will be on 24/7 and the room will be 100 degrees. I actually have my chiller in a seperate room in my basement but it still does exactly what I stated.

Best choise would be to run it to a garage or put it outside.

Good luck
Frank

 

[Reef Guy]

thats insane, you guys just talked me outta getting a chiller, there hasta be another option!

 

[jhale]

my situation is tough for locating the chiller. I'm in an apartment, so no basement. I don't have a spare room either.

one crazy option is to build a vent system with an exhaust fan.
I could make a enclosure to fit the end of the chiller where the hot air comes out. I'm not sure where I would run the exhaust to though. I have very little outside wall to go through. it's all windows in the front of the tank room.

the room gets hot anyway, so the chiller might not make a difference. if it's over 80 I turn the a/c on anyway.

 

[pecan2phat]

Jonathan,

Going along those ideas, you can build a enclosure that you mentioned and drill, fit a 4" aluminum vent pipe and use flexible 4" dryer vent hose that would end up on your vertical window sporting a dryer vent window adaptor kit.

 

[House of Laughter]

JH,

Yes, I was kidding - chiller in the fireplace - a new oxymoron

House

 

[jhale]

Originally posted by pecan2phat:
Jonathan,

Going along those ideas, you can build a enclosure that you mentioned and drill, fit a 4" aluminum vent pipe and use flexible 4" dryer vent hose that would end up on your vertical window sporting a dryer vent window adaptor kit.

this is a good idea.
I'm going to hook up the chiller and see how loud and hot it is first. the pipe wold have to run through the living room. not the most attractive look.

 

[jhale]

Originally posted by House of Laughter:
JH,

Yes, I was kidding - chiller in the fireplace - a new oxymoron

House

I know that's funny.

 

[jhale]

tried running the chiller, it's not working so great.
the compressor comes on for about 30 seconds then shuts down, then a minute later comes back on, this just keeps repeating. I doubt the chiller is still under warranty.
worst case scenario, I have to modify it to run being controlled by my medusa temp control. can anyone read an electrical schematic? The chiller controller has one inside it.

 

[pecan2phat]

Sorry to hear about this J.

Last summer I bought a "supposingly" 6 month old chiller locally of a RC/MR member and it was not working. Everything turned on including the compressor but it was doing squat. He claimed that this was the second one that Pacific Coast had sent him due to leaking freon and that it was working and that he just needed a larger chiller. After 42 emails and 52 PM's, he responded that he had a family emergency and was out of the country and would not knowingly stiff me. The guy said he would take care of this problem asap as soon as he got back to the states, never heard from him again.

After that episode to try to save measly 25% off of a new chiller, there are some things especially electrical based that I will not ever buy used again and a chiller is one of them. I ended up buying a new one from PA this past April.

Hope your problem works out better than mine did.

 

[cali_reef]

Are you running enough water thru it? the compressor may have shut it self down when the coil froze due to lack of water flow. I can help you with the schematic if you can post it.

Putting the chiller in the fire place is not a bad idea. run the inlet and outlet with soft vinyl tubing to the sump if the fire place is not too far, the bricks will help dampen the sound if you put some 3/4 plywood covering the front of the fireplace up. Keep your chimney open and the heat will rise it self up and out. You can put the chiller on wheels and roll it out when you want to use the fire place in the summer (don't know why you would need to use it??).

 

[jhale]

I think I found out why the chiller is not working, ups might have dropped it. there is a crack in the bottom of the case, and one corner was chipped off, the missing corner was in the box. I spoke to Stan, he said the case was perfect when he shipped it, and that the chiller was working fine when he had it. So it may be a loose wire? I hope. I'm going to speak to Red Sea today, a tech has to call me back. If it is a bad controler Stan said he has an extra one he can send me, so I hope this all works out soon. I need the chiller working.

 

[bad coffee]

It sounds to me like it's a temp control issue. Like it's kicking on, but then the thermostat is shutting it off. Got a pic of the schematic?

BC

[ June 09, 2005, 09:21 AM: Message edited by: bad coffee ]