chillers and pumps?

[charvatg]

I'm just getting started in keeping a reef aquarium. I have a 29gal setup, which has been going since October.

In anticipation of the summer, and lack of effective air conditioning in my apt, i have purchased a small/cheap Azoo chiller, model CH-100. I placed the chiller next to the tank, slightly below the water line. I'm using a 375 gph pump, that is a submersable pump (pump directions say i must run the pump completely submursed inside the aquarium).

Problem is, when i run the pump and chiller, the temperature goes UP, not down... Stange... From what i've read from this site, it could be my submersable pump? A broken chiller? Should i get an external pump? You guys know your stuff, any advice would be great.

Thanks
Greg

 

[Len]

The Azoo chillers, IIRC, are both chilling and heating units in one integrated system. So my guess is it has something to do with the temperature controller. Could be one of many things:
1) Temperature controller is set too high, and thus the heater comes on.
2) Temperature probe is not placed in the water.
3) Temperature controller or probe is malfunctioning.

The pump should not influence the tempature that greatly. A 375gph pump will certainly produce some heat, but the chiller should easily be able to cool the water much more then the pump can heat it up.

HTH.

Oh ....
WELCOME TO REEFS.ORG

 

[charvatg]

Thanks Len, for the help and the welcome!
Excellent site you have here.

The temp sensor for this chiller is internal to the chiller, and i cannot find a hook up to run it out to my tank. But i am also consulting the company that i bought it from, see what they have to say...

This leads me to one more question, how long does a small chiller like the Azoo ch-100 (or similar) usually take to cool down an aquarium? Maybe i'm too impatient?

Greg

 

[Len]

Azoo chillers aren't like conventional chillers; they're thermoelectric "peltier" chillers. The ch-100 is a 120W peltier and should work fine for a 29 gallon (I would guess it could drop it about 5 degrees which is all most ppl need). Noticable chilling should occur the first hour, so if your unit is actually heating the water, it may be malfunctioning. I've used peltier type chillers, and chilling should commence in no more then 10 minutes after it's plugged in.

Please let us know how it goes and what the manufacturer says. There's not too much info on these chillers (which explains why I'm the only one responding ), so I'm sure other hobbyists are interested as well.

I'm glad you like our community. Make sure to browse around the rest of the site, as Reefs.org has the greatest number of exclusive resources available online .... all free (minus MACO). Let me know if you have any questions or need any assistance. RDO taskforce members can also show you around.

 

[charvatg]

Hi Len,

I called the company i bought the Azoo chiller from, and their customer service contacted Azoo. Apparently it will not start chilling until the room temperature reaches 86 deg. I thought that was a little dissapointing, because i thought that 86 was way too high for corals. Or, is this typical for a small chiller?

Greg

 

[Len]

That makes no sense to me. It may be an issue of misinterpretation (language barrier). From experience, pelteirs will chill the water well below 86 degrees. Now I'm confused.

 

[charvatg]

I know, it makes no sense! That is what i told the customer help people.

I'm going to investigate this further. 86 is too high. I would rather try to build a DIY chiller than use this thing if it waits until 86 deg.

More later,
Greg

 

[aliendomain]

Greg,
Sorry to hear that you are having the same problem I did. I had bought one of those Azoo Thermoelectric Chillers and I have to say that IMO they are trash. I read the instructions that came with the chiller/heater which made it sound that it's designed to read the ambient (room) temp and cool the aquarium if the room get to hot. If you look at the unit there is no external temperature probe to place in the aquarium, which could confirm that it reads the room temp, but how would it know when the tank was at the correct temp, unless it has a temp probe that is internal. I sent the one I got back and got a CSL 1/3hp Chiller, but something like that would be overkill for your tank, you may want to take a look at the Ice Probe.
Hope this helps,
Tony

 

[Robin Goodfellow]

hi.
Anyone opened up the chiller and see where is the temperature probe? Or contact the manufactor about the specs?

 

[aliendomain]

The housing has plastic rivets that would need to be removed to see where the temp probe is, I didn't want to chance damaging the thing and not be able to return it. I didn't contact Azoo because the setup instructions are simple, set the high temp for cooling and the low temp for heating, but after three days my tank temp was cooler with the thermoelectric chiller off. Thankfully I was able to return it for credit toward a CSL chiller.