Chiller experience??

Beau is hosting the January Meeting this coming Saturday the 14th at 6PM.  It will be BYOB as well as a snack to share and raffle items are always welcome.  It has been requested that there be “NO SHOES” on the carpet due to it being a whitish color.

He doesn’t have a tank to view but we will have plenty to discuss in hopes that it will get the NEW YEAR off to a good start.  The annual membership fees are due, so now would be a good time to get them in to our Treasurer Stacey Hahn.   Fees are $20 per individual or $25 per family

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[VickiG]

Hey y'all.  Can anyone give us some input on chillers?   Size, brands etc?  We have just tap water in the tank, testing lines and pumps etc and the water was 80 degrees last night just running through the pumps - not even any lights on the thing yet!  So, we will be adding a chiller next.  Darrel says he has a couple he is looking at and thinking 1/3 hp would do it, but asked me to get on the site and inquire from 'those in the know' about chillers?  Anyone had good/bad experiences or advice?  Thanks in advance!

[Les]

Vicki,
I think you need to take the tank temp and record it and then a few hours later do the same thing. This will give you the BTU's that you have going into the tank at this time. A BTU is a British Thermal Unit, it is defined by the amount of energy it takes to raise 1 gallon of water 1 degree F per hour. So, if you have 100 gallons that has risen 1 degree in one hour that is 100 BTU's, and so on and so forth. The next thing to do is get your lights on the tank and then see what the temp rise is over the course of the day. (photo period). I would recommend waiting on buying the chiller until you have done this. I tend to wonder if a 1/3rd HP is to small if you're having heat issues already.
Chillers are rated by the HP rating. These are considered high temp refrigeration so 1/2 HP is 6000 BTU's, (12,000 BTU per ton/horse power).
Feel free to ask anything that is not clear, and this goes for anybody out there.

[Rico]

Vicky,

Les has it right as far as determining the size of the chiller needed.  One other thing you need to consider is where will the chiller be located.  If it is in the garage where it will be in a hot environement, you will want to bump it up a little more in size as they run less efficient in a hot room.

Rick

[Zulreef]

Hey,

Does anyone know how to program the Electronic Temperature Control ( Ranco) in my 1/2 chiller?

To set it at

80
F
D1
C1

What do I do?

[The Apprentice]

Hey Buddy i thought we got this taken care of...

Hey,

Does anyone know how to program the Electronic Temperature Control ( Ranco) in my 1/2 chiller?

To set it at

80
F
D1
C1

What do I do?

[Rico]

Zul,

The instruction manual for this controller is available at this link.  It should help.  

Rick


http://powersbrewery.home.comcast.net/Rancoetcdoc.pdf

[Zulreef]

Zul,

The instruction manual for this controller is available at this link.  It should help.  

Rick


http://powersbrewery.home.comcast.net/Rancoetcdoc.pdf

 




Rick,


Quote:
Originally Posted by The Apprentice
OK Zul: Here we go.
1.Press set key once to access the Fahrenheit/Celsius mode. Press up or down arrow to select which you like to monitor your temp with.

2. Press set key again to access the set point S1 should be blinking. Press up or down arrow to select desired set point.

3 Press set key again to access the set point Differential D1 Ranco recommends 2 degrees

4 Press set key again to access cooling or heating mode I am guessing you have a single controller from what you have typed earlier.select C1 to enable the controller to operate cycling of the chiller...

Happy chilling Zul      ...Jeff



Jeff,


Thank you very much for the helping.   .

My 1/2 chiller is doing great. It is running between 79.0-80.7.
This is what I have set the controller at
80
F
D1
C1
Is this OK?


Zul

[angelscrx]

I would set it at 79 and not 80 degrees.  The 2 degrees that Jeff is talking about is the variance.  Which means if you set it at 80 then the tank can go down to 77 or up to 82 degrees.  With your heaters the temp shouldn't get below 78 if set at that temp and with the chiller it shouldn't go above 81 if you set it at 79 +/- 2 degrees.  Hope that helps?

[Rico]

I have my tank set a 78 with a 1 degree swing above & below the 78.  The lowest I have seen it get is 77.5 and the highest is 79.1   The less you change in the aquarium the happier the animals are going to be.

Rick

[The Apprentice]

This was taken out of The Reef Aquarium Vol.1 by Charles Delbeek & Julian Sprung. Page 225
Temprature: For the best results a Temprature of 74-76 degrees is ideal. If the Temprature varies plus or minus 2 degrees during the course of a day this is not a problem. The most common problem is running a reef tank at a Hi temprature above 80 degrees

Zul I have Ranco controlers on Both my tanks, I have set both of them with a 2 degree dead bad as per the Factory, Even my Prime Chiller manuals suggest that i set that dead band in to reduse cycling wear on the chiller.
My 150 gallon tank will drift about 4 degrees on real cold days  but ussally it will be 77 all day and drop to 75 by the morning. I don't have a heater on this tank so i have no control for cool swings however after running this tank since aprill 2004 I have yet to see a need for a heater, Matt (yellowtang) told me back when i was setting up don't waste money on a heater, use other ways to generate heat in your tank that are more helpfull like Reverse lighting on a fuge, Power heads that start at night and run on night timers, Now with that said  :?  With my little 75 gallon sps and clam Tank I do have a heater and it is set at 75 degrees with my chiller set at 77 and it stays in these settings. :wink:  just my 2 cents...Jeff

I would set it at 79 and not 80 degrees.  The 2 degrees that Jeff is talking about is the variance.  Which means if you set it at 80 then the tank can go down to 77 or up to 82 degrees.  With your heaters the temp shouldn't get below 78 if set at that temp and with the chiller it shouldn't go above 81 if you set it at 79 +/- 2 degrees.  Hope that helps?

[angelscrx]

The normal temperature in the water off of Puerto Rico is 27 degrees celsius or 80.6 degrees fahrentheit.  Which is why I try to keep my tank around 79 degrees.  Just my 2 cents.

[angelscrx]

Oh by the way it also depends on what you are keeping and their home environment.  For example southern California waters stay around 76 degrees.

[VickiG]

Thanks everyone for input on chillers.   Les, it sounds like a good idea to run the tank without and with lights etc full bore and take temp readings before we decide on a chiller - good suggestion.  Darrel is still working on the lights.  Time marches on as we pass the one year mark (last Christmas) of starting up our reef tank.  

Thanks again and Happy New Year to all!

[btrue]

I have a 29 gallon, and the temperature in mine went from 75 to 78 in about 1 hour. what would be the best chiller at the lowest price? how many HP will I need?

[angelscrx]

For a tank that size I would put a chiller on it.  I would put a fan or two in the canopy or if you have a sump one over the sump to help cool it down.  How close are the lights to the water?