Herefishyfishy
Smart Bass
All success and horror stories welcome. Going to buy a 1/4 -1/2 HP chiller and have no idea which are good or bad and thus what to pay.
1/3 HP chiller: which to buy?
- Thread starter Herefishyfishy
- Start date
Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:
mfinn
Surgeonfish
Mike, I bought the dual stage 1/3hp here.
I've only had it since last summer, so I really can't comment on longevity, but it's working for me.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produ...ll&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1
I've only had it since last summer, so I really can't comment on longevity, but it's working for me.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produ...ll&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1
Scooterman
Well-known member
I need one also, quietness as well as durability & power consumption is all important!
Herefishyfishy
Smart Bass
Nobody has any info on chillers? Wow!
DonW
R.I.P.
I have a cl650. I got a great deal on it so I dont complain to much. It eats fans. The replacement fans from pc last only two months and the better ones from grainger last about 6. PC service is fine as long as you want to pay to ship the heavy thing back to them for repairs. Getting them to ship parts so you can fix it yourself is another story. Its to loud to watch tv, my wife added moving it outside to the honey do list.
The dual controler built into the unit is nice and always dead on.
Although it works when the fan works I would not buy another one.
Don
The dual controler built into the unit is nice and always dead on.
Although it works when the fan works I would not buy another one.
Don
The Apprentice
Well-known member
Mike I have a pair of Current Chillers with the added UV light features on both I have over 2 years use on both with never a problem. One is a 1/4 horse power and the bigger one is a 1/3 hp on a 150 gallon reef with 3 each 250 watt halides + 360 watts VHO + 4 mag drive pumps and over 200 watts of PC lighting for fuges It make a great heater in Eastern Oregon this time of the year
Slickdonkey
Drink me
Not sure there is a whole lot to say on this topic really! I'll give you some of the factors I considered when I bought mine:
- Get an inline chiller rather than one that has a drop-in element. These can be flaky, get bumped around, and break.
- Estimate how hot your tank gets with everything running full blast on a hot summer day. This will tell you how many degrees you need to drop and you know how much water volume there is. IIRC you have a 180? A 1/4 HP should be more than sufficient IMO. I am running 1/4 HP on 280 gallons of system volume with an enclosed canopy that contains four halides and four VHOs (about 110 degrees inside).
Last edited:
Slickdonkey
Drink me
Some other things I forgot to mention...
- You probably want to get a model with a thermostat. Mine doesn't have one so it is entirely dependent on my Aquacontroller. It would be nice to have a redundant control, kind of like heaters that have thermostats.
- Think about where you're going to put it. If the hot vented air from the chiller is blowing onto your sump or is enclosed under your tank, it will be work against itself.
- It's better to run chillers for longer periods of time rather than having them cycle on and off many times throughout the day, which puts a strain on the compressor. IMO it will last longer if you have it run for say an hour on and an hour off, rather than cycling on and off every 10 minutes.
- Chillers are expensive. Buy used!
- You probably want to get a model with a thermostat. Mine doesn't have one so it is entirely dependent on my Aquacontroller. It would be nice to have a redundant control, kind of like heaters that have thermostats.
- Think about where you're going to put it. If the hot vented air from the chiller is blowing onto your sump or is enclosed under your tank, it will be work against itself.
- It's better to run chillers for longer periods of time rather than having them cycle on and off many times throughout the day, which puts a strain on the compressor. IMO it will last longer if you have it run for say an hour on and an hour off, rather than cycling on and off every 10 minutes.
- Chillers are expensive. Buy used!
I just got a current inline thinline 1/3. works great and is quiet. My old 3/4 drop in broke. It was much more money, and was loud. I like the current.
auqua man
Well-known member
Ok I got a cl650 around one year ago no problems so far all works as it should. Some of the things I did not consider were the fact that this is in my living room and when its on it blows heat across the living room.And another thing I did not plan on was that it added 4' of head pressure on the main pump. That said I am happy with performance so far.On a scale of 1-10 on noise I would say its a 6.
Herefishyfishy
Smart Bass
Brian, yes, I'm looking at a few diffrent used ones selling "cheaply" in the middle of cold winter. Drop ins are a waste, in line the only way to go. So the brands are all basically equal? One gets what one pays for based on size and features?
DonW
R.I.P.
You dont get redundancy by running two thermostats in series. If you do this with the PC cl650 chillers they loose their setting after a period of time unless you add a battery to the controler portion.
Don
I have a Titan aquamedic 1/2 HP chiller that i bought referbished from the dealer for a very good deal. It is quoted as a 1/2HP but the BTUs are actually more in line with a 1/4 to 1/3 hp unit. I like the unit. It cools well and other than having to tighten a few things that were vibrating, it has worked well for me. It is not super quiet, and as mentioned, it heats up my living room.
My advice, narrow it down to a few brands, choose your size/BTU, look for a while and buy used.
Mat
My advice, narrow it down to a few brands, choose your size/BTU, look for a while and buy used.
Mat
Slickdonkey
Drink me
Well I've only ever owned my current chiller, which is an Aqua-Logic 1/4 HP. Other than not having a thermostat there's nothing that would stop me from buying one again. And even that isn't a really big deal.
Try not to buy more chiller than you need or you'll pay for it in your electric bill. I think 1/4 HP or even 1/5 would be fine for you.
Herefishyfishy
Smart Bass
Well that is what logic dictates, but I was reading an article in a reefkeeping book stating that the larger the chiller, the less time it runs. The article said that having a bigger one than the smallest possible will save on energy. I personally have no idea but agree that a 1/4 sounds just fine.
Slickdonkey
Drink me
Hmmm. Well that could be true also I guess. Run a bigger chiller that takes more power for less time, or run a smaller chiller for more time but takes less power. It probably all comes out in the wash. The bigger chillers cost more money up front though!
People talk about chiller being a big power draw but really it's a drop in the bucket compared to my heaters, dehumidifier, and halides.
Either way, you still don't want to have it cycling off and on frequently. Mine only runs a couple hours a day during the height of my lighting period.
People talk about chiller being a big power draw but really it's a drop in the bucket compared to my heaters, dehumidifier, and halides.
Either way, you still don't want to have it cycling off and on frequently. Mine only runs a couple hours a day during the height of my lighting period.
Last edited:
Herefishyfishy
Smart Bass
Good info. Yeah, the lighting and heaters can really pull a wad of Amps! When all the lights and heaters are on, they pull 2200 watts.
At least the chiller and heaters wont be on at the same time :>)
I really appreciate all your generous help, and the help of the other kind people here.
At least the chiller and heaters wont be on at the same time :>)
I really appreciate all your generous help, and the help of the other kind people here.
Skimmy
SKIM FU
the best advice i could give you is that you should invest in a 2 stage controller for your chiller/heater, medusa makes good ones, or just a general aquarium controller module, that is one of best way to put some redundancy in your chilling/heating.
Herefishyfishy
Smart Bass
Thanks Mark, very good advice. I enjoyed meeting you at the Renton BR shop Saturday. It's looking great
I got a killer deal on a new high end Medusa from Ebay and it is currently running the heaters and waiting for it's chiller.
