Aquamedic chiller problem - solved

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bc_slc

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
Messages
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Location
Seattle
So I currently have an aquamedic 1/2 Titan 1500. It works pretty well and pulls the water down pretty well, but about 2 months ago it got much louder. I pm'ed a few members of the board (Thanks mike, reed, ilham and others) and mike recommended that I see if something needed tightening. So this morning I took off the cover and no kidding, one of the rubber washers that helps to hold the motor in place had broken (see below) leaving only 1 remaining washer on one of the mounts as opposed to the two on the other mounts. Hopefully the problem will be solved after replacement - I emailed aquamedic today.

washer.jpg


motor.jpg
 
Interesting...

Well after an almost immediate reply from Jeremy at aquamedic we are going to try and replace the part (their shop burned down in Loveland CO about 2 months ago and he is still restocking).

It is nice to have a target for something to fix but jeremy did bring up that it is possible that the o-ring failed because of another fault that was causing the vibration and just wore out the washer...which would repeat itself if that were the case. If that is the case, then it is likely to be related to the motor as the little washer/O-ring is located where the motor is secured to the base.

Fingers crossed.

Mat
 
Very nice Matt!

What is your rating on their customer service then? I have a new AquaMedic chiller as well.

Best,
Ilham
 
Jeff at aquamedic gets an excellent rating from me. Immediate response and very helpful, even with a handicaped situation.

So I fixed the chiller today. I will post some pics later, but I could not find the exact same nylon/plastic washers at my local hardware store. They were either slightly bigger or smaller in their thickness. So I ended up buying 3 of them so they would all be the same. Changed them all out and interestingly, the other two (that had not broken) had large cracks in them. After changing them out, fired up the unit - freight train again. No change in the sound.

But then I figured out that two of the internal plumbing pieces that thread down into the base of the unit had become a bit loose and were the source of the noise. Tightened them down gently with a pipe wrench and OH MY GOD, the silent hum of the chiller was MUSIC TO MY FREAKING EARS. I was so excited I called my wife and left a message on her phone with the soft, inperceptable sound of the chiller in the background. Pics in the am.

Mat
 
bc_slc said:
Jeff at aquamedic gets an excellent rating from me. Immediate response and very helpful, even with a handicaped situation.

So I fixed the chiller today. I will post some pics later, but I could not find the exact same nylon/plastic washers at my local hardware store. They were either slightly bigger or smaller in their thickness. So I ended up buying 3 of them so they would all be the same. Changed them all out and interestingly, the other two (that had not broken) had large cracks in them. After changing them out, fired up the unit - freight train again. No change in the sound.

But then I figured out that two of the internal plumbing pieces that thread down into the base of the unit had become a bit loose and were the source of the noise. Tightened them down gently with a pipe wrench and OH MY GOD, the silent hum of the chiller was MUSIC TO MY FREAKING EARS. I was so excited I called my wife and left a message on her phone with the soft, inperceptable sound of the chiller in the background. Pics in the am.

Mat

SAA-WWEE-eet.

Good to hear it's fixed Mat.

Best,
Ilham
 
So to document for any of you out there who have aquamedic chillers. I pulled off the outer casing and the compressor motor is anchored at 3 points. Each of these points have a rubber base, then the mount to the compressor, then another rubber washer and finally a plastic washer on top - pinned with a metal clip. Below is a pic this setup with the standard grey/black plastic washer which cracked on mine, and then a pic of the replaced washer (White).
washersbefore.jpg

washersreplaced2.jpg


This didn't really fix the problem, but then when I fired up the chiller again I noticed that the vibrating noise was coming from the two pipes which screw into the base found on the left side of the pic below.
chillerinnards.jpg
 
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