Chiller Issues

[Sammydog]

We are still learning the ropes with our new tank, but a few days ago we had temperatures in the house of around 36 degrees Celcius (97 F) and our chiller, a Resun CL-85) really struggled to keep the tank temp below 28 degrees Celcius (83 F).

Before we run off to contemplate a new chiller/heater for the tank (the tank is about 80 litres or 20 gallons) is there anything obvious that we should be checking with the current set up that may be causing the issues?

The local fish shop sell the Hailer brand of chillers, does anyone have any feedback on these and do they also heat, I couldn't tell off the website.

 

[dcantucson]

I think if the house temperature was at 97* then your chiller did a pretty good job of keeping the temperature down. Usually one can use fans to help cool the tank down but in this case you would just be heating the tank up with warm air.

I think your situation is pretty unusual. Maybe others will have an idea.

 

[Sammydog]

Days like that aren't uncommon here in summer. Might go down the fan route first, but I don't want to kill everything trying to find what works.

 

[dcantucson]

You might try placing a fan blowing directly on the chiller itself. Also, Could you cool just that one room in the house with air conditioning?

 

[SeaBee]

Ha! I have the ultimate idea for that stuff! Does your house have central air? I would run a tube out to the ground and send it down into the ground to use the earth to cool that tank. Go a few feet down and it should be getting closer to 65F. The other idea I have is to run a water line from the tank to the air plenum on the furnace with another coil to use that cooled air to cool the tank. Crazy, I know, but chillers are so much money. Also, just a note for future-a/c units are designed to drop the temperature 20 degrees from ambient, not necc., what you set the thermostat at. You need to put the chiller in a cool room, in the shade and keep the condenser on it clean. So I think if your chiller is in the same room, 97F, the best you can get is 77F, then add your tank load, pumps, lights, etc.

 

[Sammydog]

No air conditioning in our house, we rely on ceiling fans and normally we will get an ocean breeze on hot days. This week we didn't.

I'm getting a clip on fan for the tank, I'm just trying to work out a fool proof system for when we are not in the house.

 

[Bifferwine]

You should run the clip on fan whenever you run your lights. You can have the fan set to a timer to go on and off automatically. It will increase your evaporation, but a clip on fan blowing across the surface of the water can drop the temp of your tank by up to 10 degrees F.

 

[dcantucson]

Won't a clip on fan only work if the air it's blowing is cooler than the tank water? It seems to me blowing 97* air on 80* tank water would do the opposite. Guess my way of thinking is just backwards! :dunno:

 

[sen5241b]

I've used clip on fans in warm air and it cooled the tank substantially.

 

[Rcpilot]

Float a plastic jug full of frozen RO water in the sump. A 2L or 4L jug would probably do the trick.

Worried it might get too cold? Nonsense. The tank heater will kick on and stabilize it.

Use RO water in case the jug leaks. :Cheers:

Check your chiller. There should be small aluminum coils that look like the radiator in your car. These coils need to be clean so air can flow through them freely. They should not be full of dust and dog/cat hair or bird feathers. If you can't see daylight when peering through the coils - they are clogged. Shine a flashlight on the coils and see if the light penetrates all the way through. If they are dirty or clogged, simply vacuum the debris off and try to be gentle so as not to bend the metal cooling fins. Compressed air also works to blow out debris if the vacuum won't work. But try the vacuum first - the idea is to REMOVE any clogs or debris - not push them deeper into the cooling fins.