Chiller plumbing

LobsterOfJustice · 07/22/2012, 08:43 PM

I'm feeding my chiller with a tee off my return pump, and draining it back into my sump. Problem is, it keeps cycling on and off - it turns on, then dumps some cool water back into the sump, sucks a portion of it back up, then turns back off, only to repeat this cycle a few minutes later. Obviously when it turns on, it is cooling the sump water faster than that water is recirculating throughout the tank.

Does anyone have an ingenious idea to troubleshoot this? I don't want to put the outlet of the chiller to the display, I'm trying to keep the display as clean and junk-free as possible. My only thought was to tee the chiller output back into the return line - would this work, or would this result in no real water flow through the line (considering the input is tee'd off from the same line)?

jporter · 07/22/2012, 09:14 PM

I run my return pump output through the chiller and into my display. Chiller doesn't run excessively with MH's in AZ. Not sure what the concern about debris is. I believe many plumb theirs this way.

trinidiver · 07/22/2012, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LobsterOfJustice

I'm feeding my chiller with a tee off my return pump, and draining it back into my sump.

Why are you doing that now?................just asking

Mmiller40gt · 07/22/2012, 11:16 PM

You need to feed the chiller return to the tank, not the sump. Or if you have a separate temp controller the controller should be in the over flow or tank

Mmiller40gt · 07/22/2012, 11:18 PM

How many GPH is your chiller rated for? You could likely just rerun the return to the chiller then to the tank without the T

LobsterOfJustice · 07/23/2012, 08:20 AM

I think my return is too much flow for the chiller. The chiller is a coralife aqua chill 1/4hp, return pump is 1700GPH.

Trini, I'm doing that because I want as little junk in the DT as possible and I think pushing all the return flow through the chiller might be too much.

Mmiller, I thought about that last night too... I could plug the chiller into my ranco, set the chiller lower than I actually want it, and then put the temp sensor for the ranco in the DT. Again, I'd like to avoid putting extra junk in the DT, but a temp sensor is less intrusive than a second return.

Mmiller40gt · 07/23/2012, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LobsterOfJustice

I think my return is too much flow for the chiller. The chiller is a coralife aqua chill 1/4hp, return pump is 1700GPH.

Trini, I'm doing that because I want as little junk in the DT as possible and I think pushing all the return flow through the chiller might be too much.

Mmiller, I thought about that last night too... I could plug the chiller into my ranco, set the chiller lower than I actually want it, and then put the temp sensor for the ranco in the DT. Again, I'd like to avoid putting extra junk in the DT, but a temp sensor is less intrusive than a second return.

That would work.

Why are you running 1700 GPH through a sump? You must have a monster tank.

LobsterOfJustice · 07/23/2012, 10:07 AM

It's just a 90. I've always believed in pushing as much water through the filtration system as possible.

Mmiller40gt · 07/23/2012, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LobsterOfJustice

It's just a 90. I've always believed in pushing as much water through the filtration system as possible.

I think dwell time is better. 5X system volume is more than enough. If you have a fuge you for sure need to tone it down. Waste of power IMO. Get a 700 GPH pump and run it through the chiller

s4chico · 07/25/2012, 12:24 PM

You could just keep the tee feeding the chiller and re-route the return line up to the tank instead of having it dump back into your sump.

07/22/2012, 08:43 PM	#1
LobsterOfJustice Recovering Detritophobe Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 7,443	Chiller plumbing I'm feeding my chiller with a tee off my return pump, and draining it back into my sump. Problem is, it keeps cycling on and off - it turns on, then dumps some cool water back into the sump, sucks a portion of it back up, then turns back off, only to repeat this cycle a few minutes later. Obviously when it turns on, it is cooling the sump water faster than that water is recirculating throughout the tank. Does anyone have an ingenious idea to troubleshoot this? I don't want to put the outlet of the chiller to the display, I'm trying to keep the display as clean and junk-free as possible. My only thought was to tee the chiller output back into the return line - would this work, or would this result in no real water flow through the line (considering the input is tee'd off from the same line)? __________________ If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles

07/23/2012, 08:20 AM	#6
LobsterOfJustice Recovering Detritophobe Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 7,443	I think my return is too much flow for the chiller. The chiller is a coralife aqua chill 1/4hp, return pump is 1700GPH. Trini, I'm doing that because I want as little junk in the DT as possible and I think pushing all the return flow through the chiller might be too much. Mmiller, I thought about that last night too... I could plug the chiller into my ranco, set the chiller lower than I actually want it, and then put the temp sensor for the ranco in the DT. Again, I'd like to avoid putting extra junk in the DT, but a temp sensor is less intrusive than a second return. __________________ If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles

07/23/2012, 10:07 AM	#8
LobsterOfJustice Recovering Detritophobe Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 7,443	It's just a 90. I've always believed in pushing as much water through the filtration system as possible. __________________ If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles

07/22/2012, 09:14 PM	#2
jporter Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Mesa, AZ Posts: 1,411	I run my return pump output through the chiller and into my display. Chiller doesn't run excessively with MH's in AZ. Not sure what the concern about debris is. I believe many plumb theirs this way.

07/22/2012, 11:16 PM	#4
Mmiller40gt arrogant reefer Join Date: May 2012 Location: N Texas Posts: 687	You need to feed the chiller return to the tank, not the sump. Or if you have a separate temp controller the controller should be in the over flow or tank

07/22/2012, 11:18 PM	#5
Mmiller40gt arrogant reefer Join Date: May 2012 Location: N Texas Posts: 687	How many GPH is your chiller rated for? You could likely just rerun the return to the chiller then to the tank without the T

07/25/2012, 12:24 PM	#10
s4chico Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 62	You could just keep the tee feeding the chiller and re-route the return line up to the tank instead of having it dump back into your sump.