Chiller Help

[Michael E.]

I purchased a used 1/4HP AquaEuro chiller recently. It was something I knew I needed to get, but figured i would wait to get it until it got warmer. However, this weekend, the Palm Springs area is supposed to be seeing mid to high 80's! This prompted me to get one sooner than later. Obviously, the summers are in the 120's. The chiller itself is pretty large and wont fit under the stand. Plus, i dont want to restrict the unit or have to modify the stand. The chiller is going to be hooked up to a rio 1700 with a ball valve to help reduce the flow a little bit.

I thought about running the plumbing into the garage and into another room, but my fear is that the pipes will pick up heat and give the chiller false readings..

I have:
-120g DT
-50G sump with about 20g of water in it.

My questions are:
-What are your experiences with Chillers?
-What are the best ways to plumb the Chiller into the tank.
-Is there anyways to help with the noise? Maybe even plumbing the chiller into a different room?
-My target Temp is 78. What is the ideal temp setting for the heater so the two aren't fighting (the concept seems simple, but i figured i ask before)? Any tips on this?
-Any other tips or points that I might be missing?

 

[ochriso]

we live in the Pensacola area and we had a chiller on our 75gal before changing to LED. we didn't have a sump so we had it set up with an intake with a screen in the top of the tank and return lines coming back in. we actually had the chiller in the attic and an external pump about half way between tank and chiller. only noise we could hear was the pump if we were in the laundry room where it was located.
the chiller we used had a ranco controller so we were able to easily set the desired temp and when to kick on so finding the sweet spot for the heater and chiller was no problem. we have a very tight enclosure on our tank and summers get pretty hot here also and the chiller had no problem keeping things cool with 6 bulb ati t5 fixture and even when had 2-250w halide and t8 set up.

 

[Michael E.]

we live in the Pensacola area and we had a chiller on our 75gal before changing to LED. we didn't have a sump so we had it set up with an intake with a screen in the top of the tank and return lines coming back in. we actually had the chiller in the attic and an external pump about half way between tank and chiller. only noise we could hear was the pump if we were in the laundry room where it was located.
the chiller we used had a ranco controller so we were able to easily set the desired temp and when to kick on so finding the sweet spot for the heater and chiller was no problem. we have a very tight enclosure on our tank and summers get pretty hot here also and the chiller had no problem keeping things cool with 6 bulb ati t5 fixture and even when had 2-250w halide and t8 set up.

I considered the attic until I saw that the ambient temp for the chiller was 95 degrees! Attics in our neck of the woods get into excess of 130-140! I wish I could do it that way. Thanks for the response!

 

[ochriso]

I'm sure our attic exceeded max ambient temp but fortunately never had any problems. we have a temp controlled attic exhaust fan set around 100 degrees and it comes on late march and doesn't shut off until thanksgiving it seems. HA!
good luck

 

[Michael E.]

I'm sure our attic exceeded max ambient temp but fortunately never had any problems. we have a temp controlled attic exhaust fan set around 100 degrees and it comes on late march and doesn't shut off until thanksgiving it seems. HA!
good luck

Oh yea! I'm surprised it worked!

 

[ochriso]

we used a tradewinds 1/3hp which was definitely oversized for the 75 but didn't want to have to buy another one if upgraded tank size

 

[Michael E.]

we used a tradewinds 1/3hp which was definitely oversized for the 75 but didn't want to have to buy another one if upgraded tank size

Thats pretty big. I found a 1/4hp for just under 200$. 6 month old used one. Could beat the price. What kind of pump did you use to accommodate for the head pressure with having the chiller in the attic?

 

[ochriso]

I don't remember exactly which one but I believe something like this. Had it about half way so it was pulling water as well as pushing. Thought would offset head pressure.

 

[ochriso]