Chiller not working

Th3viper323 · Sep 13, 2020

Hi I have been trying to revive my Red Sea tank. I finally got to it working so I start checking My parameters and the slight cut I have on my tank starts burning. I then put the same finger in my smaller tank and nothing. I then think it’s something electrical so I start disconnecting things. One by one. And I finally saw that It was the chiller that was shocking my water. Is there anyway to fix this or do I have to buy a new one. This chiller is only a year old. Please help

Biglew11 · Sep 13, 2020

Open the case of the chiller and look for any wires with bad shielding and bad grounds.

How is the water pumped through the chiller? A separate pump or is there an internal pump? Look at anything electrical the water has contact with in this cooling circuit.

electricity is dangerous so it might not be worth it to risk too much time on it.

Just look for anything obvious.

Jay Hemdal · Sep 13, 2020

Hi - welcome to R2R!

Just to check - are you sure it is the chiller and not the circulating pump for the chiller? Pumps are more frequently the cause of this problem. I don't know how your chiller is set up, but the ones I have really don't have any line voltage in contact with the water - just the thermistor well for the temperature probe, and that should be low voltage.

Any chance that this is caused by high humidity or water spillage?

Just be very careful, the slight tingling you notice can get worse, and if you manage to create a better ground, you can actually be severely electrocuted.

If it is the chiller, you should probably work with an electrician as opposed to trying to fix things on your own - safety first!

Jay

Th3viper323 · Sep 13, 2020

Yes it is the chiller as I disconnected it and it went away. I even plugged everything back in to check and water is still fine so I left the chiller unplugged. I will take it out and call the company before anything to see if they can do anything about it. Ty

Sisterlimonpot · Sep 13, 2020

Th3viper323 said:
Yes it is the chiller as I disconnected it and it went away. I even plugged everything back in to check and water is still fine so I left the chiller unplugged. I will take it out and call the company before anything to see if they can do anything about it. Ty

Does your chiller have an internal pump? Or is there an external pump that pushes water through the chiller?

If it's external, I'm super curious what is causing the electrical leak...