Chiller question, good or bad

[131696]

Got a used jbj chiller 1/5 ,thing is it knocks at compressor for a second when started,when it running i tilt very little to right makes noise more.when i tilt to left no noise.when running level no noise at all. chuckles like a spring might be broken .Ive read it can last like this for yrs.if so can anyone tell me if theres do this .need advice scrap or keep it and use it.it does cool very fast and works just worried about the knocking ,chunkle sound when compressor comes on and it dont do it everytime it comes on just every now and again.

 

[ndrwater]

I'd keep using it. A knock here or there isn't that bad

 

[Scape]

I would second that and say keep using it too, once a guy at a lfs showed me one he was using and it looked pretty battered and he said he'd been using it for years.

 

[131696]

Guess I keep it but question ,Would you use it on your sps dominated tank with no worries?

 

[ndrwater]

At this time of year, yes.. August on a well established tank full of rare and expensive SPS... I'd have a backup, or at least a plan B

 

[Crustaceon]

Use it and have a fan on a temp controller pointed at the waters’ surface as a backup. FWIW, I let my tank get up to 83-84 during the summer with no problems.

 

[131696]

So your saying stay home and watch it, just in case it goes bad in hot weather, don’t have an apex to notify me if tank was to heat up.Ive looked on this forum and others there is no conversation about this subject only reason why I’m asking everybody experiences with chillers and noises, knocking ,chuckling ,bad compressor sounds.

 

[131696]

84 Degrees with sps tank oh no .I try to keep my tanks at 77

 

[ca1ore]

Knocking on startup is usually a loose compressor mount. Pretty easy to fix. Chillers aren’t the most long lived of aquarium equipment and a poor choice bought used IMO. 1/5 is pretty small, so depending on the amount of pull down it may either not be working properly or is too small.

 

[Crustaceon]

84 Degrees with sps tank oh no .I try to keep my tanks at 77

Chillers make clunking noises the same way a mini fridge makes noises. Both use compressors to push refrigerant through a restriction and heat exchangers. Even automotive air conditioning systems make noises due to refrigerant moving through the system. It’s somewhat normal. This coming from someone with an ASE 609 cert for automotive air conditioning. I used to run a chiller too until I noticed it was heating up the inside of my cabinet and was doing very little where it was (a/c needs to sufficiently vent hot air in order to produce cool air). So I removed it with the intention if reinstalling it outside of the cabinet. Needless to say, I never got around to it. That summer my indoor temps peaked at 85 for a few days and averaged 83-84. I notice absolutely zero change in my acros which makes sense considering many reefs across the world are even hotter than this. I’m on my seventh year of not running a chiller. I don’t like the tank running that hot but it doesn’t alarm me too much anymore. I think a lot of the concern with higher temps has to do with oxygenation, which isn’t a problem in my system.

 

[131696]

Mounts are tight and wasnt on tank ,filled up 50 gallon tub to test before i put it on tank.it is working right it cools but knocks,chucking when compressor come on.when i tilt chiller to right it does it alot motor turning hits side of compressor wall inside ,tilt to left nothing.read spring is broken inside some last a long time like this ,some dont last and fail.

 

[theatrus]

Mounts are tight and wasnt on tank ,filled up 50 gallon tub to test before i put it on tank.it is working right it cools but knocks,chucking when compressor come on.when i tilt chiller to right it does it alot motor turning hits side of compressor wall inside ,tilt to left nothing.read spring is broken inside some last a long time like this ,some dont last and fail.

Maybe, maybe not. The compressor is designed to be used in one orientation and the internal oil can simply be displaced.

I had a 1/5 JBJ which worked for ~ 8 years before losing enough of its refrigerant through some seal. Ended up buying another, but took a gamble and brazed on some new fittings to the lines and topped it up on R-134a, where it helps with the salt mix in the summer.