Chiller Setup

[flightmedic]

I have just received a chiller for my reef setup. I have 3 display tanks on the 1st floor and the sump located in the basement. What is the best way to plumb the chiller into the system?

Thanks
Ed

 

[LAX Noob Reef]

Into return chamber.

 

[flightmedic]

Into return chamber.

no dedicated return chamber, its a 110 gallon stock tank

 

[LAX Noob Reef]

Then link to somewhere that will not directly go to DT because that will kill some stuff with the temp up and down. You want it to be mix and cool some water before it hit DT.

 

[Pistondog]

I'll be doing the same in a week.
What about a pump in the sump, out to the chiller input, chiller output return to sump.
Or you could run an external pump, suction side in the sump, pump output to chiller in, chiller out back to sump. I think this is how I'll do mine, except dt and sump on 1st floor, chiller will be in basement with external pump.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have line in and line out in my sump
Youre going to need a return pump to keep the water moving.

 

[flightmedic]

I'll be doing the same in a week.
What about a pump in the sump, out to the chiller input, chiller output return to sump.
Or you could run an external pump, suction side in the sump, pump output to chiller in, chiller out back to sump. I think this is how I'll do mine, except dt and sump on 1st floor, chiller will be in basement with external pump.

I have a manifold I can use to supply it, but the instructions with the chiller do not recommend sending the water back to the sump. So I figured somebody on here probably has already installed a chiller. My sump hold alot of water so it might work the way you described.

 

[Pistondog]

I have a manifold I can use to supply it, but the instructions with the chiller do not recommend sending the water back to the sump. So I figured somebody on here probably has already installed a chiller. My sump hold alot of water so it might work the way you described.

Is the manifold gravity or pump fed?
If gravity you may not get enough flow thru the chiller.
The artica chiller examples all use a pump

 

[flightmedic]

Is the manifold gravity or pump fed?
If gravity you may not get enough flow thru the chiller.
The artica chiller examples all use a pump

pump fed

 

[costaricareef]

My chiller is plumbed in the line from the sump to the DT, It is a 75 gallon DT. Comes down 1 degree Farenheit in about 90 minutes. Temperature fluctuates between 78 and 80, chiller is set to go on at 80, brings it down to 78.7.

 

[schuby]

In my first tank, 90 gal with only a single return pump, the chiller was inline between the return pump and the DT. In my current, second 150 gal tank, the chiller is inline between one of my two return pumps and DT. I always turn chiller off when return pump is off.

To me, it doesn't do much good to feed chiller back into sump. Cooling just the sump isn't helping the DT much.

The way my chiller is plumbed, it runs until the DT is cooled down a whole degree. It usually takes about 45-60 minutes to complete. Throughput of each return pump is 300 gph.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

no dedicated return chamber, its a 110 gallon stock tank

A pump in the sump anywhere that stays wet to the chiller and back to the sump anywhere will work just fine. The turnover between the tank and sump can be pretty low; if your turnover is enough to heat the tank with a heater in the sump, that turnover is generally enough to cool too the display too. If the sump is way cooler than the display tank, increase turnover.

 

[flightmedic]

A pump in the sump anywhere that stays wet to the chiller and back to the sump anywhere will work just fine. The turnover between the tank and sump can be pretty low; if your turnover is enough to heat the tank with a heater in the sump, that turnover is generally enough to cool too the display too. If the sump is way cooler than the display tank, increase turnover.

That makes sense, never even thought about it that way. My heaters in the sump are enough to keep the display tanks at the desired temperature during the cooler months.
The chiller has 1.5 inch input and output. Its a 3/4hp 220 volt.

 

[schuby]

That makes sense, never even thought about it that way. My heaters in the sump are enough to keep the display tanks at the desired temperature during the cooler months.
The chiller has 1.5 inch input and output. Its a 3/4hp 220 volt.

Wow! My chiller is only 1/5 hp. What is the total water-volume of your system?

 

[flightmedic]

Wow! My chiller is only 1/5 hp. What is the total water-volume of your system?

600 gallons between 3 tanks and the sump

 

[Baldguy]

Inline between your return pump and DT.

 

[BostonReefer300]

I have mine plumbed directly in between one of my return pumps and one of the return jets in my DT. As long as there is adequate circulation flow in the DT, you usually don't need to worry about detrimental localized temperature swings in the DT. The key plumbing issue I'd recommend you think about is the flow rate through the chiller. Assuming you bought one appropriately sized for your system, getting the flow rate as close as possible to the manufacturer's suggestion will help you both with speed of cooling and your energy costs.

 

[flightmedic]

I have mine plumbed directly in between one of my return pumps and one of the return jets in my DT. As long as there is adequate circulation flow in the DT, you usually don't need to worry about detrimental localized temperature swings in the DT. The key plumbing issue I'd recommend you think about is the flow rate through the chiller. Assuming you bought one appropriately sized for your system, getting the flow rate as close as possible to the manufacturer's suggestion will help you both with speed of cooling and your energy costs.

Yes its sized for my setup. The recommended flow rate is 18-45 GPM. My return pump is about 100 GPM. Would a by-pass loop coming off the return line work?

 

[BostonReefer300]

Thing about flowrate is that it's never as high as advertised on the pump box because plumbing turns, restrictions, and height all significantly reduce flow. You can install an inline flow meter if you want to get fancy or you can jerry rig a cheap garden hose flow meter (https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cheap-flow-meter.825086/) in order to figure out what your system is really doing flow-wise.
Anyway, two things:
Yes, a bypass loop would work fine. Put a high quality ball valve on the loop to allow you to fine tune flow. I also always recommend using unions and actually using two ball valves (one on each end of the closed loop) so you can easily adapt your closed loop for different equipment and shut it off entirely, respectively.
Second, your return pump is doing 100 gallons per minute? That's 6000 GPH! Holy Moses!

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Thing about flowrate is that it's never as high as advertised on the pump box because plumbing turns, restrictions, and height all significantly reduce flow. You can install an inline flow meter if you want to get fancy or you can jerry rig a cheap garden hose flow meter (https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cheap-flow-meter.825086/) in order to figure out what your system is really doing flow-wise.
Anyway, two things:
Yes, a bypass loop would work fine. Put a high quality ball valve on the loop to allow you to fine tune flow. I also always recommend using unions and actually using two ball valves (one on each end of the closed loop) so you can easily adapt your closed loop for different equipment and shut it off entirely, respectively.
Second, your return pump is doing 100 gallons per minute? That's 6000 GPH! Holy Moses!

This will save on using a second pump. So long as flow through the chiller is with recommendations i dont think it matters whether the chilled water goes into the display or back into the sump. The turnover between sump and tank will even temps out quickly (just like a heater in the sump). So any pump in your sump you can create a loop off and get the flow u need to the chiller will work just fine