Let's add cooling fans to my reef!

[d2mini]

http://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Elec...F8&qid=1435285078&sr=8-1&keywords=kill+a+watt

Track your usage for anything that plugs in

Nice! Ordered!

 

[d2mini]

http://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Elec...F8&qid=1435285078&sr=8-1&keywords=kill+a+watt

Track your usage for anything that plugs in

Well, so much for that.
I got the monitor today, plugged it in, plugged the chiller into it, seemed to be working but the chiller wasn't on yet.... it has a power delay of 10 mins or so.
Came back an hour later to check on it and the monitor was dead.
I wonder if the chiller pulled too much juice? The back of the package says max current 15 amps.

 

[Dewayne]

Nice, clean.

 

[cope413]

15a would be very high for a chiller. 1/4hp is around 200watts. At 120v, that's less than 2a...

I've had a few kill a watts over the years. Never had anissue. I'd guess just some bad luck

 

[d2mini]

I'd guess just some bad luck

You may be right.
That one is going back to amazon.
Was at home depot so I found the same brand but the one they had was a step up in models for another 8 bucks so I got that.
So far it's working perfectly.
I have a dedicated pump feeding the chillers. Looks like that is costing me about $5/month.
But then with the chiller running, the total is somewhere between $25-50/month.
It's been less than 24 hours so can't really gauge yet. And yesterday was a little cooler than it has been.
Will see what it says after a week.

Meanwhile... the fans and hole saw arrived.
Got the holes cut. One on each side. Now I need to wire up the fans.

 

[cope413]

Interested in what you find. Even a $10/month saving would be great. I love efficiency.

 

[d2mini]

So it's been a solid week now and it looks like the chiller is costing me about $31/month this time of year.
That's actually much better than I had anticipated.
Going to try and get the fans wired up and installed today, then see if it actually makes a difference.
I've had the holes cut since monday so I'm wondering if that may have helped a little bit. Probably not more than a dollar or two if it did, but might be worth covering the holes/fans completely at some point and testing it for a week again.

 

[d2mini]

The fans were installed and have been running for over a week now.
Unfortunately we lost power for a couple minutes twice during this time so the power meter keeps getting reset,
but it looks like my monthly estimated power usage from the chiller and pump has gone from about $32 down to about $22-23.
So I'd say somewhere between 25-30%. Not too shabby.

One thing though... I expected these fans to have more air moving power than they do.
If I put my hand in front, I can't feel any air if my hand is more than 12" away. And even close up, it feels like someone lightly blowing on my hand.
Did I get the right power supply? The one I got has a control dial on it, and the fan doesn't even turn on until the dial is turned up at least half way.

This is the what I got...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TUD3C6C?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BEZKX8Y?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00

 

[cope413]

If any of the opening to the fan is covered, you're losing CFM.

Three things

1) check the voltage off the PSU when it's at full power, and also check it when it's under load

2) take one of the fans off your mount and see how the airflow is when unmounted. If it's significantly better, then you've gotta open up your mounts a bit.

3) are the fans set to the highest speed?

 

[d2mini]

No part of the fan is covered. And both were tested before installing. Results exactly the same on both, installed or not.
The only way I know of to change the setting on the fan itself is to use one of the supplied adapters and those cut the power down according to the instructions so I didn't use those.

 

[cope413]

That points to power supply, then. At full speed, they move 60+ CFM. That's a lot of air, definitely more than lightly blowing on your hand

 

[d2mini]

But do the specs look off? How do I know another PS won't do the same thing?

 

[cope413]

Check the voltage. When the fans are on, if the voltage isn't 12+, then it's for sure the power supply.

Or, if you have a computer power supply you can access, plug one of the fans into that.

 

[143MPCo]

But do the specs look off? How do I know another PS won't do the same thing?

Dennis, any reason you want to stay with DC fan requiring a power supply (outside the fact that you already purchased them)? I use AC fans and they push/pull quite a bit of air...

specs:
Model No: F12038B1HT
Bearing: Dual Ball Bearing
Voltage: 115 V
Dimensions: 120x120x38 mm
Rated Current: 0.26A
Life Exp: 60000 L10@40C
Speed RPM: 3000 RPM±10%
Air Volume: 103 CFM
Sound Noise: 42 dBA
Cord: 36 inches
Operating Temp: -30°C to 75°C

I went with an AC Fan and paired it to the silenx 120mm fan kit for a few reasons, fans in the kit and DC power supply are junk, AC plugs, and last the clean look of the SilenX housing... They come with rubber anti-vibration mounts but I purchased a better grade as they are cheap, one thing that the mounts give you is a slight gap between the fan and the mount point that acts sorta like a "air flow accelerator" allowing more air to be drawn in by the surrounding area to increase that total air volume... place a few washers-spacers in between the fan and you'll see what I mean.

 

[143MPCo]

One thing I forgot to add is how easy it is to clean the fan vents, it just twist off for cleaning, and keeping with your clean ultra white color of your cabinetry can be painted to match.

 

[d2mini]

Dennis, any reason you want to stay with DC fan requiring a power supply (outside the fact that you already purchased them)? I use AC fans and the push/pull quite a bit of air...

specs:
Model No: F12038B1HT
Bearing: Dual Ball Bearing
Voltage: 115 V
Dimensions: 120x120x38 mm
Rated Current: 0.26A
Life Exp: 60000 L10@40C
Speed RPM: 3000 RPM±10%
Air Volume: 103 CFM
Sound Noise: 42 dBA
Cord: 36 inches
Operating Temp: -30°C to 75°C

I went with an AC Fan and paired it to the silenx 120mm fan kit for a few reasons, fans in the kit and DC power supply are junk, AC plugs, and last the clean look of the SilenX housing... They come with rubber anti-vibration mounts but I purchased a better grade as they are cheap, one thing that the mounts give you is a slight gap between the fan and the mount point that acts sorta like a "air flow accelerator" allowing more air to be drawn in by the surrounding area to increase that total air volume... place a few washers-spacers in between the fan and you'll see what I mean.

Where the heck were you two weeks ago?!

 

[143MPCo]

Where the heck were you two weeks ago?!

Florida on vacation...

 

[zemuss]

I would think one of the reasons he is using a DC fan is the noise levels.

However your 48 Db isn't that bad for at 28 db you don't notice them running. I would just have them on a temp controller to turn them off and on based on temp of the hood.

 

[143MPCo]

temp controller to turn them off and on based on temp of the hood.

that's how I have them.

 

[Harold Green]

Finally ordered the supplies!
Should get to start on this over the weekend.
What I couldn't figure out, is a way to know how much my chiller is currently running over a 24 hour period to know if the fans make an appreciable difference.

You can buy a digital watt meter that you plug into the wall and then plug your chiller into it. It gives the running watts plus can give you a usage tally for total usage.