first time using chiller and it kick in every 5 min

[Shadow]

I tried my first chiller this weekend, able to from temperature from 28degree to 25 degree within 1 hour. However to my surprise the kick in interval very fast, turn on every 5 min for about 2 min . The temperature indicator at the Chiller rise from 25 to 27 before it kick in, but in tank thermometer (glass with red liquid type) doesn’t show any changes. Does those glass thermometers have slow response? Or the build in chiller thermostat not accurate? Will adding external thermal sensor improve the kicking time (I thing one of the bro selling it before)? If so where to get those sensor, where and how much?

Chiller: Resun CL280
Tank size: 3x1.5x1.5 ~ 150 liters after minus all those rock, wood and substrate
Pump: Eheim 2217, 1000 l/h
Tank temp without chiller 27~29 degree C

[hii]

Upgrade your filter to higher filter rate or best get seperate pump to just drive the chiller (eheim 1250 or same filter rate pump).

Your chiller condition sound working ok, just the flowrate after passing filter media in the canister than it become too weak and your chiller chill fast enough to bring down the temperature and stop at the target temperature before the new tank water with higher temperature went through the chiller. Sorry for poor explaination, you can figure out the logic.

Don't waste $$ getting whatever sensor.

[Shadow]

I uderstand the logic but now it is already 1000 l/h with additional pump I'm afraid the tank become washing machine

[Aquaculture]

Is the 1000L/hr flowrate after the chiller or outflow of the filter? Flowrate would decrease quite substantially after going through the chiller. Thus the lost in temperature from outlet to inlet. If you notice, hobbyist of marine usually have a flowrate of >2000L/hr to get the cool water back to the chiller asap.

Another common problem with china made chillers is the internal thermostat... think there's a qc problem there. You may consider adding an external thermostat that measures the temperature of the tank's water instead of the 'return' temperature in the chiller.

[Shadow]

The flowrate is before the chiller, The output is quite strong, although I do not have way of measure it, but I can see than the neon fish and shrimp are having hard time crossing the flow.

Eheim 2217 -> CO2 reactor -> chiller.

I'm quessing also because of the thermostat because the tank thermometer does not show temp change. Maybe the heat from heat exchanger or compressor effecting the thermostat. Design problem

First I will get from LFS those electronic thermometer and probe around see whether the temperature fluctuate that fast or not. If not then time to buy temperature controller.

[hii]

I uderstand the logic but now it is already 1000 l/h with additional pump I'm afraid the tank become washing machine

As I mentioned, after passing the filter media the flowrate will reduce almost 50%.

For my setup, I use U bar with inlet cap for output from chiller (same as the inlet setup) the water flow out will be soften a lot, so your tank water won't circulate like washing machine.

[Aquaculture]

Too bad you're staying so far bro. If not I can lend you my thermometer to isolate the fault. If its the thermostat, I once engaged this guy's service to come to my home to install it. Not too sure whether he does Resun as mine was Hailea.

Derrick - 9025 5562

[hii]

The flowrate is before the chiller, The output is quite strong, although I do not have way of measure it, but I can see than the neon fish and shrimp are having hard time crossing the flow.

Eheim 2217 -> CO2 reactor -> chiller.

I'm quessing also because of the thermostat because the tank thermometer does not show temp change. Maybe the heat from heat exchanger or compressor effecting the thermostat. Design problem

First I will get from LFS those electronic thermometer and probe around see whether the temperature fluctuate that fast or not. If not then time to buy temperature controller.

Bro I understand 2217 is 1000l/hr. You do have the filter media in the canister right...the water passing filter media and output left maybe 500l/hr than it pass through the CO2 reactor (I assume is NA type right) than the flowrate before reaching chiller even lower to maybe 400l/hr.

I do experience the same thing last 2 yrs, if you choose to buy external thermostat to get more accurate temperature reading I think you will get the same result.

Why not you try to connect the canister to chiller without CO2 reactor, see if this problem solved. If yes than you really need seperate pump to drive the chiller (my best solution). If not than start to look for external thermostat lor.

That's all I can share, hope you can solve the problem without wasting extra $$.

[Shadow]

I probably will try the external submersible pump first, should have laying around somewhere maybe 1800l/h or 2000l/h, can't remember. If it is worked then decide whether to buy eheim 1250 or not, pump inside the tank look ugly

[yappeyap]

Why not you try to connect the canister to chiller without CO2 reactor, see if this problem solved.

I agree with hill, think its better to do the above experiment 1st. Got a strong feeling the reactor is the issue that cause the bottle neck.

Try the followings variants

- Bypass the reactor, just the canister straight to the chiller & back
- Placed the reactor after the chiller. Canister---Chiller---Reactor---Tank
- However if the pump is too strong, split up the flow, get a Tee joint split the flow into 2 one to the chiller and the other straight to the tank.

I recommend the last method, as it remove the back pressure from the pump, which it got to overcome from forcing through restricted flow example reducer, joints, elbow or etc.
If you separate the flow into 2, it not only all to work at 100% efficiency, you are also helping it to extend the life of the pump by not restricting the flow.
Sorry off topic....

Try tonight let us know tomorrow, haaaa!

Cheers!
Alex

[BFG]

Something is wrong with your chiller. I do believe a 3ft tank is too large for a CL280. My previous planted setup using a chiller is as follow.

Tank--1048--2222( without impeller )--co2 reactor--chiller--tank.

No problem with this setup and also the chiller chill the water from 27 degree celsius to 25 degree celsius. The water in my tank was thoroughly chilled before it cut-off, no part of the tank not chilled by the chiller.

[Shadow]

bro BFG, howmany HP is your chiller for 3ft setup?

May not be able to try during week end, can only try anything when my son is a sleep

[ct13]

cl280 is definitely not powerful enough for a 3ft tank. Many are using at least CL450.

I am a bit KIA SU, I am using CL650 for my 3' X 1.5' X 1.5' tank. Cool from 26'C to 24'C in 15mins, and cut in around 50 - 60 mins interval. Hope this help.

The are sure pressure lost when there is bend, angle, etc. But your flow rate is good enough.

[GER]

I also feel that the tank is too large for the chiller. After reading so much in this forum, i finally decide to get a CL 650 if im intending to get a china brand for my 4ft (even i have a 3ft i will still get a CL 650 unless its a 2ft then i will get a smaller chiller) From what i have learn from all the bros here after reading their post i feel its better to get a larger chiller. In short, (for china brand)get a larger chiller for smaller tanks = faster cooling time and lesser kick in and thus saving more on electricity. Also lesser working time for a china brand = can last longer...
My CL 650 was bought from a nice bro here and its working fine on my 4 by 1.8 by 1.8 tank (set at 26 degrees) and only kicks in about every 1.5 hrs or sometimes even longer.
Its just my view though, hope other bros here can help you solve your problem a.s.a.p.
Cheers~

[Shadow]

CL650 is 650 Watt right? For the same tank size, it might not save electricity

My CL280 within an hour kick in about 8 times each about 2 minutes.

For bro ct13 tank same size as mine, with CL650, 50-60 minutes off and 15 minutes on. Total on and off roughly 75 minutes. With CL280, 75 minutes will have about 10 kick or 20 minutes, 5 minutes more than CL650. However, since CL280 only 280 watt, it is using less electricity than CL650.

Please correct me if my calculation is wrong.

Anyone using CL450 with 3x1.5x15ft tank?

[hii]

Bro Shadow

I just realise your tank is 3ft not 2ft....hmm CL280 is under power, even if you solve the kick in problem than you will experience the kick in time become very longer.

You need at least CL300, or better get CL450 or CL650 cause next time you upgrade to 4ft, CL450 just nice and CL650 will do good job in short time.

[Shadow]

My thinking is, correct me if I'm wrong, bigger chiller power will cool water faster. Off interval is not determined by the chiller power, but it is due to the surrounding environment heating up the water. During the off interval the chiller was off in the first place thus even if I’m using CL650 it wont make any different when it is off.

Others may found that bigger chiller power has less kick in, but my guess it is due to higher water flow. Bigger chiller require bigger pump.

[Shadow]

yeah, can consider CL450, CL280 is the same HP as CL300.

I'm trying not to upgrade to 4ft tank

[hii]

my resun C0500 use eheim 1260, my connection is tank > eheim 1260 > CO2 reactor > chiller > tank. I use U bar with inlet cap at the output to soften the outflow of water from chiller, didn't see any plants swing around.

[BFG]

I would suggest a CL650 for a 3ft. CL500 for a standard 4ft and CL1000 for 5ft.