Korea-made Chiller of System Control & Engineering

[Nicky]

Anyone bought the 75W Korea-made chiller from System Control & Engineering?
The shopkeeper was telling me that the 75W chiller is sufficient to chill a 4ft tank (he used that for the purpose, I think, but cannot remember if the shop has air-con).

I did a quick calculation and the monthly electricity will come up to less than $10 if the chiller runs 7x24. Plus I thought it is very quiet.

So what's the catch?

Thanks.

[subxero]

For info, their shop does not have air-con.. only fans

[eGGS]

How much is this chiller?

[vinz]

Supposedly, this chiller is designed for tropical weather... i.e. it has a larger condenser, among other differences, for more efficent cooling in the hotter weather here.

There are 2 locally designed ones called Reef Relief and Titanium something. Also designed for the hotter weather we have here. Go to www.sgreefclub.com to find out more.

European models like Teco are usually designed for temperate regions and are less efficient here.

[benny]

Can't remember if it was this forum, but there was some comparison done earlier and the Korean chiller didn't seem well received due to performance. In the end, it was still Teco and some other brand Do a search and see..

By the way, Aquatechnic is have a promotion on Teco chiller now. Call and check.

The locally made chiller are receiving great reviews for efficieny and low noise performance.

Cheers,

[Nicky]

Based on Vinz's comment, if this Korea-made chiller is made for tropical weather, than it should be ok, right?

I thought there is another Locally-made chiller branded Eido?

One thing I look for in a chiller is the running cost. I read from a discussion thread (on AQ, I think) that for a comparable-capacity chiller, Teco will need about $30 per month while HL (Hai Lei) will cost $40 a month. But if you calculate the 75W, Korean-Made-Chiller, it is <$10 running cost per month. In the long run, that's hell lots of savings!

Plus the price is very very attractive at less than $900.

If Teco is meant for temperate countries, why are there so many people who 'swear' by Teco even in Singapore?
(Just a question, not to rebut. I do not care about any of this chiller companies' bottom-line anyway).


Benny, do you know what about this Korea-made-chiller that does not 'performed well'? I mean.. a chiller is a chiller is a chiller, right?
Has it got to do with the constant breakdown, Running-Cost, need-for-frequent-maintenance, slow to get to the low temp?
Any comment will help.

Thanks!

[vinz]

Heard that eido is coming out with a new compressor-type chiller at www.sgreefclub.com a while back, but haven't seen any details or furthur news since.

The one I mentioned is Titanium Chillers at www.titaniumchiller.com. The site is still incomplete.

[rthien]

Hi there,

I bought the Korean Chiller from System Control & Engineering (Bioplast). I got the 110W for $950 which has NO problem cooling my 4x2X1.5 down to 25.5C. More info for the chiller here: http://www.daeilace.com/english/pro-1.htm

My house is pretty warm and thus the chiller. It is quiet but it produces quite a lot of heat so it cannot be enclosed in the cabinet. The titanium heat exchangers seem bigger than other European/China chillers of the same power rating. This improves the efficiency. Home ambient temperature ranges from 27C to 32C. It takes the chiller a good 2 hours to bring it down to 25.5C. I stayed home one Saturday and noticed that the chiller was not on longer than 8 hours for that day.... and it was a pretty warm day. The guy from Bioplast claims his is never on longer than 7 hours a day to keep it at 25C but then again his shop is much cooler than my house.

In my opinion, it is working well and it meets my $$$ requirements in terms of upfront investment and running cost. Standard 1-year warranty and System Control & Engineering are actually in the refrigeration business. I think their reputation will be at stake if they sold us something that does NOT COOL!

My 2 cents worth.

PS. The Korean company (Daeil Cooler Co Ltd) that makes this chiller are into the commercial refrigeration business. And they are coming to Aquarama 2003!

[Nicky]

Rthien, thanks for your feedback.
Is there any reason why you are using 110W for your 4x2x1.5 whereas the shop is using only a 75W for their equivalent-size tank?

Also, can you be so kind to provide the average monthly running cost (electrical bills) of this 110W chiller?

Thanks.

[rthien]

The guy did recommend the 75W to me. I wanted something that worked faster to cool my tank plus I wanted to provision for upgrading to a larger tank. It met my needs basically.

As to the running cost, my latest power/water bill is about $30 more than previous months but that is attributed to the water changes (2 times/week), lighting (varying from 144W to 288W) and chiller with my new-ish tank which I got recently. Have not actually been able to break down the cost of running the chiller on its own.

I'm getting into this hobby because I can afford to. I don't want a setup that is bare minimum. I rather have something that worked pretty well out of the box, and not have me to band-aid the system here and there as I go along. So far, I am happy with my approach. My tank is doing well after proper cycling. The only thing missing is X'mas Moss! Read that X'mas Moss will do well in a "cool" tank like mine!

[hugo]

Hi All,

Just curious. was introduce to the website eaquanature.com which shows a hailea chiller (maybe wrong spelling) on offer for $480. Has anyone purchased this before? I was wondering if this is the electronic cooling type and not the compressor type. Can anyone kindly advice?

[Nicky]

Hugo, I am not an expert in chiller by any definition but I can help you out that one.. I got the following from one of the discussion threads in AQ under 'equipment'.

http://www.hailea.com/english/shuizu/lenshui.htm
http://www.resun-china.com/English/chiller.htm
http://www.tecosrl.com/products/tech_ra_e.htm

You will be able to tell that different ratings if chiller is meant for different-size tank and water-bodies. What you have found should be one of those small chiller meant for probably a 2ft tank.

I started this discussion thread because for a 4ft planted, folks here at times mentioned that you almost need a 0.5HP capacity (of course some other feel otherwise, so don't shoot me). But this Korea-made one supposed to chiller a 4ft with one 75W (that like 0.1HP).

Tell you something damn 'bang balls'.. tomorrow I will take delivery of my car and the number-plate came out first prize today! Of course I didn't buy.. else I buy all that have contributed to this thread a chiller each..