Some notes on my new Hailea Chiller

[neon]

Nicky,
But i wonder all this powering on and off will wear out the chiller. My experience with my chiller is that once it was power on .. it seem like it take some time to startup and start cooling (a few mins). While it was not in use it was always in a some sort of standby mode while waiting for the next kick in.

The internal thermostat is precisely doing the same thing cut off the power of the chiller compressor and all other bits , except the thermostat itself. The present of the thermostat display gives you the impression the chiller is on standby.

[blackBRUSHalgae]

Hi Nicky,

Regarding your cooling inefficiency of your new Hailea Chiller, I hope I'm not too late to help you out on this

I seriously think that your flowrate of eheim 2028 is not enough to drive your 1/2 hp chiller.

Eheim 2028 flowrate is 1050L/H ( this read out is only for the pump alone without tubing, piping, filter media or canister)

It's actual flowrate with media and accessories are around 700ishL/H and that is without the height of the tank and your chiller.Thus after give and take, your eheim 2028 is probably only puting out 600L/H or less.With this kind of flowrate driving a HC-500A chiller with a minimum flowrate rated at 1200L/H, it will only spell trouble.

Let's say if a chiller has a min flow rate stated at 1000L/H, thus if you have set the chiller to cool your tank to 26 degree, with a flowrate of 1000l or lesser, the internal capacity of the chiller could have already reach 26 degree (due to slow flow rate) and thus the thermostat inside would tell the chiller to stop but while in actual fact, your tank temp is still at 27 or 28 degree. It would also means that it will cause your chiller to kick on/off more often that necessary.


I hope the senior moderator, Barracuda, from http://www.arofanatics.com won't mind me hyperlinking his thread to help out another aquarium enthusiast here. He has an excellent write up about "how a flowrate could affect a chiller's efficiency," which in my opinion, anybody who wishes to employ a chiller in his/her aquarium should read his article first, before jumping into getting one.

How to maximise chiller efficiency BY Barracuda

I have finally rigged up my Hailea chiller model HC500. I have praised this chiller so much but the preliminary experience has not been good..

There are some things that I like about the chiller but there are some things about it that are really bothering me. Bother me so much that I planned to go back to Petmart that sold me this to get it replaced.. Petmart gave me 1 year warranty. Let's see if they will stick to their words. I will report the outcome here.


- Most serious one.. the internal thermometer of the chiller sucks. When it is showing 25C, my cheap thermometer is showing 23.5C and the water is freaking cold to the touch. Not only that, from 25C (when the chiller turns off) to 26C it only take less than 15 min !!!! Meanwhile my cheap thermometer did not even show 1C change. My tank is slight bigger than 4x2x2 ft. This cannot be because the ambient temperature is only 28.5C and the photo-period of my tank is long over. I am using Eheim 2028 to push the flow through the chiller. The specs say 1200-3000 L/hr. Is it possible the problem is due to the flow rate? I seriously doubt so, as SystemControl who also sells this chiller, told me a seperate controller is needed to prevent the chiller from kicking in 'too frequently, as frequent as every few minute'. Definitely sounds like same problem I am facing now. Unfortunately the problem (as well as why the additional controller is needed) was not properly articulate to me when I asked and because of that, I was not able to justify to myself paying more than half of the chiller price for the additional gadget. So looks like my problem is not an isolated one..


- The hose connector is slightly too big for the eheim 18/22mm hose. I have to use boiling water to expand the hose plus use 2 fingers to make the hose wider and use vaseline to force the hose onto the connector. It is really bad design. Makes me think of the chinese saying 'close-door-manufacture-car'. Looks like Hailea still do not know the common size of the hoses used by aquarium hobbists in the world today..


- Though the digital display is showing 1 decimal place, the temp cannot be set to that resolution; you can only set the temp to the next whole number.


- This chiller is not as quiet as what I heard at one of the LFS. Probably that LFS is very noisy. In actual fact it sounds like those cheap mini-fridge when it is running. I would strongly discourage you to use it if your fish tank is in your bedroom, unless your objective is to drive your spouse/gf/bf away.


- As expected the English used in the instruction booklet sucks. So bad that I have to read most of the paragraphs a few times aloud before understand the possible meaning. Why can't Hailea get a proper translation?


So looks like I have bought myself a big black lemon with blue digital display. I took lots of pictures showing each steps of the installation but I don't think you want to see them now that I have reported so much problems with this chiller.

Will report what Petmart says.

[Wzierbovsky]

Rather than start a new thread, hope it's OK to use back an old thread.

My 3 month old Hailea 300A chiller has just started to get quirky. For the last couple of months I've set it to run at 27 degrees, and the chiller kicks in every 2 hours or so, and runs for around 8 minutes each time.

Over the last 3 days however, something doesn't seem quite right now. The water according to the chiller reads much higher than what my aquarium thermometer reads, with differences of as much as 5 degrees. E.g. the thermometer reads 24 degrees (and the water feels that cold too), but the chiller says 29 degrees.

I observed it for a while just now and apparently the chiller is running much more frequently. The chiller cools the water to 27.0 degrees according to its thermostat, and within seconds of its shutting down, the thermostat temperature starts increasing again. It barely takes 2 minutes for the thermostat to move from 27.0 to 28.0 degrees, and the chiller kicks in again to bring it back to 27.0. The overall effect has been that the aquarium water has been continually chilled to as low as 24 degrees.

Any opinions on what could be wrong with the chiller? E.g. it needs cleaning somewhere?

Thanks!

[spinex]

Rather than start a new thread, hope it's OK to use back an old thread.

My 3 month old Hailea 300A chiller has just started to get quirky. For the last couple of months I've set it to run at 27 degrees, and the chiller kicks in every 2 hours or so, and runs for around 8 minutes each time.

Over the last 3 days however, something doesn't seem quite right now. The water according to the chiller reads much higher than what my aquarium thermometer reads, with differences of as much as 5 degrees. E.g. the thermometer reads 24 degrees (and the water feels that cold too), but the chiller says 29 degrees.

I observed it for a while just now and apparently the chiller is running much more frequently. The chiller cools the water to 27.0 degrees according to its thermostat, and within seconds of its shutting down, the thermostat temperature starts increasing again. It barely takes 2 minutes for the thermostat to move from 27.0 to 28.0 degrees, and the chiller kicks in again to bring it back to 27.0. The overall effect has been that the aquarium water has been continually chilled to as low as 24 degrees.

Any opinions on what could be wrong with the chiller? E.g. it needs cleaning somewhere?

Thanks!

Hi i think your chiller thermostat is having some problem. Since your chiller is quite new it's under warranty so it's best to call the dealer and ask them to repair for you.

[kensk]

I own a Hailea 150A chiller and would like to comment on its performance too.
The temperature difference started to deteriorate only weeks after running.

Now, after about 2 months, the diff is about 1.5 degrees. The temperature shown on the chiller is lesser than the real temp.

However I can still calibrate the chiller by pressing the UP and DOWN arrow together for about 5 secs.
Max calibration is +-1.5 degrees.

Hope it doesn't get worse.

[spinex]

I own a Hailea 150A chiller and would like to comment on its performance too.
The temperature difference started to deteriorate only weeks after running.

Now, after about 2 months, the diff is about 1.5 degrees. The temperature shown on the chiller is lesser than the real temp.

However I can still calibrate the chiller by pressing the UP and DOWN arrow together for about 5 secs.
Max calibration is +-1.5 degrees.

Hope it doesn't get worse.

I using a 150A also. Used for close to 6 months so far still good. What is your flowrate ?

[kensk]

I using a 150A also. Used for close to 6 months so far still good. What is your flowrate ?

I using Atman CF 800
flowrate : 960L/Hr
Is it too low?

What about you?
How do you maintain your chiller?

[Wzierbovsky]

My flowrate's 1400 litres/hr; I don't think it's a flow rate issue.

Thanks for the advice so far; before I call for the agent to service the thing, I'm going to try calibrating the thermostat, though if it can only be adjusted within 1.5 degrees, that's not going to help much.

I've removed all the front and side filter panels, and will later try running the chiller to see if I can see anything more. Maybe the fan isn't working, so the motor is running very hot and driving the water temperature up.

[spinex]

I using Atman CF 800
flowrate : 960L/Hr
Is it too low?

What about you?
How do you maintain your chiller?

Nothing special to maintain it. I tried 1200L/H canister filter and now downgrade to a 500L/H canitser also working fine.

At most i clean the removable window mesh in front of the chiller only a mth or once a few mths.

[spinex]

My flowrate's 1400 litres/hr; I don't think it's a flow rate issue.

Thanks for the advice so far; before I call for the agent to service the thing, I'm going to try calibrating the thermostat, though if it can only be adjusted within 1.5 degrees, that's not going to help much.

I've removed all the front and side filter panels, and will later try running the chiller to see if I can see anything more. Maybe the fan isn't working, so the motor is running very hot and driving the water temperature up.

Fan working or not quite easy to see. Either u can take off the cover and see the fan work when the chiller is kick in or u use a touch and see via the back of the chiller to see whether the fan is running.

[peter2883]

I was reading this thread & this has provided me with some interesting material...

I just bought my Hailea 250A Chiller & I was wondering if anyone can tell me how to fix an external probe to it...

I read in some other threads that the reservoir in the chiller is not the true temp in the tank... There will always be some disparity...

And I agree that you can never have the true reading of the temp in the tank without using an external temp probe...

I've read that there were some guys who DIY-ed an external probe for Resun but not much info for Hailea...

Anyone did it sucessfully before?

I will be buying an external probe & hopefully get some info on how to rewire an external probe...

If you've got some info please share... Thanks. (With pics would be great)

[peter2883]

Sorry just additional stuff I wanted to add... I read that there are people who just cut the wiring on chiller & connected just the probe (Non-electronic type) & placed the probe in the tank.

I think for me this is the best method I would like to try whereas compared to the electronic type it might be too challenging for me... This will provide an accurate temp reading to the chiller which I think would result in the chiller lasting longer...

[salexjared]

I have used my HC-300A chiller without much issue without a external controller.

I do have a thermometer to monitor the temperature in the tank and so far it is consistently where I want it to be +/- 1 degrees C

The temperature is around 1 degress off (tank is lower by 1 degree compared to what the chiller says, but then this offset is ok as long as it is consistent).

So far so good (about 3 months), keeping my fingers crossed.

The chiller cost 420 and I heard the cost of the external controller is around 120.

[salexjared]

Oh... I did take the advise and have a 1500L/hr pump working on this chiller to ensure that the temp is close to what the tank is.

Heard that if you have a low flow rate, it would become a bigger issue.

[peter2883]

I dismantled my chiller to check how the design is like & would like to share what I wanted to do...





I own a Hailea 250A & I've read that as long as the Chillers do not have the probe directly in the tank you will have this problem of having the chiller kick in & out as it cannot detect the right temp...

The water in the tank will always have warmer water than the reservoir in the chiller... I've read in some Hong Kong websites what they do is to rewire a new probe directly into the tank... This way your Chiller will be able to display the true temp & should not kick in so often resulting in lower electric bills... It will detect the true temp & will not kick in so often...

I will be going to Hong Kong to buy this probe to "fix" this problem before I start using this chiller...

I just wanted to share this info with everyone...

I will be cutting the wire that I have arrowed in Red (It's 01 wire I just took pics of both ends)... This will be the Temp Probe I will be cutting... See that one end is connected to the blue display & the other end is in the water reservior in the chiller...

I will then rewire a new Temp Probe & place the end of the probe into the tank...

I will explain a bit although I know this has been written but I wanted everyone to find the info on one thread...

The water will flow into the chiller, stay there for a few seconds & come out of the outlet... But the water that is flowing into the tank will always be warmer than what is in the chiller (Logical?)... So the probe will read that the water is let say at 26 degrees but the water flowing into the chiller from the tank is not 26 degrees as the ambient temp is higher than the water that is the chiller (Logical?)

So if the Temp probe is in the tank than the probe will read the true temp in the tank & hence will not kick in unless the water falls below you pre-set temp... So it should only kick in when the water in the tank drops below your pre-set temp...

As the body of water is greater in the tank (Obviously. This also applies even to nano tanks)... The fluctuations in Temp should not be higher than it originally was in the reservoir as the temp in a bigger body of water will be able to hold the temp better versus the limited amount of water in the small reservoir in the chiller... Coupled with the fact that there is always warmer water flowing into the reservoir in the chiller...

Your chiller should chill the tank to the pre-set temp & will stop once it reaches that temp... It will kick in again once it drops... This will result is less kick in timings...

One more thing I've read that the chiller consumes the most amount of electricity at start up... So if this is the case you can reduce kick in times but yet maintain a constant temp... An example is that a car consumes the most amount of fuel when it moves off from a complete start, this theory applies to chillers...

Please give your comments if I'm not wrong... I hope to be able to help those members that are having inaccurate temp readings which is why the chiller is always kicking in...

Technically your chiller should be able to last longer as it is working less harder...

For those in the know please correct me if you think I'm wrong as I've not yet done the re-wiring as I currently do not have the part...

But I will do it within these 02 weeks...

[neon]

I've read in some Hong Kong websites what they do is to rewire a new probe directly into the tank... This way your Chiller will be able to display the true temp & should not kick in so often resulting in lower electric bills... It will detect the true temp & will not kick in so often...

Bear in mind that not any probe is compatible to your thermostat . You may be wasting your money.

Best to leave your internal thermostat untouch and use an external thermostat . I finally DIY an external thermostat as explained in my 2006 response. Put the probe into the tank, plug your chiller power plug onto this external DIY thermostat power socket, and finally plug the external/DIY thermostat power plug onto your wall socket.

Setting :
a) Set your chiller internal thermostat to 18 deg C
b) set the external thermostat to your desire temp (ie 26 deg C)

Running :
a) the external thermostat display is always on , but does not mean the power is supplied to the chiller.
b) when the external thermostat reaches 27 deg C, it will enable the power supply to the DIY socket
c) in turn , the chiller is powered up because supply from the DIY socket is enable.
d) Chiller detects that temp is higher than its 18 deg C setting , so the chiller will kick in within a short while.
e) when the tank water is chilled and reached the temp set in the external thermostat (26 deg C), the external thermostat will cut off the power supply to the socket. Hence the chiller is totally power off.

My DIY external thermostat :

[tcy81]

Bear in mind that not any probe is compatible to your thermostat . You may be wasting your money.

Best to leave your internal thermostat untouch and use an external thermostat . I finally DIY an external thermostat as explained in my 2006 response. Put the probe into the tank, plug your chiller power plug onto this external DIY thermostat power socket, and finally plug the external/DIY thermostat power plug onto your wall socket.

Setting :
a) Set your chiller internal thermostat to 18 deg C
b) set the external thermostat to your desire temp (ie 26 deg C)

Running :
a) the external thermostat display is always on , but does not mean the power is supplied to the chiller.
b) when the external thermostat reaches 27 deg C, it will enable the power supply to the DIY socket
c) in turn , the chiller is powered up because supply from the DIY socket is enable.
d) Chiller detects that temp is higher than its 18 deg C setting , so the chiller will kick in within a short while.
e) when the tank water is chilled and reached the temp set in the external thermostat (26 deg C), the external thermostat will cut off the power supply to the socket. Hence the chiller is totally power off.

Is this method more efficient in power savings ?
or just a way to get acurrate temperature in your tank?

[stephen chung]

I have used my HC-300A chiller without much issue without a external controller.

I do have a thermometer to monitor the temperature in the tank and so far it is consistently where I want it to be +/- 1 degrees C

The temperature is around 1 degress off (tank is lower by 1 degree compared to what the chiller says, but then this offset is ok as long as it is consistent).

So far so good (about 3 months), keeping my fingers crossed.

The chiller cost 420 and I heard the cost of the external controller is around 120.

Actually, the so call accuracy between the tank temperature and the set chiller temperature very much depends on the flow rate. I use to use a eheim 2215 with a cl650 and the difference between the chiller temperature and the tank temperature is so different that I have to use an external controller. But when I change to a Eheim 2028 the difference drop. And I can do without the external controller.

[neon]

Is this method more efficient in power savings ?
or just a way to get acurrate temperature in your tank?

4 benefits I see :

a) Consistent and accurate temperature sensing
b) the thermostat I chose which allow calibration (offset setting)
c) reduce the number of kick-in time and is not affected by conditions other than temperature in the tank. Flow rate will only affect the efficiency of the cooling within certain time, but will not cause the frequent kick-in and out .
d) I delay the kick-in time when the temp reach the threshold. ie 15 mins. By delaying to minimize the amount of running time in a single day.

[dreamzzz]

intersting read up..... i own a hailea 380