Chiller help

vincephuket · Oct 21, 2020

Hi everybody,

I have an Haleia 66A chiller on my 35 G. I bought it second hand. Set the temperature at 26 C and normally the chiller was working (kicking in) 15 mins every 70 mins. In the last weeks it happened that it started working more and more often, let’s say 15 min twice a hour. I set up the temperature at 27 C and also increased the flow (Sicce 2.5 synchra) but no improvement. The room temperature is the same and the only addition to the tank has been a very small pump for the zeolite reactor (a very small one).
I also have another thermometer and I am sure the chiller is reading the water temp correctly...

Any idea on what could be causing this?

Porpoise Hork · Oct 21, 2020

Check and clean the air filter. Most of these units use a fine mesh filter that get dirty fairly quickly and reduces airflow across the heat exchanger reducing cooling efficiency. This is especially true if it's sitting on carpet. If it is sitting on carpet, you might want to get a piece of plywood or something to elevate it off the floor. If it's inside the tank stand, there may not be adequate airflow and the ambient air in the stand is getting too hot for it to effectively transfer enough heat from the condenser thus reducing cooling efficiency. If you do have it in the stand, then adding active ventilation to it with a temperature controlled fan low on the stand and a larger vent hole at the top.

vincephuket · Oct 21, 2020

Porpoise Hork said:
Check and clean the air filter. Most of these units use a fine mesh filter that get dirty fairly quickly and reduces airflow across the heat exchanger reducing cooling efficiency. This is especially true if it's sitting on carpet. If it is sitting on carpet, you might want to get a piece of plywood or something to elevate it off the floor. If it's inside the tank stand, there may not be adequate airflow and the ambient air in the stand is getting too hot for it to effectively transfer enough heat from the condenser thus reducing cooling efficiency. If you do have it in the stand, then adding active ventilation to it with a temperature controlled fan low on the stand and a larger vent hole at the top.

Thanks for your reply. It is in the cabinet and I made extra holes in the cabinet and mounted two big fans, one sucking fresh air is and one blowing the hot air out behind the chiller. The fans turn on when the chiller kicks in. I also monitor the temp inside the cabinet, never higher than 30 C which should be more than fine....

excell007 · Oct 21, 2020

is your chiller running longer to bring down the temperature? if not, and your sure that the chiller thermostat is correct, then the issue is not the chiller. your water is heating up faster causing the chiller to run more often. do you have a heater on your tank? heater thermostat is notorious for getting out of calibration, so you have to adjust it accordingly. if you don't have a heater, then something else in your tank is generating more heat. is the humidity in your house the same as before?

vincephuket · Oct 21, 2020

excell007 said:
is your chiller running longer to bring down the temperature? if not, and your sure that the chiller thermostat is correct, then the issue is not the chiller. your water is heating up faster causing the chiller to run more often. do you have a heater on your tank? heater thermostat is notorious for getting out of calibration, so you have to adjust it accordingly. if you don't have a heater, then something else in your tank is generating more heat. is the humidity in your house the same as before?

Hi thanks for replying. Yes I would say the chiller takes more or less the same time to cool the tank down. As mentioned above the only add to the tank was a small reactor for the zeolite and the zeolite itself. Regarding the humidity I live in Thailand, so it is quite the same every day I believe... no heater in the tank.

excell007 · Oct 21, 2020

vincephuket said:
Hi thanks for replying. Yes I would say the chiller takes more or less the same time to cool the tank down. As mentioned above the only add to the tank was a small reactor for the zeolite and the zeolite itself. Regarding the humidity I live in Thailand, so it is quite the same every day I believe... no heater in the tank.

if it's pulling the temp down at the same rate as before then something in your tank is generating more heat than before. did you move your light closer to the tank?

vincephuket · Oct 22, 2020

excell007 said:
if it's pulling the temp down at the same rate as before then something in your tank is generating more heat than before. did you move your light closer to the tank?

Nope... always at 12 inches

Porpoise Hork · Oct 22, 2020

The past two weeks of temperature readings for your area have fluctuated a fair bit. The nighttime lows are fairly consistent at around 24c, but the highs are ranging from 27c and topping out at 32-33c the past few days. If your home does not have any A/C to keep the room temps moderately stable, then the recent higher daytime temps will be putting an increased load on the chiller to maintain stable tank temperatures. Thus forcing it to run more frequently. The only options you have if it is struggling to keep up is to upgrade to a larger chiller, or install some sort of A/C unit for the room the tank is in to keep the ambient air temp stable during the day.

Other possible causes to consider for the lowered cooling performance are low refrigerant caused by a very slow leak. Any A/C repair shop should have a sniffer tool to check for leaks. A failing or under performing expansion valve or partially clogged orifice tube that is not allowing the correct amount of refrigerant to flow through the system would cause poor cooling capacity. The downside if if is either of these is that most of the time smaller AC systems like this are 100% sealed units and do not have service ports to check/add freon if needed, or the ability to replace parts on it should they fail.

The last thing that may be causing reduced cooling performance is blockage in the heat exchanger plumbing. Most of the time the heat exchanger is very similar to a car radiator or heater block. The water passageways are fairly small and can easily become clogged with detrius if no inlet filter is used on the chiller. Some models may have an inline micro screen filter that you can pull out and clean. If no such filter is installed then you may need to pull the chiller out and run higher pressure/flow water through it in reverse to clear it. If you do this have the waste water empty into a bucket to see what all was in there. You may also have to run a cleaner solution through it but I'd check the owner's manual before using any chemicals in it. If there is a lot of trash cleared from the chiller, then you may want to invest in an inline filter similar to under sink paper/micro screen filters will work to catch debris before it can get trapped in the unit. If you are using a dedicated pump to feed water to it then inspect/clean it to make sure it is flowing properly.

vincephuket · Oct 23, 2020

Porpoise Hork said:
The past two weeks of temperature readings for your area have fluctuated a fair bit. The nighttime lows are fairly consistent at around 24c, but the highs are ranging from 27c and topping out at 32-33c the past few days. If your home does not have any A/C to keep the room temps moderately stable, then the recent higher daytime temps will be putting an increased load on the chiller to maintain stable tank temperatures. Thus forcing it to run more frequently. The only options you have if it is struggling to keep up is to upgrade to a larger chiller, or install some sort of A/C unit for the room the tank is in to keep the ambient air temp stable during the day.

Other possible causes to consider for the lowered cooling performance are low refrigerant caused by a very slow leak. Any A/C repair shop should have a sniffer tool to check for leaks. A failing or under performing expansion valve or partially clogged orifice tube that is not allowing the correct amount of refrigerant to flow through the system would cause poor cooling capacity. The downside if if is either of these is that most of the time smaller AC systems like this are 100% sealed units and do not have service ports to check/add freon if needed, or the ability to replace parts on it should they fail.

The last thing that may be causing reduced cooling performance is blockage in the heat exchanger plumbing. Most of the time the heat exchanger is very similar to a car radiator or heater block. The water passageways are fairly small and can easily become clogged with detrius if no inlet filter is used on the chiller. Some models may have an inline micro screen filter that you can pull out and clean. If no such filter is installed then you may need to pull the chiller out and run higher pressure/flow water through it in reverse to clear it. If you do this have the waste water empty into a bucket to see what all was in there. You may also have to run a cleaner solution through it but I'd check the owner's manual before using any chemicals in it. If there is a lot of trash cleared from the chiller, then you may want to invest in an inline filter similar to under sink paper/micro screen filters will work to catch debris before it can get trapped in the unit. If you are using a dedicated pump to feed water to it then inspect/clean it to make sure it is flowing properly.

Thanks a lot!