Chiller malfunction question.. almost a disaster

[JMG718]

Had a brown out today and chiller reset to about 55 degrees or so ... randomly. ( didn't know it could go this low)

Luckily I was home and noticed the the temp read out at low 70s and knew something was wrong.


The chiller is a jbj arctica... I dont run a heater on my reef so the temp was on its way down to 50 degrees fairly quick.

What can I do take to make sure this doesnt happen again?

I already run a battery back up, but for my power head only.

New to the hobby and appreciate any suggestions

 

[miPapareef]

Use a secondary temp controller to cut power to the chiller any time the temp is below a low limit. Or the reverse logic. Only give the chiller power when the temp is above a minimum limit.

Then get a controller that can make an audible alarm or send you a text message anytime the tank is out of a desired temp range.

 

[laverda]

I agree with miPapa.

 

[maroun.c]

A secondary co troller as stated above or better yet an aquarium conyroller where u set limits and audible warnings and alarms as well as email or phone calls when alarms go off...

 

[Ron Reefman]

I hate to jump on bandwagons, but a secondary controller or a system controller is the best bet.

I had a chiller malfunction by turning on one evening and then not turning off (chiller controller failure). By 6am the next morning my water was below 60F and I lost all my branching and plating sps and lps corals. By 8pm the next night they were all white skeletons! Encrusting corals, zoas and anemones survived just fine, even 1/8" diameter baby RFA's survived.

BTW, my current tank is almost exclusively zoas and RFA's. I have a couple of sps and lps that fluoresce well, but that's it.

 

[JMG718]

Use a secondary temp controller to cut power to the chiller any time the temp is below a low limit. Or the reverse logic. Only give the chiller power when the temp is above a minimum limit.

Then get a controller that can make an audible alarm or send you a text message anytime the tank is out of a desired temp range.

Just wondering... the chiller reset to 50 degrees because the power was cut abruptly

If i use a controller I'm guessing I potentially will have the same issue, until I manually set the chiller back to 79 degrees after the controller cuts the power?

I do see the positive side, that the chiller will power off and I'd have much more time to fix the problem before the temperature plummets.

 

[Ron Reefman]

A secondary controller could have a minimum and maximum temperature that is acceptable, but slightly outside the range of the chiller thermostat. If the chiller goes crazy the second controller can still turn it on and off but over a slightly larger temperature spread. Say the chiller goes on at 80 and off at 78. The secondary controller can turn it on at 82 and off at 76.

 

[ScottBrew]

Requires some DIY, but a reef-pi controller will be able to control the chiller (and more) and send emails if temp goes out of tolerance allowing you to remote in and check what's going on. Parts cost would be similar to a controller.

 

[laverda]

It is the built in controller that is what fails on most chillers. You could bypass it and use a Rancho industrial controller instead. They are super reliable.