I have just received a chiller for my reef setup. I have 3 display tanks on the 1st floor and the sump located in the basement. What is the best way to plumb the chiller into the system?
Thanks
Ed
Thanks
Ed
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no dedicated return chamber, its a 110 gallon stock tankInto return chamber.
I have a manifold I can use to supply it, but the instructions with the chiller do not recommend sending the water back to the sump. So I figured somebody on here probably has already installed a chiller. My sump hold alot of water so it might work the way you described.I'll be doing the same in a week.
What about a pump in the sump, out to the chiller input, chiller output return to sump.
Or you could run an external pump, suction side in the sump, pump output to chiller in, chiller out back to sump. I think this is how I'll do mine, except dt and sump on 1st floor, chiller will be in basement with external pump.
Is the manifold gravity or pump fed?I have a manifold I can use to supply it, but the instructions with the chiller do not recommend sending the water back to the sump. So I figured somebody on here probably has already installed a chiller. My sump hold alot of water so it might work the way you described.
pump fedIs the manifold gravity or pump fed?
If gravity you may not get enough flow thru the chiller.
The artica chiller examples all use a pump
no dedicated return chamber, its a 110 gallon stock tank
That makes sense, never even thought about it that way. My heaters in the sump are enough to keep the display tanks at the desired temperature during the cooler months.A pump in the sump anywhere that stays wet to the chiller and back to the sump anywhere will work just fine. The turnover between the tank and sump can be pretty low; if your turnover is enough to heat the tank with a heater in the sump, that turnover is generally enough to cool too the display too. If the sump is way cooler than the display tank, increase turnover.
Wow! My chiller is only 1/5 hp. What is the total water-volume of your system?That makes sense, never even thought about it that way. My heaters in the sump are enough to keep the display tanks at the desired temperature during the cooler months.
The chiller has 1.5 inch input and output. Its a 3/4hp 220 volt.
600 gallons between 3 tanks and the sumpWow! My chiller is only 1/5 hp. What is the total water-volume of your system?
Yes its sized for my setup. The recommended flow rate is 18-45 GPM. My return pump is about 100 GPM. Would a by-pass loop coming off the return line work?I have mine plumbed directly in between one of my return pumps and one of the return jets in my DT. As long as there is adequate circulation flow in the DT, you usually don't need to worry about detrimental localized temperature swings in the DT. The key plumbing issue I'd recommend you think about is the flow rate through the chiller. Assuming you bought one appropriately sized for your system, getting the flow rate as close as possible to the manufacturer's suggestion will help you both with speed of cooling and your energy costs.
Thing about flowrate is that it's never as high as advertised on the pump box because plumbing turns, restrictions, and height all significantly reduce flow. You can install an inline flow meter if you want to get fancy or you can jerry rig a cheap garden hose flow meter (https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cheap-flow-meter.825086/) in order to figure out what your system is really doing flow-wise.
Anyway, two things:
Yes, a bypass loop would work fine. Put a high quality ball valve on the loop to allow you to fine tune flow. I also always recommend using unions and actually using two ball valves (one on each end of the closed loop) so you can easily adapt your closed loop for different equipment and shut it off entirely, respectively.
Second, your return pump is doing 100 gallons per minute? That's 6000 GPH! Holy Moses!