I recently added a chiller to my tank to help control temp spikes in the middle of the day (I live in Texas where it’s now 100 degrees every day and have an 80-year old house that doesn’t have great insulation … so inside temperatures can get toasty even with the AC on).
I purchased the 1/5 HP JBJ unit from BRS (https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/jbj-arctica-chiller-1-5-hp.html) and am using it on a system with a total working volume of 140 gals.
When I first got the unit I powered it directly from its own outlet on another circuit since I was worried about brown-outs on startup if it was on the same circuit as my Apex. However, I found that it didn’t give me the tight control of temperature in my DT as the setpoint on the JBJ can only be controlled within +\- 1 degree. Together with the setpoint on my Apex for the heaters, between high ambient room temperatures in the day and low ambient room temperatures at night I was still getting 1.5 degrees of swing on the DT (I know, not the end of the world, but I’m funny that way).
So now I’ve plugged the Chiller directly into my EB832 and use the Apex to control both the chiller and the heaters, and now the maximum temp fluctuation in the DT is down to about 0.5 degrees.
Looking at the trace in the Apex for the chiller power draw over time, I see that when run in this manner the Chiller has an average duty cycle of approximately 17 min run time with 35 min between starts (or about 32%), and has an average of 14 starts per day. According to the power monitor, it draws about 3.5 amps while running with a very short spike of 5 amps each time it starts.
I can’t find anything from the manufacturer on what the unit’s design duty cycle is, so I don’t know how this compares to what the manufacturer originally intended. The only thing I did find is that when the unit powers up each time, it has a programmed 3-minute “acclimation” period for the temperature reading to stabilize before it powers up the compressor (meaning, the real duty cycle is only 14 min out of 52 mins, or 26%). I’ve confirmed this by looking at the Apex trace between the outlet status and current draw.
My gut tells me that both the Chiller and the Eb832 should be able to handle this kind of duty cycle and current draw on an extended basis, but I’d feel a lot better if I had a second opinion.
Has anyone else had trouble running a chiller directly from the EB832 and using the Apex for control?
PS - the EB832 is powered directly by a stand-alone 20A circuit directly from the main panel with a whole-home surge suppressor, and I’ve confirmed that I’m getting a very stable 120VAC +\- 3% at the outlet.
Thoughts?
I purchased the 1/5 HP JBJ unit from BRS (https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/jbj-arctica-chiller-1-5-hp.html) and am using it on a system with a total working volume of 140 gals.
When I first got the unit I powered it directly from its own outlet on another circuit since I was worried about brown-outs on startup if it was on the same circuit as my Apex. However, I found that it didn’t give me the tight control of temperature in my DT as the setpoint on the JBJ can only be controlled within +\- 1 degree. Together with the setpoint on my Apex for the heaters, between high ambient room temperatures in the day and low ambient room temperatures at night I was still getting 1.5 degrees of swing on the DT (I know, not the end of the world, but I’m funny that way).
So now I’ve plugged the Chiller directly into my EB832 and use the Apex to control both the chiller and the heaters, and now the maximum temp fluctuation in the DT is down to about 0.5 degrees.
Looking at the trace in the Apex for the chiller power draw over time, I see that when run in this manner the Chiller has an average duty cycle of approximately 17 min run time with 35 min between starts (or about 32%), and has an average of 14 starts per day. According to the power monitor, it draws about 3.5 amps while running with a very short spike of 5 amps each time it starts.
I can’t find anything from the manufacturer on what the unit’s design duty cycle is, so I don’t know how this compares to what the manufacturer originally intended. The only thing I did find is that when the unit powers up each time, it has a programmed 3-minute “acclimation” period for the temperature reading to stabilize before it powers up the compressor (meaning, the real duty cycle is only 14 min out of 52 mins, or 26%). I’ve confirmed this by looking at the Apex trace between the outlet status and current draw.
My gut tells me that both the Chiller and the Eb832 should be able to handle this kind of duty cycle and current draw on an extended basis, but I’d feel a lot better if I had a second opinion.
Has anyone else had trouble running a chiller directly from the EB832 and using the Apex for control?
PS - the EB832 is powered directly by a stand-alone 20A circuit directly from the main panel with a whole-home surge suppressor, and I’ve confirmed that I’m getting a very stable 120VAC +\- 3% at the outlet.
Thoughts?
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