Questions on plumbing a chiller

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I plan to use an L2 to feed my chiller. I want to mount the L2 in my skimmer chamber using an available 1.5” bulkhead. I’ll step it down from 1-1/4 to 1” through the bulkhead. From there it will travel about 50 total distance (there and back). Then I plan to have it dump in my return chamber.

My sump from left or right roller/roller/skimmer/return (72x24x18)

Another option would be to put it in the second roller chamber from the left and have it return in my skimmer chamber. I would relocate my heater probe to roller chamber 1 (I don’t want to pull water from there as it’s a pod factory). I have 3 heater probes on this system, all commands are tied to the heater probe in the display.

Thoughts?

 

[Subsea]

No comment on how to plumb from your sump, both options work.

No matter where chiller is located, the piping to & from chiller need be insulated.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

No comment on how to plumb from your sump, both options work.

No matter where chiller is located, the piping to & from chiller need be insulated.

I didn’t think about that.

 

[Subsea]

I didn’t think about that.

Also, consider heat added to house living space and duct chiller hot air exhaust out doors.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Also, consider heat added to house living space and duct chiller hot air exhaust out doors.

I was going to put the chiller outside under a make shift roof. I have 3 windows in my fishroom. I could actually get it to work in this room if I made some form of a duct.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Also, there is usually a efficiency GPH on the back of the chiller. A flow meter may not be a bad idea to add. They are cheap enough. That L2 might be overkill depending on your rating.

 

[jsmkmavity]

50 inches i hope not 50 feet?

 

[jsmkmavity]

I dont think you want the cold return going into the skimmer. It could reduce co2 release but i dont know how much. Maybe not enough to matter. I would think you would want filtered water going to the chiller if possible.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I dont think you want the cold return going into the skimmer. It could reduce co2 release but i dont know how much. Maybe not enough to matter. I would think you would want filtered water going to the chiller if possible.

50 feet with lots of turns and is one of a couple reasons why I’m looking to use an L2. I run rollers, so any chamber is technically filtered. I’ve decided to dump in the skimmer chamber as to not screw with my ATO sensor. I can run a pipe up to my bubble trap so it can bypass my skimmer.

@TangerineSpeedo as much as I hate the apex flow meters, I’ll need to hook one up. It’s a 1.5hp and when I get this frag tank swapped out I’ll be pushing 650+ g, says I need at least 1450 GPH. I bet I barely get 2k based on this elevated road course I’m going to have navigate.

 

[Hats_]

Ideally i would pump from the main sump chamber to the pump chamber, increases efficiency of the chiller a lot

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Ideally i would pump from the main sump chamber to the pump chamber, increases efficiency of the chiller a lot

I plan on doing that. And I also am working. On a way to have my return pumps mounted in a way that the motor end is elevated out of the water allowing for more displacement and less heat in the water, plus less heat in the same chamber that my chiller will dump into.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

@TangerineSpeedo - would you mount the flow meter closer to the pump on the feed line or closer to the sump on the return line?

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

@TangerineSpeedo - would you mount the flow meter closer to the pump on the feed line or closer to the sump on the return line?

I would do it on the return, although there are merits to both ways. On the return it would be close to the actual flow. ( with a Neptune grain of salt ) < I am going to call that "Pun Intended".
I mean if you wanted to geek out you could do fore and aft to measure the restriction of elbows, chiller, etc. But you would have to have two matched flow meters and they would only stay matched for a short period of time.
Also another plumbing tip would be set up some unions so you can reverse the flow occasionally. Jbj recommends this. But my chillers are small enough I just detach them and run citric acid through them for a bit.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I would do it on the return, although there are merits to both ways. On the return it would be close to the actual flow. ( with a Neptune grain of salt ) < I am going to call that "Pun Intended".
I mean if you wanted to geek out you could do fore and aft to measure the restriction of elbows, chiller, etc. But you would have to have two matched flow meters and they would only stay matched for a short period of time.
Also another plumbing tip would be set up some unions so you can reverse the flow occasionally. Jbj recommends this. But my chillers are small enough I just detach them and run citric acid through them for a bit.

That’s a great idea. I actually have been wondering why there is an inlet and an outlet, I can only assume it has to do with where the probe is located. My plan is to have it set to 2 degrees below where I want it and have the apex (aka resurrected surplus of nos Radio Shack “build your own widget kits”) control the power on/off with redundancy. So, I won’t really be interested in the chillers onboard controls. Or so that is what I am thinking.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I would do it on the return, although there are merits to both ways. On the return it would be close to the actual flow. ( with a Neptune grain of salt ) < I am going to call that "Pun Intended".
I mean if you wanted to geek out you could do fore and aft to measure the restriction of elbows

The flow before and after better be the same or the universe may unravel....

 

[Reef Wizard]

I plan to use an L2 to feed my chiller. I want to mount the L2 in my skimmer chamber using an available 1.5” bulkhead. I’ll step it down from 1-1/4 to 1” through the bulkhead. From there it will travel about 50 total distance (there and back). Then I plan to have it dump in my return chamber.

My sump from left or right roller/roller/skimmer/return (72x24x18)

Another option would be to put it in the second roller chamber from the left and have it return in my skimmer chamber. I would relocate my heater probe to roller chamber 1 (I don’t want to pull water from there as it’s a pod factory). I have 3 heater probes on this system, all commands are tied to the heater probe in the display.

Thoughts?

I was going to plumb my chiller on a build right after the return pump. So from RP into chiller then back into display.

Anyone on the thread see a problem with that?

EDIT

The chiller is rated for 900gph max so is the overflow.

I will be adding a SDC 6.0 so not concerned with the flow as pump is controllable