Ask your chiller related issues here

[Xgame2k]

It has about 8 months on it. Should the refridgerant be replaced or what?

 

[ihavtats29]

ok its not under warranty, first make sure the condenser fan motor comes on with the compressor ,it is most likely dirty too clean the condenser coil , brush off any caked up dust then blow out with compressed air, also clean the air filter it should be removable with a few screws and wash out under the sink let dry then reinstall. most of the time a dirty coil and filter will be the main reason a chiller will quit cooling

 

[bumpbailey]

I have a JBJ 1/3hp CHiller on my 180. It has completely shut down and will not restart. My ATO Shut down on me a week ago and my water level got low. THis is when the chiller shut down. Water was still being pumped through the chiller but I am not sure how much and for how long....not more than 4 or 5 hours. Could this have cased the fuse to blow? Or am I possibly looking at some other kind of damage?

 

[tegee]

I believe there is a fuse located directly above the power cord in the rear of the chiller. Give that a look....HTH

 

[ihavtats29]

check the fuse , if its blown there could be a few things that caused it, a lock up / grounded fan motor or compressor , or a dead short/ground , overheating compressor will blow the fuse , over amping from a dirty condencer coil can do the same, your ato will not cause your fuse to blow. before you change the fuse make sure the condencer fan spins freely , and check for and shorts /discolored or burnt wiring, and check for any grounds. to check compressor for grounds remove electrical cover from compressor, remove all wires from compressor terminals and from each of the terminals with a multi meter set on continuity or ohms to any of the copper tubing on the compressor , a reading of OL or 0.00 is what you want , do the same with the fan motor , be sure to make a diagram of what wire went where,if no grounds are found , replace the fuse and start the unit , check for the fan operation, and compressor comming on , with a amp meter you can check the total drawn amps of the compressor off all 3 wires that connect to the compressor terminals add together and divide by 3 it should not be higher than the listed rla # on the compressor tag the fan should only pull about .3 amps , if the compressor is hummin for a few seconds and then stops you may have a bad capasitor or locked up compressor replace the capasitor and start relay the start relay is on the compressor terminals a plastic piece with a coil in it , if that does not get the compressor to run it is locked up and you mite as well get a new chiller it will cost less than replacing the compressor, if the fan hums and will not turn or has a hard time turning it will be bad and need to be replaced

 

[hardiel]

OK. Since you offered here I go with my question:

I have a AQUA LOGIC 1/4 HP In-Line Aquarium Chiller with RANCO Digital Temperature Controller and a MAG 5 pump (500 gph). The tank is a 100G with a sump ( IDK, maybe 20?).

I have the controller to kick in when the tank reaches 78. I have it at +-2 degrees and it takes a couple of hours to go down these 2 degrees. I have the probe in the display tank and the in/out in the sump. Then I have a MAG 9 as a return pump. The chiller gets awful hot so I put a fan on the front to try to help.

Here comes the stupid calculaltion of the week: the water output reads 79. The input reads 80. So if the tank has 100G and the MAG 5 pumps 500 g/h it should take like 15 minutes to go down 1 degree right? Anyway,...

Questions:

1. Is it normal that takes that long?.
2. Is normal that gets that hot?
3. Is the fan helping?
4. Can this chiller be recharged with new gas? It's the old model.

EDIT: Forgot the bad news. I live in S Florida and I have MH (500W)

Here is the pic

 

[ihavtats29]

first blow out the condenser coil with compressed air or nitrogen, that will make a big diferance. expecialy since you are only getting a 1 degree drop from the chiller, you can also throtle back the amount of flow thru the chiller, the slower the flow the more drop you will get, and your calculation sounds good but it dont work that way, it all depends on the amount of flow heat load and tank size and room temp, a fan is a great improvement preventing the chillerfrom stacking the heat it puts off also check the condencer fan blade for buildup of dust it will lower the amount of cfm's the fan would normaly put out, and yes the chiller can be recharged but it should not need to be refridgerand does not go bad or get old . the only reason to recharge it woiuld be if there was a leak in the system. it most likely uses r-22

 

[hardiel]

thanks. You are a great asset in this forum. Great info. I finally opened it up and the coil nor the fan don't look too dusty. I found out that what gets boiling hot is the compressor. What doesn't look that good is this coil thing in the picture (IDK what that is).

I don't have a compressor at home. I found a place in craiglist in Ft Lauderdale (FL) that services them. I'll talk to them Tuesday an see how much they charge for blowing it and, if necessary charging gas.

 

[ihavtats29]

if the compressor is getting realy hot it needs to be cleaned. that coil is your liquid line is just thin copper tubing that has oxidation nothing to worry about, you should blow out your chiller coil 2 times a year maybe more depending how dusty you house is and how much the chiller runs, all it takes is a thin layer of dust to change the heat displacemeny of the coil , also you can clean your heat exchanger with a 50/50 mix of r/o and viniger fill a 5 gal bucket and pump the mix thru the chiller back to the bucket over night , calcium buildup will keep the chiller from chilling ,

 

[autodave]

Jim -I have a JBJ Artica 1/3 hp,For some reason the temp controller started to fluctuate up and down (non-stop)and wont hold a consistent temp.Any ideas what could be wrong?I have not used it in a few years but was working great after a few weeks when I got it set back up

 

[ihavtats29]

Jim -I have a JBJ Artica 1/3 hp,For some reason the temp controller started to fluctuate up and down (non-stop)and wont hold a consistent temp.Any ideas what could be wrong?I have not used it in a few years but was working great after a few weeks when I got it set back up

check the temp probe take it out of the heatexchanger and clean it by soaking it in vinager and cleaning with a firm toothbrush get it clean and it should start reading corrrectly agian , if problem continues you may need a new probe

 

[dahenley]

what switch makes the compressor turn on and off? say the chiller comes on and keeps cooling the water, past the set point. (the digital thermomitor reads correctly, but the chiller never shuts off.)

 

[autodave]

Thanks -Yea-I was on thier website and they recommended to back flush with vinegar every 6 months -I've never done it since I got it

 

[tegee]

Backflushing the heat exchanger as well as keeping the condenser free of link and dust is critical to proper operation of a chiller. Unfortunately I had to learn the hard way. Now I am on a regular cleaning schedule.

 

[ihavtats29]

what switch makes the compressor turn on and off? say the chiller comes on and keeps cooling the water, past the set point. (the digital thermomitor reads correctly, but the chiller never shuts off.)

there is a micro switch in the controler that calls for the compressor to come on , you can either replace the controler or use a reef controler with a hd-4 power module to control the chiller , you can get the factory controler by calling the manufacture

 

[dahenley]

there is a micro switch in the controller that calls for the compressor to come on , you can either replace the controller or use a reef controller with a hd-4 power module to control the chiller , you can get the factory controller by calling the manufacture

cool, thank you.

is there a mercury switch or coil (like in older thermostats) or is it all electronic now a days?

is there a possibility to crack it open and see if something is oxidized or rusted or if electronic, i guess there is no real fix without replacing?

 

[richierich2000]

I have a old chiller and the heat exchanger is bust. I will have to unhook it to make a new one how can I recharge it

 

[autodave]

Dang-did a backflush and was working great w/a 5gallon bucket-temp holding steady-then I hooked it back up to my tank and temp started to bounce again.Should I put a new temp probe on?

 

[ihavtats29]

cool, thank you.

is there a mercury switch or coil (like in older thermostats) or is it all electronic now a days?

is there a possibility to crack it open and see if something is oxidized or rusted or if electronic, i guess there is no real fix without replacing?

no merc everything is electronic now. ithe relay is pretty small and soldered to a pc board i dont believe it can be serviced

 

[ihavtats29]

I have a old chiller and the heat exchanger is bust. I will have to unhook it to make a new one how can I recharge it

ifd the exchanger is cracked you can get a drill or dremel with w small drill bit and score the crack or cracks the fill the grove with superglue gel , ive repaired many this way , the best and correct way to recharge the system would be to first replace the liquid line dryer, leak check with compressed dry nitrogen only !!! about 150 psi will be good , then bleed out the nitrogen and pull a vaccum for a hr or so the weigh in the correct charge of refridgerant . you can allways get it down to where you just need the vaccum and charge and get a hvac tech to do it for you