Best chiller for 120g-200g aquarium

[nathan1986]

So my a/c went out today. Tank temps went up tp 86 in all 4 aquariums i have. I was able to use ice packs for the 3 smaller tanks but was unable to lower the temp in the 120. I know these units are pricy so id like to spend the money once and get a great reliable chiller that can handle my tank size (120g) and also be useful for when i upgrade again. Also want a chiller powerful enough to where it isnt constantly running. Looking for some input as ive never purchased one before. Thanks in advance, nathan

 

[nathan1986]

Was looking at the jbj 1/4hp chiller. Says it will handle up to 260g tank. But ive found some threads saying its a closed loop system so if the compressor goes out you cant simply change it and re charge the system. I dunno if thats true or not but id like one thats fully servicable. Google usually yeilds bad reviews tho. Hard to find positives on certain things

 

[tony727]

Is your A/C still out? I can come out and fix it for you if you're close by =p. Any refrigeration system can be serviced, sometimes it not worth it to service that's all.

I don't have a chiller so I'm not sure about which ones are good though.

 

[nathan1986]

Yes the a/c is fixed now. Had the maintenance guy from my work (sun toyota) come look at it. Was just a bad cap, but i know nothing about home a/c units. Took him 4 minutes to test it and fix the problem. I appreciate you offering to fix it tho!

 

[mattliu]

The mechanical components are about the same, but I would try to get one with an external ranco controller and add another for redundancy, if you don't own a central controller. It's much more of a pain if the electronics fail in an integrated unit. Ranco's are relatively inexpensive and it's also easy to replace a failed temperature probe.

 

[nathan1986]

The mechanical components are about the same, but I would try to get one with an external ranco controller and add another for redundancy, if you don't own a central controller. It's much more of a pain if the electronics fail in an integrated unit. Ranco's are relatively inexpensive and it's also easy to replace a failed temperature probe.

Ill have to look into the ranco controller thing. Thanks for the input and i understand what you are saying

 

[robthorn]

All small refrigeration units are considered critical charges. That means if you put a hose on it to check the charge you will release a large enough amount taking hoses off to negatively effect the units efficiency. refrigerators, window units and aquarium chillers all fall in to this category. I am not sure what the people were expecting complaining they aren't serviceable because almost none of them are.

The best and most efficient ones are custom built and charged to your pump. The one guy in the area that last did this type of work has retired from doing it.

 

[nathan1986]

All small refrigeration units are considered critical charges. That means if you put a hose on it to check the charge you will release a large enough amount taking hoses off to negatively effect the units efficiency. refrigerators, window units and aquarium chillers all fall in to this category. I am not sure what the people were expecting complaining they aren't serviceable because almost none of them are.

The best and most efficient ones are custom built and charged to your pump. The one guy in the area that last did this type of work has retired from doing it.

You have a good point there. i guess i should have asked if there are companies that are more reliable than others? I understand them not being servicable and why they arent/not worth attempting. But if i spend $800 on a unit i want to put it towards the best one i can possibly buy. Ive read numerous threads of jbj chillers going bad around a year and a half of constant use and some saying theirs lasted 8+ years. Its probably a luck of the draw with quality control these days on how long it will last. I like the ranco controller idea that was suggested but ive read that after power outages some people had the ranco controller go to the max setting. They didnt specify what model ranco it was, and the threads were a few years old. So who knows if that is still an issue. Im just trying to bundle everything together and factor in all the odds to make the best decision. My money doesnt come easily so im trying to avoid putting it on the wrong product lol so far im liking everyones input tho!

 

[robthorn]

There are so many factors but I would bet 90% or higher the premature failures come from high water flow through the chiller.
This will cause poor efficiency and overheating of the compressor and then shorten the life.
I had a current usa 1/15th hp running on my 93 with a 250w halide for a couple years with no issues at all. I sold it when I broke the tank down. I also plumbed it in and and made sure actual flow through the chiller was right. It cycled off in the middle of the day and did not struggle to keep up when our house temp was set back every day to 82 degrees.
I take the cover off so I can feel the suction line and turn on the pump and set the chiller to run. With my hand I feel the suction line. (The big one going into the compressor that is normally insulated) Make sure it is cool. When the unit has been running more than 10 minutes and the tank temperature is within a couple degrees of your setpoint the copper line should bead up and condensate moisture from the air and feel cool/cold to the touch. Just like pulling a can out of the fridge. You are better to start off a little on the warmer side and slow the water down as needed. If you start off with the water too slow you might be tricked into thinking you are good and too little water flow is just as much of a problem as too much.
The controller on the current was pretty much junk. I used my apex to control the chiller.

 

[mattliu]

That guy who built the custom split units did great work. Sad to hear he retired. That's the way to go if you can nudge him out of retirement.

 

[oblio]

I picked one of the 1/15 hp units up a few years back, guy said it worked but it didnt and it became a "whole thing" trying to get my money back. I took the covers off and did find a pin hole in one of the solder joints. Unfortunatly they build these units with no service ports so you can just add freon.
I went to the junk yard, pickup of some aluminum AC lines from some junk cars, one pressure side one suction side. The issue now is I have aluminum service ports with copper tubing in the unit, found that they actually sell a solder that is designed to do exactly this job, bought it, soldered it all together, charged it, and it worked fine for a few months, then I gave it away.
So moral of the story, the cheaper units are serviceable but not easily. Make sure to check out how its built before purchase if future serviceability is something you want. Don't just assume they built it that way.

Good luck.

 

[robthorn]

Oblio you could have just bought the right copper fittings to do this job instead of trying to make this work with dislike metals and it would last longer than aluminum.

They do not put the ports in for a reason and it has nothing to do with being cheap. They don't want happy home owner messing with them.

Maybe a specific chiller is junk but it will be for other reasons than not putting a service port in.

 

[oblio]

Oblio you could have just bought the right copper fittings to do this job instead of trying to make this work with dislike metals and it would last longer than aluminum.

They do not put the ports in for a reason and it has nothing to do with being cheap. They don't want happy home owner messing with them.

Maybe a specific chiller is junk but it will be for other reasons than not putting a service port in.

I couldn't find the copper ones, then again i probably didnt look in the right place. copper would have been so much easier.

As far as the "happy home owner" well I whole heatedly disagree, the only reason to make something completely un-serviceable is nothing more than a business decision to either save every penny or planned obsolescence. Either way the the consumer loses. (go look at any local dump site) This is nothing more than a very small refrigeration unit, the number one thing that will go wrong with this unit is either the pump will fail, or the freon will leak out for whatever reason. Having no service ports leaves the average person with no option but to chuck it. This concept that some random item I can buy should be baby proofed is beyond moronic. Unless I'm buying a nuclear reactor I should allowed to screw up anything I own.

And in the end my unit DID work, it worked really well as a matter of fact, and last I heard from the guy who is running it now is that it continues to run well. So at this point this unit has been running over 3 years straight after my fix.

This concept of "if its broke throw it away" is completely unsustainable at all levels and sooner or later will catch up with us.
*sorry this hits nerve with me*

 

[robthorn]

I understand what you are saying but I know for sure they do not intend for you to just throw them away.
In the refrigeration industry these are considered critical charges. Plus there are environmental concerns with people thinking they need to hook guages up every 6 months doing a pm and releasing refrigerant into the atmosphere. Being a critical charge and typical hoses holding a couple ounces of refrigerant and you can see that quickly you will be so low the unit will not work anymore.
I do understand you want to do what you want but the epa says you are supposed to be certified to open these units up or connect hoses to them. Maybe you are and that would be great. I am just trying to explain why they do things.
There is way too much to type. We can chat on the phone about it if you want. Feel free to pm me your number.

 

[robthorn]

Compressor failure other than power surge issues goes back to my previous post about improper installation and set up. Set them up correctly and they last much longer.