CL-280 adjustment Q...

[hobbzz]

I got my chiller today (Thanks for the quick shipping!) and just finished hooking it up. I set it for 80 degrees, and it would turn on for about 1-2 minutes then turn off because it registered the tank temp as 80. Well both of my thermometers say the temp is 81-82. The one in the fuge says 81 and the one in the display says 82 (the fuge gets less flow than the skimmer section). The chiller however, says the tank temp is 80...If I set it for 77, it keeps the temp at 80, according to the thermometer in the main tank. If I do this, it turns on about every 10-15 minutes for less than five minutes at a time.

I have the chiller pump (maxijet 1200) in the fuge as it won't fit anywhere else in the sump. And the return goes directly into the return section of the sump. There is about 13 inches of space behind the chiller. This is the only possible location for the chiller unless I want to run literally 40-50 feet of hose around my room and risk tripping over it and ripping it out and breaking the connections on the chiller.

Should I be trusting the thermometers or the chiller? Thanks.

 

[Jeremy B.]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about the trouble you're having. The chiller is actually short cycling, causing the temp reading in the chiller to be lower than what the actual sump/tank is reading at. To keep this from happening I would recommend putting a larger pump on the unit. The MJ1200 will run it, however short cycling is the common effect of this unit when it is on there, and not having enough flow. I would recommend going up to a Mag Drive 500 to run it efficiently. You can then put a ball valve on the input side of the chiller to turn the flow down just a little if needed.

Another thing to try after swapping out the pump is to run the return line from the chiller back up into the main tank, rather than dumping it back into the sump. This will greatly increase the efficiency of the chiller as well.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[hobbzz]

Thanks Jeremy. I wasn't trying to imply that it wasn't working. I just wasn't sure if the temp on the display was the set temp or actual water temp. I don't suppose I could exchange this un-opened mj1200 (I accidently ordered 2 and haven't used the other one yet) for a mag and pay the difference huh? If not it's not a problem.

Are there any other pump options because I already have about 4xx gph through my 20L display. Unless my current routing would work ok. Otherwise I could take out my power heads and put a "T" on the mag5 if the lines would fit.

Also with the dual controller, I'm assuming I just plug a heater into the socket under the power switch and it will turn on when needed? How do I adjust that temp? There weren't any instructions for that part in the manual. Thanks.

 

[Jeremy B.]

No problem on sending back one of those MJ's for credit towards the Mag, just let me know if you want to proceed with that.

The Mag would be about your best option, or like I said, just try and run your return pump through the chiller, and back up to the tank. If that doesn't work out for you, just take the Mag500 and run it out of the sump, to the chiller, and right back to the sump.

On the heater, just plug it in and turn it a few degrees higher than the setting on the chiller, so the heater is in the "always on" position so to speak, then let the chiller controller turn it off and on.

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[hobbzz]

Thanks for the help Jeremy. I already have the extra MJ1200 spoken for as I will be trading it for some frags.

If I could fit the Mag in the skimmer/intake section would that be best since it gets much more flow than the fuge? I highly doubt I can fit it in there but I haven't checked the dimensions of a Mag5 yet.

Also, ideally, how often should it be turning on and how long should it run? I realize there won't be an exact answer, and it will depend on ambient room temp, lights etc. But if the tank is 27g total, room temp is 82-84, and I want to drop the tank temp about 4-6 degrees what would you estimate to be a correct cycle? Assuming the chiller was set to turn on with a 2 degree temp difference. On once an hour for 15 minutes? Or more or less? I know you can only estimate, but I've never had a chiller so I couldn't even guess, and I want the chiller to last so I want to make sure it's not turning on more than it should. Thanks for all the help!

 

[hobbzz]

I thought of one other possibility. Even though I probably can't fit the Mag in the intake/skimmer section of the sump, if it would be beneficial to pull the water directly from the display, I could place the mag in the fuge, but run a line from the mag's intake to the skimmer section. Would that help?

 

[Jeremy B.]

Rather than running plumbing all over, I would just let the Mag pull from where it's setting. The difference it would make would be very minimal by doing anything else. The biggest benefit is that if you could return all the water from the chiller back into the tank, if you're pulling from the sump.

 

[hobbzz]

Yeah I can work that out. Thanks again!