Jbj Chiller ?'s

BrklynArch

BrklynArch

New member
So im looking at picking up the 1/4hp jbj chiller and had a few questions about chillers in general.

Trying to do my homework I called JBJ customer service to see if I could get some answers to my questions but the person on the phone seemed to be reading from a general description and wasnt really informative.

The problem im having is trying to find a reliable, silent, low wattage pump that falls into the GPH required that will fit in the limited space i have left in my sump. I use a water blaster hy5000 for my return and its dead silent puts out no heat and uses @60W.......wish i could use the same kind of pump but they are rather bulky and take up alot of space....the pumps im looking at that fit the sump (long and narrow return section) use almost double that wattage and Ive been reading are loud (mag series...mag 9). also looked at the eheim compact series but haven't seen to many reviews and Ive read they are made from a diff manufacturer and are pricey.

The website indicated a min of @ 480-1200gph flow. when i asked the rep to recommend a pump she said they don't do that and any pump will work fine as long as its in the range.

what benefit would be to a higher flow rate compared to a lower flow rate thru the chiller? would the ideal be in the middle?

When i asked the rep she proceeded to explain that lower flow rates push water slower and higher flow rates make the water come out faster. So im glad that was cleared up :hmm4:!?! Then she said they recommend using the slowest flow rate required? But couldnt explain why. Is this true?

Im planning on putting the chiller adjacent to the stand and am not sure how to plumb it best. I dont want to have the return from the chiller go back into the display because i dont want tubing up and over the tank. would it be ok to have the return go back into the sump? if so then their wouldn't be any considerable head pressure. if not and i have to have it return back to the display it would be @ 4ft height.

also do you need to have water constantly running thru the chiller even when its off? or just have water circulating when the need to chill presents itself?

sorry about the long post but it seems the more research i do the more confused i get lol
 
Hi, what would be useful is what size of tank this is going on, possibility of splitting off some of the flow for the return for chiller.

I had a JBJ 1/3hp chiller on a 180 mixed reef that was done as a clsed loop. Now I have 120 SPS with the return going thru the chiller.
 
dan-in-gr said:
Hi, what would be useful is what size of tank this is going on, possibility of splitting off some of the flow for the return for chiller.

I had a JBJ 1/3hp chiller on a 180 mixed reef that was done as a clsed loop. Now I have 120 SPS with the return going thru the chiller.
Click to expand...

tank is 100g w a 40g sump......return is already taxed with (2) 3/4" returns and a manifold feeding 2 brs reactors and a fuge. I dont think there will be enough flow to add the chiller. plus having to redo my return plumbing would be a huge PIA.
 
look at the tunze silence pumps, they is one rated at 640gph for $85. Quiet, no heat, fairly small, with adjustable output.
 
Are you set on getting a JBJ? You could take a look at TECO, they require less flow,so you can get a smaller pump
 
autodave said:
Are you set on getting a JBJ? You could take a look at TECO, they require less flow,so you can get a smaller pump
Click to expand...

No im not dead set on the jbj, but the Teco seem to be more $

Im more curious as to how the flow rate affects the cooling capacity.
does slow flow = faster cooling or the other way around? less on off cycles etc....
 
I have 2 jbj chillers ,1 on each tank.

I have one on a manifold with a slow flow
The other one on the return also slow. I personallly like the chiller I have 2

As far as flow I think between the middle good because too fast it doesnt
Get a chance to chill the water properly but I could be wrong

Also if you are worried about another pump or flow just get a drop in chiller( it has a coil that you put in the path of the return section of the sump ,they just cost more )
 
The slower the flow the more the water in the unit will cool down, so with a slow flow the water goes in at 81 degrees and exits at 77 degrees, but only a small amount of water is being effected so it will take a while to cool off larger tanks this way. But if you have high flow then water is going to go in at 81 degrees and come out at 79.5 so less change to water but alot more water gets effected. With that concept in mind if you have a tank that is at the top of what the chiller is rated for I would think you would want to run it at close to max flow, so that the whole tank is flowing through it, if you had it going slow it would take a long time for the entire tank to be effected. Another question that you had was where to have the return from the chiller, most place it right back in the sump. The key to this is make sure the return is down stream of the intake. You don't want the chiller to be just circulating the same water. The intake pump can be right were the water dumps into the sump and the return can be in any chamber after that, this will prevent the chilled water from being pulled right back into the chiller.
 
Donkeykong said:
The slower the flow the more the water in the unit will cool down, so with a slow flow the water goes in at 81 degrees and exits at 77 degrees, but only a small amount of water is being effected so it will take a while to cool off larger tanks this way. But if you have high flow then water is going to go in at 81 degrees and come out at 79.5 so less change to water but alot more water gets effected. With that concept in mind if you have a tank that is at the top of what the chiller is rated for I would think you would want to run it at close to max flow, so that the whole tank is flowing through it, if you had it going slow it would take a long time for the entire tank to be effected. Another question that you had was where to have the return from the chiller, most place it right back in the sump. The key to this is make sure the return is down stream of the intake. You don't want the chiller to be just circulating the same water. The intake pump can be right were the water dumps into the sump and the return can be in any chamber after that, this will prevent the chilled water from being pulled right back into the chiller.
Click to expand...

Thanks man that makes sense.
 
one more quick question does water need to be continually pumped thru the chiller even when its not on? or do i set up the chiller and pump on a controller and have the pump come on at a specific temp for 10 min then have the chiller power on or do i just keep the pump running and have the chiller kick in when it needs 2 on its own?
 
I dont understand the low heat pumps. All submersible pumps will emit their wattage in heat into the aquarium. Efficiency is the key here. You can take a 50$ 100 watt pump and it will add the same amount of heat as a 500$ 100 watt pump. They only difference is that the 500$ pump should push more GPH for the same wattage and maybe quieter.

Also consider that most chillers add 6 feet of head pressure, JBJ should tell you an exact amount. So if your running the chiller through your return you can add at least 8 feet of head. Even a mag 12 will only push 710 GPH through 8 feet of head pressure and consume 110 watts. If your trying to push the max 1200 GPH through this chiller you are gonna need a very large pump.
 
BrklynArch said:
one more quick question does water need to be continually pumped thru the chiller even when its not on? or do i set up the chiller and pump on a controller and have the pump come on at a specific temp for 10 min then have the chiller power on or do i just keep the pump running and have the chiller kick in when it needs 2 on its own?
Click to expand...


Most chillers have a temp controller built in. Water runs through them non stop and like your central air at home when it rises above your set point it runs at 100% output till the intake temp drops back to your setting. Then it returns to off mode where it is just monitoring temp.
 
Mmiller40gt said:
All submersible pumps will emit their wattage in heat into the aquarium. Efficiency is the key here. You can take a 50$ 100 watt pump and it will add the same amount of heat as a 500$ 100 watt pump. They only difference is that the 500$ pump should push more GPH for the same wattage and maybe quieter.
Click to expand...

This.

I think I am using a mag7 or 9 on my jbj 1/4hp.

Anything this size will work. Check out the tunze pump.
 
Yes have the flow constant through the chiller, if you dont and it goes a long time between use the water in the chiller can get stagnet.

As for the heat from pumps, a Mag pump uses more wattage to move the same amount of water compared to tunze pump. So in that case you would have more heat in the water with the Mag pump. but you are right if the pumps are the same wattage you will have roughly the same amount of heat in the water.
 
I thought about adding a more efficient pump but to save 20 watts an hour for an extra 50-60$ would take the life of the pump to recoup.

At 10 cents a kwh (I pay 8) 20 watts savings would come out to 14.60 a year.
 
Yes cost per price of energy it is hard to justify, but if you are fighting heat or want everything to be silent then that 50 bucks may be more than worth it.
 
Donkeykong said:
Yes cost per price of energy it is hard to justify, but if you are fighting heat or want everything to be silent then that 50 bucks may be more than worth it.
Click to expand...


I agree but he as a chiller, so a few watts of heat and noise wont matter. The chiller will pwn both
 
FWIW, the JBJ manual for the 1/10 HP chiller recommends running the flow from the sump to the chiller to the tank, which is what I do.
 
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