Tune Chiller

[02tts]

I have a 265 gallon tank that I want to cool down from 84 to 78-79...I am planning on putting the chiller on a ventilated outdoor covered patio, will the Tunze chiller be able to handle cooling the tank from current 84 degrees to 78 degrees...( I refuse to put chiller inside do to heat and noise, mainly heat, it's already hot enough!)

I live in Florida, weather is usually 90+ with humidity 75-80%+.

Also need to know amp, watts and/or KW for this unit.

I was considering an Oceanic, Teco, Aqualogic and just recently came across some reading regarding the Tunze, but unfortuatnely this chiller is too new from what I can find...

Any thoughts.

 

[rvitko]

The wattage is about 670W for the chiller, you can additionally connect a heater of up to 1200W to the auxillary outlet on the back. It is a 5000 BTU chiller, you average 1/3rd horse does 4000BTU, the average half horse does 6000BTU. This chiller is a 1/3rd horse with greater efficiency as it has two condensor coils and an expansion valve instead of a single coil and a capillary. I see no problem with the 6 degree pull down on the size tank you have listed if it was used indoors. I am waiting for a definite answer from Walter on your specific install, certainly the higher outdoor heat and humidity will lower the efficiency to some extent.

Model: AT-5000

HP - 1/3 Plus
BTUs - 5,000
EER - 8.0
Tank Capacity - 100-400 Gallons
Heater Outlet - 1200 Watts
Electrical Cord - 6' Detachable, 14 Gauge
Width - 12 inches
Length - 12 inches
Height - 18 inches
Weight - 48 pounds
Voltage - 115-125 v. / 60 Hz
Refrigerant - 134A
Intlet/Outlet Connections - 1" FPT
Water Flow
--- Minimum - 300 GPH
--- Maximum - 1000 GPH
Temperature Control Range - 33 degrees F to 99 degrees F.
Diode Indicators
All Brazed Fittings

 

[02tts]

pls let me know as soon as you can, I need to pull the trigger on one today or tomorrow.
Was also considering pacific import chiller 1/2 or 1hp because of running the chiller outside, just not sure how the two compare to each other in terms of efficiency and running costs. Price for theirs is same as yours just about, but bigger unit which may be what I need since I want to put outdoors, again I've had indoor chillers before and the noise and get exchange, specially in Florida with a/c running all day is nuts.

But let me know, I don't want to but wrong size unit.

Also... Question how can oceanic cool the same when their 1/2 is only 1270 BTU's and their 1HP is only 2500 BTU'S... Am I missing something here?!


Need to make informed decision.

 

[rvitko]

OK, Walter felt the temperature was no problem, however he was concerned about the humidity, with such high humidity, especially if it is near the coast with salt air, the temperature controller board will suffer and it may fail.

As far as the BTU's he said not knowing what their ambient temp differential was it is hard to say but a typo is likely as he said he has tested most of the competitors and a 1/3rd hp chiller typically does about 3200BTU's in real world conditions, ours gets to 5000 BTU's because of the design, better heat exchangers (condensor coils), two of them, bigger fan, and a real expansion valve like an airconditioner, instead of a simple capillary. If you have any AC experience you know that an expansion valve regulates the expansion of the liquid refrigerant into gas and the resulting temp decrease in the coil, a way to cut corners is to use a capillary, it does the same thing but without any control, an expansion valve uses a bimetallic valve to regulate this expansion and keep it at its optimum avoiding a freeze or too high a temp. Typically with a capillary you have to bias the temp toward the higher end to prevent a freeze up.

 

[02tts]

well, I'm not near the water at all, so no salt air... Just humid as hell.
That being said could I use a drop in temperature controller instead of the built in one? If so, which do you recommend with the tunze.

Also what's the warranty?

 

[02tts]

also one other question (please excuse my stupidity):

If 1HP=2544.xx BTU's how can the Tunze or any other chiller claim more than that?

I know nothing about thermodynamics or the sort but just off simple math conversion I'm confused...

I mean I see chillers advertise:

6000 BTU for 1/2Hp
12000 BTU for 1HP
Tunze: 5000 for 1/3Hp

Again, please excuse my stupidity but I just don't understand...

I've narrowed it down to:

Tunze - so far I love the support but no number to call..
Oceanic - not crazy about warranty, good support
Teco - great support and love warranty, but may be undersized

Help me understand and decide, please....

 

[rvitko]

Here is a thread with more info

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1391077