Tunze chillers - anyone have one?

[chrissreef]

Anyone have a Tunze chiller?

or Roger - have any honest + or - regarding them? (I don't know anyone with one)


They're a bit more $ and potential repairs (finding parts), hooking up to an Aquacontroller, threading, temp probe calibration/replacement, build quality (i'm sure this is good) etc. is of concern to me vs just getting a unit made in the states.

Are they "really" any more effecient in terms of electrical usage than others?

here's a link:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewI..._3_HP___Greater_With_Built_in_Controller.html

Thanks!

 

[rvitko]

Chris,

I sent a PM with some contact people. The chiller has a built in controller. The build quality I would put up against any chiller on the market, I know of know one who has taken the cover off and not been in awe. The guy that builds and designed this is a high end refrigeration specialist, he installs commercial freezers, cold rooms for servers and the like and he built this along similar lines. It is over engineered if anything. I don't know of any temp probe calibration but I do know it can be replaced. It is built into the unit. I can't think of any negatives except the price. It is smaller than most, quieter than anything except a peltier, better built, and as efficient as a chiller can get, he uses to condenser coils that are custom made and a real expansion valve to achieve this. If you have ever tinkered with AC on a car or a house you know that they use an expansion valve that regulates the flow of the liquid and the expansion into a gas which is what creates cooling, most chillers cut corners by using a capillary which is a crudely crimped piece of copper or a soldered in smaller pipe. An expansion valve responds to the temp on the gas side by opening and closing to give a more precise control and more efficiency than a capillary. I just finished rebuilding the air conditioner on my 1967 Mercedes so I am fairly fresh on this stuff but those coils cost $400 a piece as a one off custom fabrication, they are certainly cheaper in quantity but they aren't cheap, expansion valves are about $30 vs a capillary that costs $1 worth of pipe.

 

[chrissreef]

Thanks Roger!

I'm looking at this vs a cheapy 1/2hp from another supplier. I have 350g total water volume reef. I need to knock the temp down 2-3 degrees and I'm not sure if this unit could do it comfortably or if it would have to run all the time to keep up. Thoughts?

(thanks - and I liked your response to the other questions... I also believe in/out isn't metric?)

 

[rvitko]

It is 1" female NPT. It should have no problem with that, it is rated to 400 gallons.