how long is to long

[marinelife]

How long should your chiller run, Right now I am having problems with my chiller's compressor turning off while cooling, it starts running for about 1 hour then turn on and off every 15 minutes and never cools the tank because it is turning on and off, it also depends on the outside temp around it. when is it cooler out the chiller runs fine and never shut odd unit the tank is cooled to 80 but now that is it warm it is having this problem. It is a 1/2 Aqualogic inline running about 20gpm, on a 480gallons system filled with rock and sand, am I overworking the chiller. It runs fine with the cover off, keeps the tank cool. I am working with aqualogic but want some other ideas too. I am keeping the tank at 80 and with out the chiller it hit 86 two years ago.

[MargaritaMan]

Is the compressor turning off because it is overheating and maybe it has a thermal shutdown switch? Are you sure you are running 20gpm, or is that a guess? I had a 1/4 AL on my 180 that ran constantly with the lights on and cooled just enough. I have since replaced it with a better mousetrap. When the outside temps increases so does the head pressure of the compressor thereby decreasing its efficiency. It might be "overcharged" as well which will show up when outside temp increases if the unit is outside and if so it is freezing up. A 1/2 is a little small for the tank, but it shouldn't just quit randomly. Just a few thoughts. MM

[Northside Reef]

Also make sure you have plenty of circulation around the unit.

One to close to a wall will overheat and shut down.

[marinelife]

It is open around the unit, 20gpm is tested, it does have a thermal shutdown resistor or something that shuts the compressor off when it gets hot. I also have a 1/4 on this tank before I added the larger sumps, I only upgraded to this one because of added them and if worked fine until storms blew my controller, I replaced the controller and aqualogic sent me a kit to replace 3 parts on the chiller, then it ran fin until the weather started to warm up. I think now it is over heating, once the temp outside dropped the unit started running fine again

[Konadog]

marinelife, is the condenser coil clean? It's the radiator looking part that the fan pulls air thru. If this is not clear of dust, dirt, salt spray it can cause the compressor to over heat. Also, check the fan and make sure its working and clean. Just a little dirt or dust can cause problems.

[marinelife]

it is clean and the fan seems to be working fine, it is blowing air but I wonder if it should be faster

[Konadog]

Originally posted by marinelife
it is clean and the fan seems to be working fine, it is blowing air but I wonder if it should be faster They usually don't slow down, just go bad. When was the last time you cleaned the chiller barrel? Maybe its calcium encrusted and not transferring heat properly. Can you pull the unit and run vinegar thru it to clean it out?

These are just normal AC maintenance tips that most people forget about, fixes 80% of problems.

[marinelife]

It has only been running about 3 months