Need opinions on Prime 1/4hp tower chiller

[AlBunch]

Looking into a Prime 1/4hp tower chiller for a 105g. This thing will live in the stand along with an aquaclear sump and a fluval 405.

The rear of the stand is wide open (it's an Oceanic tank with an Oceanic stand if that helps). Main concerns are space, cooling, and anything you can tell me about the chiller - reliability, customer service, etc..

[noodles9987]

I have the 1/4 hp prime chiller. I bought it originally in march for my 70 gallon oceanic tank. Since then, i've moved up to a 90 oceanic bow front. In my opinion, the chiller is too big to fit into the stand. If you have anything underneath the stand, forget about putting it in there. Also, the opening in the back of the stand is right underneath the bulkheads. The height of the unit will not allow you to put it in the opening. And, you would have to remove the doors on the stand, because it will need alot of air flow. I don't know about others, but in my opinion, you are going to have the same problem with any chiller when it comes to putting it under your stand.

As for reliability, I contacted the manufacturer about noise levels this summer. It seemed to be making a bit more noise when it was very hot here in Chicago. I got a reply within 1 hour. They were very helpful. The noise problem had to do with the temperature in my house. It was kind of warm, and as a result, the chiller was running hard to bring down the temp in the tank.

The chiller is a good unit. I like it, and it really seems to be well made. I would recommend it, providing it suits your application. One last thing - get the 1/3 hp unit if you have the option. Size is the same. It is about 30.00 extra at most of the sponsor sites. You can check the power calculator on the home page here at rc, and you'll find that these things don't add that much in terms of electrical costs, so the difference should not be too great between the 1/3 and the 1/4 units.