Isla Escondido - invincible569's Rimless 300g - Page 22

naka · #**526** 03/30/2007, 03:01 PM

More frags!

"electric blue" a. vermiculata (I'm keeping this one!!!)

a. granulosa

a. pulchra

cali tort

a. selago

a. loripes

dgasmd · #**527** 03/30/2007, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by invincible569
Well my Pacfic Coast chiller came in just in time. Today was finally a hot day in Houston. The only thing that dissapointed me was that I wanted to purchase an american made chiller.

I will admit I have not being keeping up with this thread. I will also admit the hair in the back of my head and neck just stood up when I saw this picture above. I am so sorry I could not warn you about this before. I bought one of these chillers (2HP) for my larger system and it was the biggest nightmare I couldn't have imagined. To say the least, I would get out of the hobby altogether if these were the only chillers left in the market

I finally pictched it when I took my tank down after it broke down again. I lost count of how many times it was down, I was calling my AC guy in the local club at 11PM, etc. Getting rid of that darn thing was such a relief that it must be the feeling guys get when getting released from a rural cambodian prision

Sincerely, best of luck to you..............

tanya72806 · #**528** 03/30/2007, 05:53 PM

mine has never let me down at all

jnarowe · #**529** 03/30/2007, 06:31 PM

ouch.

leetdood · #**530** 03/30/2007, 06:48 PM

FTS yet??? we've all been waiting for sooooooooooo long now..
;-)

invincible569 · #**531** 03/30/2007, 07:41 PM

fisheebill, I've always loved the look of a sandbed. It looks natural. Its all about aesthetics.

naka, the gods have sent us their riches. Thanks again Marshall for supplying us with your wealth!

Alberto, funny thing is that when I was researching and purchasing this chiller I was thinking about you. I said.. if dgasmd had one of these in his garage (saw pic), then they are sufficient. Never did I know you had issues that would make you rebel against such a product. What did you end up replacing it with? The good thing is that life isnt over yet and I plan on adding a backup unit. Thats one thing about chillers.. there isnt ever that one perfect one. Just like those heaters.

leetdood, my plan was to show you once i get the lights in. Just found out that they should be shipped out next week to the states. That may take a while from past experiences with other foreign products.

Zoos · #**532** 03/30/2007, 10:40 PM

That a. vermiculata is awesome

Chip Douglas · #**533** 03/31/2007, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dgasmd
I will admit I have not being keeping up with this thread. I will also admit the hair in the back of my head and neck just stood up when I saw this picture above. I am so sorry I could not warn you about this before. I bought one of these chillers (2HP) for my larger system and it was the biggest nightmare I couldn't have imagined. To say the least, I would get out of the hobby altogether if these were the only chillers left in the market I finally pictched it when I took my tank down after it broke down again. I lost count of how many times it was down, I was calling my AC guy in the local club at 11PM, etc. Getting rid of that darn thing was such a relief that it must be the feeling guys get when getting released from a rural cambodian prision

Sincerely, best of luck to you..............

I'm surprised to hear that. We've run ours for about two years now and haven't had a single problem, it's a 1hp.

dgasmd · #**534** 03/31/2007, 09:53 AM

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hlight=chiller

That is my personal experience. That thread does not even touch the tip of the iceberg as far as the problems I had with this unit. To say the least, everything was replaced several times in the unit with the exception of the compressor, which to my surprise and my AC buddy's surprised survived everything. My buddy thought it would get fried any moment, but it did held on. The fan, fan motor, electronic board, etc. is completely different story and never worked right at all. Extremely inefficient in electrical use too. No matter what I ever did to this unit, it never stopped from coming on and off every 5 minutes. It would probably account for about $200/month in electrical use alone!! I know of several people that have had the same issues with these chillers too. Again, I wish you the best of luck with it.

I think that for just about anything 1/2 HP or less, yuo can get by with mos tof the units sold int he market. Some better than others. For anything less than that, I would seriously look into getting a unit made for outside placement. Tradewinds seem to be a great company an have a great product. I have spoken with the president of the company several times on making me a custom unit for whan I setup the tank again. I will go with one of these units in the future.

Back to your tank..................

SERVO · #**535** 03/31/2007, 11:40 AM

Hey Ed,

Did you ever think about suspending the chiller near the ceiling fan? I think that would help ventilate the hot air quicker than having it on the floor. You could get one of those older TV suspension racks that were sold prior to flat screens. That will hold without problems.

invincible569 · #**536** 03/31/2007, 07:50 PM

Alberto, thanks for the feedback. I will keep an eye on it. Well, I am trying naka's tip and that was to plumb the chiller into the Closed Loop instead of my sump. Hopefully, it wont come on as much as it did for you. My old chiller used to do that, but since the water volume is larger in the display, it will cool at longer periods while keeping teh chiller off at a lower rate. It hasnt been very hot here yet, so I cant answer to this just yet. This would definitely lengthen the life of the compressor even though you didnt have this issue.

SERVO, that is a possibility and would require a seperate pump, no doubt. This room is very cool which has its own AC vent, strong ventilation, and one of those restroom vents for when it becomes hot. Good idea though. If it does become an issue, I will definitely have this in mind and rework it.

dgasmd · #**537** 03/31/2007, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by invincible569
Alberto, thanks for the feedback. I will keep an eye on it. Well, I am trying naka's tip and that was to plumb the chiller into the Closed Loop instead of my sump.

And very good advice it was. Plumbing it to a close loop is the most efficient and save way to plumb a chiller.

Dudester · #**538** 04/01/2007, 11:31 AM

Do you have a diagram or description of how to plumb a chiller into the closed loop? I didn't use a chiller on my current tank, but I'll have one on my next tank (I just ordered it

) and I'm trying to figure out how to plumb it in. Thanks.

FYI Edward, I took your advice and I'll be representing Austin in the Rimless Society.

jnarowe · #**539** 04/01/2007, 11:45 AM

I thought chillers needed very specific flow to work properly. SO do you just size your CL pump accordingly?

dgasmd · #**540** 04/01/2007, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dudester
Do you have a diagram or description of how to plumb a chiller into the closed loop? I didn't use a chiller on my current tank, but I'll have one on my next tank (I just ordered it ) and I'm trying to figure out how to plumb it in. Thanks.

I don't know if this was directed to Edward specifically or me, but here it goes in any case. Plumbing it in a close loop is simple. Just plug in the chiller preferentially after the close loop pump. You must be carefull to match the close loop pump's flow rate witht he required/max for the chiller. This is where a lot of people mess it up and end up with far greatter flow rates through their chiller than the chiller is rate to. It makes it very inefficient too. Also, I would not put it in a close loop if the lines are pressurized like if you are using eductors/penductors as they will pressurize the heat echanger inside the chiller too much and may cause a major leak. Those things are not meant for pressure aplications. I would seriously look into a way of alerting ou inmediately if the close loop pump is not working as it may cause the chiller to freeze inside depending on where the temperature sensor is located. That is about it.

GSMguy · #**541** 04/01/2007, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dudester
Do you have a diagram or description of how to plumb a chiller into the closed loop? I didn't use a chiller on my current tank, but I'll have one on my next tank (I just ordered it ) and I'm trying to figure out how to plumb it in. Thanks.

FYI Edward, I took your advice and I'll be representing Austin in the Rimless Society.

texans argghhhhhh you and your rimless wonders

invincible569 · #**542** 04/01/2007, 03:24 PM

Dudester, that is great news!! What size did you end up getting? Way to represent texas.

I was messing around with my underwater camera. Thought I would try a half water and half air shot. Came out ok.

fishman6 · #**543** 04/01/2007, 03:59 PM

Just plain nice, read the whole thread and enjoyed. thanks great info and picts

Dudester · #**544** 04/01/2007, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GSMguy
texans argghhhhhh you and your rimless wonders

dgasmd, my question was directed to both you and invincible; thanks for the info.

incincible - I went with 60 x 30 x 26, 203 gallons, built by A&GE. But enough about me, more about your project please!

aknflyer · #**545** 04/02/2007, 03:08 AM

I am curious about how to contact "Aquarium Environments" for my future tank. could you send me a link?

asnatlas · #**546** 04/02/2007, 03:18 AM

aknflyer
[welcome]

Reef Man · #**547** 04/02/2007, 09:33 AM

Hey Naka,

Where are you getting all that beautiful collection of corals?

they are great !!!!

Very beautiful tank, and very beautiful collection of corals !!!

Zoos · #**548** 04/02/2007, 01:39 PM

That is a very nice shot Edward, how are your angels doing?

invincible569 · #**549** 04/02/2007, 07:29 PM

Alberto, it seems as if you jinxed me! Im having the same issue with the chiller coming off & on every 5 minutes now. I tried increasing flow thinking that the water flow in the chiller was becoming stagnant, but it would still shut off when it gets to 78 and then, 5 minutes later it changes to 79 and comes on again. If its not a flow problem, then its a design problem of the chiller, no?

Im not too happy right now.. has anyone else stumbled across this same chiller issue? Any tips?

Zoos · #**550** 04/02/2007, 07:47 PM

I had a Pacific Coast chiller with a similar problem before, my chiller was a smaller model but that shouldn't matter. I figured out that the thermostat on the chiller was a bit off. I tested my temperature with about 4 or 5 (different brands) different thermometers and all would be at 78 degrees, the chiller was set to turn on at 80 degrees yet it was always on, so i figured it out. The chillers thermostat was off by 2 degrees. So I set the chiller to turn on at 82 degrees and that solved my problem. I only ran the chiller as a safeguard, in reality i didn't even need it. I run my tanks at 78-80 degrees. I also bench tested the chiller several times to make sure that it would turn on at 80(82) degrees. and it never failed. hope that helps .

BTW My chiller had the same problem you had with the fan at the beginning, it seems to be a common issues, or something that happens during shipping.

Felix