How many times does your chiller cycle per day?

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Timothy Tom - 30 Aug 2003 04:34 GMT

Obviously when choosing a chiller, you need one with adequate hp to
lower the tank temp to the desired temp. On the other hand, a chiller
that is too powerful for a tank may end up cycling only for brief
periods of time, but many times during the day, shortening its
lifespan. I have a 1/2 hp chiller for a 150 gallon tank (250 watts
MH, approx 550 watts VHO) in a room where ambient temp is stable at
about 80 degrees. I believe my chiller cycles on about eight times a
day (I can tell this by looking at the temperature log of my
aquacontroller, and counting the number of downturns in a 24 hr
period). Is this way more than other chiller owners experience?

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Richard Reynolds - 30 Aug 2003 07:59 GMT

first off I dont use a freon style chiller

second I disagree with

> Obviously when choosing a chiller, you need one with adequate hp to
> lower the tank temp to the desired temp.

I dont want my chiller to "lower" the temp at all, but keep it stable at an upper set temp

if you were getting the chiller to use for your house a 10F seperation probibly wouldnt be
a big deal, but I dont want MY tank to have a 10F temp swing in a day let alone in the
cycle of a chiller.

the temp in my bedroom/office with 3 tanks had a high of 90F :) neither tank reached 81F

I dont see 8 times a day a real problem though I am fairly certain that is less than what
my house air is setup to do at least when I run it :)

HTH

--
Richard Reynolds
Richard.Reynolds@usa.net

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Timothy Tom - 30 Aug 2003 15:12 GMT

> first off I dont use a freon style chiller
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
>I think that perhaps we are arguing semantics here Richard, but if

the chiller ever cycles on then the temp of the tank has risen to a
level where you wish it to remain. It makes no sense to have a
chiller at all, if the temp would remain at that set point without the
chiller. Therefore the tank would continue to increase above the set
point without the chiller, and indeed, the chiller is lowering the
temperature of the tank below what it would be without the chiller.

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Pet Forum / Aquaria / Marine Reef / August 2003

How many times does your chiller cycle per day?