MBVette January 17, 2012 January 17, 2012 My 220 is now running durring the day in the 82-83* range, and want to get that down a bit so I run in the 79-80 range. I don't know what it gets to at night without lights, but with the new setup of a controller I will know shortly. What will I be looking at for a chiller to get it down those few degrees, and do you think this is something I should really be looking into? Thanks
MBVette January 17, 2012 Author January 17, 2012 The problem is that I am running a few mag pumps that are heating the water not the lights. Will fans help this?
Chad January 17, 2012 January 17, 2012 Yes, fans cool the water by evaporating it. I would try this first since it looks like you may just need a few degree buffer. You can get fans for just a few dollars from wal mart or target. I would direct the flow across your sump (region of high water movement).
Chad January 17, 2012 January 17, 2012 Or one that is a little larger. Mine is ~8" in diameter and will drop temp by a few degrees. You may find this to be enough for your needs. It does depend on what you are looking for, though. As a chiller is better for a large drop down or for shooting for a specific value, whereas fans will drop a bit from where it would be otherwise.
MBVette January 17, 2012 Author January 17, 2012 Well I will give it a try. If it cools it off to much my heaters will actually get some work.
Origami January 17, 2012 January 17, 2012 Scott, do you trust your thermometer? Do you think it's accurate?
MBVette January 17, 2012 Author January 17, 2012 I have dual heaters on a controller, and just hooked them up to my new apex that I am setting up and they read within .1 so I think it's pretty accurate. But if I had not just hooked the apex up I would have gotten a second thermometer to check. Btw I realized today I still have your pump, I need to get that back over to you.
Hayden January 18, 2012 January 18, 2012 Well I will give it a try. If it cools it off to much my heaters will actually get some work. Set the fan up on your controller. If the temp drops too much, you can have the apex shut the fan off. You'll go through a little more top off water because of the evaporation, but it's still cheaper than a chiller.
MBVette January 18, 2012 Author January 18, 2012 so I went to target to buy the fan, and it winds up they dont carry them in the winter. So I just ordered it on amazon and will have it tomorrow. I already set it up like a chiller on the apex so it will only cool down to 78* to that same point that the heaters would heat to. So hopefully this will work, it will be a much cheaper option.
Coral Hind January 18, 2012 January 18, 2012 Are the pumps internal? Could you plumb them outside the sump? If already external put a fan on the pumps to remove the heat. Can the room's temperature be lowered? Just to be safe I would double check the temp with another thermometer to calibrate your Apex. Most people don't use the "temp setup" function and I have seen a few units that were off by a couple of degrees.
DaveS January 18, 2012 January 18, 2012 what kind of lighting do you use? Fans may work but they may not. Consider that it's currently winter time and you are already on the high side. Once it gets warm and room temp is around 80, there isn't much room for the added heat. Also, you tank is acrylic so it retains the heat added by lights and pumps more so than glass. Ultimately you may need to put in a chiller. But the fan is a cheap interim option while you wait for a good deal on a 1/3-1/2 HP chiller. Sorry but just didn't want you to get your hopes up too much...
MBVette January 18, 2012 Author January 18, 2012 My main pump is internal, then I have mag pumps that run my carbon, phosphate, and UV steralizer. I think I have 2 mag 5's and 1 mag 7 running in the sump; and that is where the heat is coming from. As for lights I run T5's 6x60", so those should not be enough to heat the tank up to that temp by themselves. I am fairly certain of the temp in the tank. I am running dual heaters that have been controlled by a JBJ controller that has been reading ~82 for the last few months and once I hooked up the apex the probe for the apex is reading within .1 of that the JBJ controller is reading. That is why I am pretty confident of the temp.
Coral Hind January 18, 2012 January 18, 2012 I would get one properly sized external pump then use a manifold to feed the tank and extras. I know when I moved my Mag 9.5 from internal to external I saw a big difference in tank temps on my 120.
DaveS January 18, 2012 January 18, 2012 With T5s and moving the pumps external, your heat generation would be pretty minimal. You might be able to get by with just a fans or 2. I saw a 2-3 degree drop when I used fans.
MBVette January 18, 2012 Author January 18, 2012 my main pump is definitly big enough, I have a dart that is not turned up all the way; so Im sure I could use that one. How would I go about splitting the pump off for the much lower flow needed for the 2 reactors and the UV?
Coral Hind January 18, 2012 January 18, 2012 You tee off the return and place ball valves to control flow. Something like what is on this manifold thread. http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/47560-show-me-your-return-manifolds/page__pid__398524__st__0&?do=findComment&comment=398524
MBVette January 18, 2012 Author January 18, 2012 Right now after the return pump it splits to the two sides and then goes up to the back of the tank. One run is much longer than the other and goes directly over the sump. Should I cut that pipe and the ball valves there, or will that cause me to have significantly less flow to that side of the tank?
Coral Hind January 18, 2012 January 18, 2012 I would add it to the short side. Do the current returns have ball valves on them? You would use the valves to even out the flow as you need to.
MBVette January 18, 2012 Author January 18, 2012 I don't have any ball valves after the split, so my returns are not really even in flow. The problem with using the short side is that it goes straight up from the pump and I don't think there will be enough room to make a manifold. So should I put a ball valve in and try to even up the flow? And how do I n oe how much flow there really is, is there a meter or something?
MBVette January 20, 2012 Author January 20, 2012 so I got a 6" fan hooked up yesterday afternoon and overnight the temp dropped all the way down to 78.3. The lights came back on at 0630 this morning and in the first 20 minutes there is a .2* rise in temp. I wouldnt think the T5's could heat the water that much. Guess I will see what the temp does over the course of the day.
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