Recommended flow rate for Arctica 1/10 hp Chiller

[southpaw23]

Hi all,

I'm wanting to find out what's the recommended flow rate for the chiller. It states that the minimum flow rate should be 240gph, and recommended max of 480gph, and actual max flow in specs at 960gph.

Currently using an Eheim 1250 with a flow rate of 1200lph which gives me about 315gph...minus headloss etc...it's probably less. I'm wondering if going with a Rio 8hf would be a good idea. It has a flow rate of 2200lph...around 570 gph...but taking into account the possible headloss from water travelling to and from the chiller....i would think that the flow rate would be around 500gph or so (just a guesstimate).

Question is...will i see visible improvement in the chilling of my tank temperature. Theoretically speaking...the increase in turnover rate should improve and reduce chilling time with the condition that the chiller is able to handle the actual turnover and seeing that the model has a max flow rate of 960, would it be safe to assume that it's chiller's efficiency would be the same at 240 gph and 500gph?

Anyone with experience/thoughts/inputs?.....

[AlfaRomeo]

It will cool down the tank faster with the higher GPH going thru.

[southpaw23]

Cheers man...thanks for the quick response...i take it that's a safe assumption as long as the gph of the pump does not exceed the max flowrate of the chiller right?

[AlfaRomeo]

Go with the recommended max. There must be sufficent contact time between the water and the coil for the water to be cooled down effectively and thus its safer to go for the recommended flowrate.

[southpaw23]

Ah...contact time...that was the darn word i was looking for....great. So when they say recommended max flow rate of 480...that should be the actual flowrate in the chiller right? Anyway of counting the headloss from the pump to the chiller? So if i go with the Rio 8HF, at 570gph...i'm still thinking that it will have slightly more gph than the recommended max...you still think it will be better than running the Eheim 1250?

Maybe i'll add an elbow or two from the outlet of the pump to slow the flowrate down a lil...of course then i'll have to worry about whether that additional back pressure would have long term effects on the Rio....ah so many things to consider...

[loster]

actually u can check with the spec of how the heat exchanger design. if it is the flat plate, the head loss wwill be greatest. i sense (just my opinion) that the Rio 8HF might not have the strength although it state it max flow rate at 570gph. aquabee pump 2000I might be a good choice of pump or eheim 1260. this is just my opinion look for a stronger pump (which can over come the head loss in your heat exchanger + your pipe work + the distance between your tank and the chiller + the hight) with low wattage will be a good choice

[southpaw23]

Hey lobster...

Thanks for the valuable input....the reason i wasnt lookin at the 1260 was cos the wattage was like 60 watts versus the Rio 8HF at 30...i might look at maybe the Rio 10HF if the 8HF may not be able to handle it cos the 10HF is rated at 660gph and is only 5 watts more than the 8 at 35watts. What do you think?

The reason i even considered Rio Hyperflows was cos i noticed some ppl use the 20HF for their returns and figured if it was able to handle being a return pump (though not always the best choice i'm aware), that it might be able to handle the role of a chiller pump. But in saying that, i haven't seen anyone actual mention using them for this purpose so there's a lil skepticism...but it's draw is the lower power rating as compared to other pumps at that output level.

Will have to check out the Aquabees tho....

[southpaw23]

Hmmm...looking at the specs of the Rios...i noticed that the Hyperflow models up to 10HF have very high headloss rate losing almost half of it's flow rate at 4feet while the 12HF and above have much better headloss rate only losing barely 1/5 of it's original flow rate. Wonder why?...............

Now i'm begining to think that the 10HF may not be such a good idea after all...even if it loses half it's flow rate, at 330gph, would still be a lil better than the 1250 but will it cause too much wear and tear to the pump itself....hmmmm...decisions decisions...

Oh and lobster...checked out the Aquabee....not bad...my only reservation is it's price. Yeah, i'm trying to save my hole in my pocket from getting bigger so lookin for cheaper alternatives....

Any other suggestions?

[loster]

hahaha... i went through the same experience as you

i didn't want to use Rio pump becasue:

1. you are right, the head loss is much higher for this type of pump. i always use 1.5m-1.8m at headloss as a guide for me to consider how much flow left i am going to have with this pump.

2. i plan and select pump that can run external safety. cos i run most of my pumps externally. if you use it in for internal use, i guess not a problem for the rio pump. which is much cheaper than the aquabee and eheim pump. and it is safer to run your rio pump internally (mean in the water).

u use eheim 1260 (60W) or aquabee 20001 (38W) as a guide. i think both pumps are very suitable for your chiller and can cool your tank much faster

may be you can select rio pump which is closer to those both pumps i mention. in term of it max headloss, headloss at 1.5-1.8m and the power consumption use

[southpaw23]

Glad to hear it.....i'm sure many of us go through the same problem with the "pocket holes"

What is ya'lls take on the china made pumps? I know ppl here aren't very fond of them but there are some like sun sun which look exactly like the Eheims and apparently can use eheim replacement parts...i don't exactly know how true taht is but what exactly is so wrong with them? Reliability or lifespan? I mean i'm only needing the pump to run the chiller, can't seem to justify 150 to 200 dollars on a pump running at 2000lph know what i mean?

I know what u mean about external pumps...that's why i designed the sump to run the return externally....but don't have enough room to run too many external pumps so lil compromise on the other pumps. I'm thinking....seeing that my chiller return will not be in the main tank but back in the sump tank, would that likely lessen my headloss? should be eh? So lookin at that, maybe the Rio 10HF might do the job after all, it states a flow rate of 660gph at 1ft and 330gph at 4ft but i'm assuming that the 4ft refers to height so if i run the chiller return back to the sump, shouldn't have that high a headloss now would it?....

[loster]

i think 10HF (25w) might be too weak. it flow rate at 1.8m = 720l/hr and it max hight is only at 230cm.

14HF (40w) is much better. it flow rate at 1.8m - 2050l/hr and it max hight is at 300cm (3m). quit close to aquabee 20001

it is not just the hight that u need to measure. it is the length of the pipes, the joints and the resistance of the flow rate needs to overcome in your heat exchanger

[southpaw23]

Wouldn't that be too much flow for my chiller, at 2000lph we're looking at around 540gph running through the chiller and it's max recommended flow rate is 480.

Also, i don't think my tube will run for 3 meters....even if it does, think that the flow rate will vary when u refer to 3 meters in height and 3 meters horizontally. It might end up with a higher flow rate than 540 even..

Wont that end up lessening my contact time in the chiller? And 14HF is 45watts actually...the 12HF is 40watts....and at 6ft, has a flow rate of 510gph...which is closer to the desired flowrate assuming that the total flow will reduce to that level after taking into account headloss from the distance and chiller's heat exchanger.

[loster]

HF12 is good too. hahaha... actually i am looking at the SI unit. and also forgot about your max flow for the chiller. from the SI unit, HF12 drew 35W and max hight is 2.9m

[southpaw23]

I just realised that the 12HF should do fine...i have the eheim valve that can limit the flow if it's too strong...but it'll take some trial and error to get the right flow...i would probably only need to tone the flow down by a little to hit the max recommended flow rate...taking into account headloss etc....

Cool.....will give that a shot i guess...hopefully the flow limited won't hurt the pump much...thanks again for all ur help...

[loster]

don't mention that i also went through the pump for my 1/3hp chiller selection few weeks ago ... and also got to make a right decision before i commit into it.

have fun reefing

[minsmarine]

Go with the recommended max. There must be sufficent contact time between the water and the coil for the water to be cooled down effectively and thus its safer to go for the recommended flowrate.

Alpha

do u mean MAX Flow Rate @ enter point or

End of Chiller pipe? ( Mean after head loss )

I run CL650 with HF20 returned to Tank

24C,

run time 20 mins

rest time 30-40 mins

[AlfaRomeo]

Mins, the flowrate of the water entering the chiller will be the same as the rate of water exiting the chiller so I guess you can measure the flowrate at the end of the chiller pipe.

Returning to tank is the correct way to do it for max efficiency.

Run time of 20 mins seems ok I guess.

Rest time depends on the heat load of the tank and not dependent on the chiller. Meaning the rest time is the same regardless if u use a 1hp chiller or a 1/10hp chiller

[minsmarine]

Mins, the flowrate of the water entering the chiller will be the same as the rate of water exiting the chiller so I guess you can measure the flowrate at the end of the chiller pipe.

Ei yea

so simple and I didn't think of. Geeez

Why must I went round the world to say, return pipe lar, bla bla bla.

Haa haa.

I am really ashame

such a gentleman

[AlfaRomeo]

Mins, no need to be ashamed. Everyone makes mistakes. We are all learning on how to take care of our charges better

[minsmarine]

oftopic

but I can't control my figures

[southpaw23]

While we're on the topic of run time...what's a realistic run time for say a 120 gallon tank system? (including sump etc)

I know i'm pushing it with a 1/10hp chiller (Arctica) but anyone see any real problems with this setup? To reduce heat sources, i've gone with an external return setup and fans in my light hood....only other heat sources are the Rio 20HF (60watt for the Skimmer), seio 820 (20ish watts i think, circulation), and possibly the Rio 12HF (35watts for the chiller return). Did a calculation on Arctica's website and i'm just barely there....with the 1/10 hp chiller.

Any other way for me to cut down heat sources....actually i've looked up everything i can find and this setup is the best i can come up to accomodate for the chiller for now.....so if i've misssed anything or if anyone's got better/great suggestions....shoot...

cheers

[loster]

ur 1/10hp artica chiller runs 75W?

anyway, it seems ok to me with your heat source. are you using MH light? if you are, you may run your chiller to the max.

althought i planted most of my pump (chiller pump + return pump + feed pump for skimmer and skimmer) outside sump, but i still got 2x6060 (2x11w) + 2x820 (2x15w) + 2x250W mh lights + 5x39w HO T5 heat source. i believe my other heat source comes from the pumps heat from my return pumps and CR and FR pump. and i got to size my chiller 1/3hp (250W).

i am using eheim1262 for my chiller and direct return to the main tank. my run time for the chiller:

1. MH lights on, ~ 25-30mins

2. MH lights off, ~10-15mins

maintaining at 27 deg

[southpaw23]

Yeah i've got 150 watt MH over the tank as well but like i mentioned, i've got two fans blowing across the lights...one suckin air into the hood, the other blowing out....

But the thing about arctica chillers is that they apparently are more efficient that regular chillers so i'm bankin on that fact to be able to handle the tank and it's heat source.

Wish me luck...oh and by the way...say another guy on the forum running a 1/5 hp chiller on his 4x2x2.5...seems to work for him....

Oh and not sure how many watts the chiller is running at but i hear that it's really low wattage....