Chiller pump help

[SalteeDogg]

Well im buying a 1/10hp chiller and I am going to set it up on my 75 temporarily until I get the horses moved to a smaller 36 gallon bowfront. If I buy a mag7 pump will that be good for both tanks or will it be too much for the smaller tank? I never had a chiller so this is all new to me. The guy said a mag 5 or 7 pump would be fine for my 75 but im afraid that it might be too much for the 36. What do you guys think? Remember im knew to this chiller stuff so any help or advice is greatly appreciated :mrgreen:

 

[bobby]

If it is too much flow couldn't you cut it down by adding a ball valve to the line?

 

[SalteeDogg]

thats what I was thinking but wasn't for sure

 

[yote]

Just install a ball valve,then you can cut back on the flow.

 

[fatman]

Are you going from a sump to a chiller and then back to the sump or tank. If so you can use a T and two valves, one valve to feed the cooler and the other to flow straight back into tank, Unless you have the pump curve chart for your pump you can not know how much you are cutting your flow with just the one valve on it, nor will you know the wattage your using. Some pumps use less watts when slightly constricted, some use maximum wattage and pump almost nothing with very little head pressure. I would get the smaller pump and expect the chiller to run longer when cooling the larger tank. The chiller is better sized for the smaller tank, so overall it would probably be better to size the pump for optimim cooling for the small tank and expect it to be less efficient for the larger tank as the chiller will have to run for longer periods of time due to the limited heat carrying capacity (to the chiller) of the lower volume pump. Also it would not matter if you hada sump or not and the pump could run unrestricted as it is designed for.

 

[SalteeDogg]

Yeah I have no sump so I think I was thinking maybe an overflow box going to the pump then plump to the chiller then chiller to the tank where it will have a bulk head. Im not good with pvc so this is going to be a little project.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Why not just hook the pump directly to the chiller then the chiller directly to the tank? It would be a closed loop and you woulndt need an over flow box. Just a pump and what ever hardware and plumbing supplies.

Brian

 

[fatman]

You should at least have some form of filter in line if pumping from tank to chiller. Unless you want a huge build up of crud inside the heat exchanger of the chiller. I do not know of any chillers that have a heat exchanger that can be disassembled for cleaning. Your usually talking about a convoluted pipe or series of pipes the water must flow through. Usually it is suggested that the last thing that the water passes through is the chiller. The only exception to this is that a UV light should follow a chiller. If it is a mechanical filter it will need to be cleaned often, if it flows through a refugium it usually is not further filtered. Some people use a canister filter to feed their chillers, that way the water is at least strained before entering the chiller. A heavy bio coating inside a chillers heat exchanger would be both an insulator and an impediment to flow. As nothing much but a pad would be needed inside the canister filter an expensive one would not be needed, plus you have the option of using it for carbon and or phosphate removers while still using it for your chiller.