Chiller Unit - Help Needed :)

[Afrikan]

Heya guys..

I was wondering if people could please give me some ideas on a good brand of Chiller Unit... We are setting up a cold water marine towards the end of the year and I don't want to rush into buying just anything....

I am wanting to purchase a decent chiller unit and was wondering if there are preferences out there in regards to brands etc..

Some info would be most appreciated.

Thanks heaps 8)

[Afrikan]

Thanks for the info Mystic 8) Appreciated 8)

Yeah have pretty much sussed over the requirements etc however just don't want to go out and buy just any old brand of chiller, want to buy something decent and know that I have spent the money well instead of whoops... :-? 8)

[chimera]

If you go smaller tank, (under 500L) use about 1/2HP Chiller, WAY cheaper than the bigger ones.

If you go bigger tank, (around 500-1000L) use 1HP Chiller.

i got 1,000 litres and use a 1/2HP chiller quite comfortably.

[djsurfs]

It sounds like you already have the sizing sussed, but FWIW to anyone else:

as stated earlier,it all depends on how much pulldown , speed of flow, and water volume for sizing... There is a handy page where you can plug in you numbers and will tell you the appropriate size here-->

http://www.jbjlighting.com/prod_chiller_size.asp

Another thing to be careful about when shopping is making sure the model you get has a thermostat that actually goes down to your desired temp. I thought I'd found some Deals, but then learned they were just for cooling tropical tanks to a reasonable level, and did not have control over the temp range I needed for my cold/temperate tank.

As far as Brands go, like other things we are a bit at the mercy of what is available here, unless you can & want to risk shopping overseas.

Afrikan, what brands have you seen/been looking at?

When I was shopping around a year ago I found Hailea were readily available here, and Tecos could be ordered in. I also heard Aqua-one might be bringing some in... The other thing I learned is regardless what the brand/parent company, most units or most of the componentry is made in China.

So, the big shopping decision might not only be what brand, but who to buy from. A shop/distributor that will back their products if there are any concerns about servicing, warranty, replacement etc... some shops are great when a problem arises, and some just want to sell more product.

I decided to "risk it" and ended up getting a Unistar 300 for $AU550. It is very quiet, does a good job and have had no problems. ( but I've only had it 9 months)

MODEL : Unistar MCC-UNI-300

FLOW : max 900L/pHr

REFRIGERANT : 134a

POWER : one tenth HP

DIMENSIONS : 30 x 32 x 35 cm

WEIGHT : 13.5Kg

TANK SUIT : Any size up to 600Litres??!!

WARRANTY : 12months (porbably useless in my case)

As a guide for this chiller, the site states pull down temps of:

500Litre tank up to 7degrees celsius.

300Litre tank temperature down by up to 10degrees celsius.

100Litre tank up to 15degrees celsius. '>

Another thing to be careful about when shopping is making sure the model you get has a thermostat that actually goes down to your desired temp. I thought I'd found some Deals, but then learned they were just for cooling tropical tanks to a reasonable level, and did not have control over the temp range I needed for my cold/temperate tank.

As far as Brands go, like other things we are a bit at the mercy of what is available here, unless you can & want to risk shopping overseas.

Afrikan, what brands have you seen/been looking at?

When I was shopping around a year ago I found Hailea were readily available here, and Tecos could be ordered in. I also heard Aqua-one might be bringing some in... The other thing I learned is regardless what the brand/parent company, most units or most of the componentry is made in China.

So, the big shopping decision might not only be what brand, but who to buy from. A shop/distributor that will back their products if there are any concerns about servicing, warranty, replacement etc... some shops are great when a problem arises, and some just want to sell more product.

I decided to "risk it" and ended up getting a Unistar 300 for $AU550. It is very quiet, does a good job and have had no problems. ( but I've only had it 9 months)

MODEL : Unistar MCC-UNI-300

FLOW : max 900L/pHr

REFRIGERANT : 134a

POWER : one tenth HP

DIMENSIONS : 30 x 32 x 35 cm

WEIGHT : 13.5Kg

TANK SUIT : Any size up to 600Litres??!!

WARRANTY : 12months (porbably useless in my case)

As a guide for this chiller, the site states pull down temps of:

500Litre tank up to 7degrees celsius.

300Litre tank temperature down by up to 10degrees celsius.

100Litre tank up to 15degrees celsius.

[Afrikan]

Thanks so much for that djsurfs... very much appreciated

Alot of that info above was what I wall really looking for..

I have heard that Aqua Medic were good.... was looking at possibly getting one and then thought hmmm pays for me to ask around first before I venture into buying one....