Chiller Questions

J

jdp86

I bought a Teco RA 200 here off the forums from a member and cant quite figure out what going on with it. I saw that it worked when i bought it as the member had it set up thru a bucket. I have it on a rimless 60g(with sump 70g total) with a mag3 pump pushing water thru it. My lighting is the current outer orbit 2x250MH w/4 t5's. Lighting is about 10 inches from top of water.

Here are my questions
It seems to have either a small leak or condensation problem cause i keep finding small puddles on the floor under it. Is this a normal problem when they go bad? Any suggestions on where to start to look where it could be coming from?
Also it seems like the chiller runs too long. It comes on 3 hrs after halides come on and doesnt go off till 5 hrs after the halides go off. It just doesn't seem like this is normal.
Any help or ideas are appreciated.

Thanks for your time.
Jeremy
 
It sounds like it may be freezing up, and the ice is melting which leaves a puddle underneath. The chiller itself needs to be clean, its filter clean, and proper ventilation around it.
 
teco is located in mesquite if you want to take it there to be serviced.
 
Find out if it's leaking saltwater or if it is indeed condensation--taste it. If your room is very humid, it will cause condensation and also cause your chiller to be on longer. Ventilate your room better.

5hrs on time with that sort of lighting doesn't sound unreasonble for a 1/5-1/4hp unit (I don't know what you have though), but its probably on longer than you'd really want. I have a 1/5 hp unit and similar lighting and it can bring it down in 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on room temperature, ceiling fan on/off, etc. Before I adequately ventilated my canopy, it would be on 100% of the time. You just can't afford for very much of the heat of the lighting to enter the water.
 
im located in weatherford. I took the chiller apart and it is indeed condensation off of the copper tubing that is coiled on the side oposite of the water in and out. It didnt take but a short time before this condensation formed talking matter of 10 minutes or less. The filter was not dirty. As for the room the tank is in, it my living room which never gets much above 76 degrees and the ceiling fan is always on.
I emailed TECO and got an imediate response the first time, but when i emailed back with what i found going on i am now waiting for a response on what they say.

Silveradobobby-Sent PM
Thanks again for everyones help
 
I must sat that's an odd looking loop of copper...

If the temperature of the copper tubing shown in your photo gets below the dew point, you'll get some condensation. What's the humidity level in your room? It's possible that if it's near 100% that you'll see condensation at room temperature depending on the weather.

It could also be the heat exchanger. Is it a flow-through or "drop-in" exchanger? If the later, the line might be kinked. Either way, make sure it is squeaky clean--you should be able to see clean titanium metal. Of course, you also need an adequate amount of water flow--something > 800 gph, I'd guess.

You could just fix the immediate problem of condensation with prestite tape. Wrap and compress it around that mess of tubing in such a way that there is no way for air to get to it. That should fix the condensation problem, but it would not fix a problem with heat exchange.

I'm interested to hear what the manufacturer suggests.
 
I can fix that up when you bring it to me if that line is sweating then the chiller is fully charged and working, humidy in the room wont have much todo with this line condensating. I like to see what they tell you too as they are abounch of Jo Blows at teco there tech are not worth a dime if they were they would work for teco!!! I'm an refrigration engineer Ill get it fixed for you the first time and done right!
 
Update he brought the chiller by for me to look at a few weeks ago unit had small refrigrant leak I corrected and recharged and is working great now!!
 
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