Chiller set-up for DWC

lendee

New Member
Hi everyone: I've just got my 1st chiller used off e-bay and was wondering how members have hooked them up. I checked with set-up at Active Aqua chiller & they show 2 pumps both in res one to circulate the grow & another pump for chiller & chiller returns & feeds from res tank. The chiller I got is a 1/6 horse & has low demand of 180 gph and max demand not over 600 gph. I was figuring to use a 400 gph pump which would be able to circulate my 47 gal res 8.4 times in an hour but I was going to run the chiller in series with the grow (pump water from res to chiller & output of chiller feed plants & return is again pumped through chiller) but the commercial set-ups show the use of 2 pumps, both in res tank, one to circulate & 1 for chiller that return directly to res tank from the chiller.
It just sounds strange to use 2 pumps (which both generate heat) and it seems your pumping just cooled water back into chiller, to some extent, without passing through plants 1st. Any help here will be greatly appreciated.
 
Since no one else has replied I will throw in 2 cents but I don't use a chiller. I don't run sterile I use bennies.

All the chiller setups I seen have the return go into the chiller and the chiller go into the res. I would be hesitant of running the chiller directly to the plants. I would think you want to use it to mix cold into the res and run the mixed solution back to the plants. That probably reduces shock... but may not matter at all.

I think you might get more responses if you were to explain what type of system you are using. The set ups look very similar but the flow of water and fluid dynamics for a UC, RDWC or BFB are very different (assuming you mean one of those) so the answer you get may depend on that info. I would suspect that for an RDWC and BFB you might need to use a second pump if you are mixing the cold water in the res first as I suggested but a UC you can do it no problems with 1 pump. For a UC just run the return into the chiller and the chiller into the epicenter res.

:peace:
 
I know it may be the wrong place for this, but I just put the question out in my journal today; is there any reason I should not run my air pump for my DWC in my fridge or freezer to keep rez temps down in my 5 gal. buckets? Since it's 0 degrees f. outside, couldn't I just set the air pump out my window?
Just an idea. Again, no relevance what so ever.
Thanks, Andy.

P S I tend to believe what Village said about the temp shock on your plants when coming out of the chiller. You would get a much smoother transition slowly in your rez.
 
Thanks to Villiageidiot & MCCdive for responding: McCdive I bring a 6" flex tubing from under my house (I live in Michigan) and use a 4" scrubber fan on it with variable control this empties over my 3 air pumps for veg & bloom areas , I pump 2090 liters of air an hour into my bloom system alone, it was how I controlled the res temps. until I got this chiller didn't work to good during summer. To both of you everything I've checked states to have chiller empty to res so what I did is I have a drain hose hooked to my system to change-out the res, my pump is a 4000ltr/1055gph pump I use it 30 min 0n 30min off. MY system is a 47 gal RDWC output of pump feeds a T to two 28 gal totes both totes return to res on their own return I have two plants in each tote in 10" net pods. I removed the timer from the pump it runs 24/7 now, & brought my discharge line into res & hooked it into chiller the output of chiller is dumping into res I set the feed line control valve from res pump to plants to just over 50% & I let the rest of the output of the pump go through the discharge line to chiller. I used a 1 liter container & timed how long it took to fill from the discharge line from chiller to res in this set-up it was 5 seconds per liter x 60sec= 12ltrspm X 60 min = 720ltrsph convert to gal= 720/3.79 = 190gph MY chiller operating parameters are 180gph low to 600gph high. This got me on the low side of chiller & I was able to test it & it works great even at it's lowest supply settings. I will be adding another 400gph pump in the res for just the chiller I don't think the extra pump heat will be any issue at all beings I'm on the very lowest operating setting on the chiller & still am able to maintain a 66 deg res very easy.
 
@McCdive - I do anything I can to keep my air pump out of the lights and in as cool a place as possible. I will run long air hoses outside my tent so my air pump isn't near that stuff. Always best to keep that pump as cool as possible also for the pumps sake.

lendee - sounds like you gots it naild! Best of luck!
 
Thanks VI. I have it in a separate area from the heat sources, but I wondered it there would be any benefit to it. Did you cover rez temps? I don't remember now.... Ah well, thanks M8.
 
I run a "living tea" not a sterile brew.

It is a religious debate...you pick a side and when you fail try the other LOL.

I like the idea of going natural for many reasons. I also think that trying to run sterile is a harder more expensive thing to do. You can't actually run sterile, all you can do is beat it back so much it looks sterile (which is good enough). So you fight the good fight and constantly have to keep at it. That's why I don't run a chiller. I bet in my new setup this summer I may have to add one but I wont run it very much and I may be able to get around it all together.
 
Hey there Lendee. I do use a chiller on my DWC. this is how i have it set up

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I run a 2 bucket dwc system. my water pump is in my reservoir pumping to my chiller and then into my grow bucket. The water outlet into my grow bucket has a 90 degree fitting on the end so it goes into the nute solution instead of spraying onto my roots. My plant loves it, no shock. Make sure to insulate and light proof all your lines of course.

If you want more details check out my journal or just hit me up. I'll help out if I can :Namaste:
 
Thanks all for the responses: I ended up using a pump I had and set it on top of my res circulation pump, inside my res, from their about a foot to the input of the chiller the chiller dumps back into the res and both pumps feed from the res. I was trying to use a system that wouldn't be returning just cooled water back to the chiller but this is how all the chillers are set-up according to what I've found out and it seems to work great the res stays at 65.8 degrees. I did however find out that the amount of pumping capability of most of the pumps being sold are less than 1/4 of their rating another words the 2700 lph/ 712 gph pump I'm using actually pumps 720 ltrph or 187.9 gph I couldn't believe what I had found out so I started a thread about it So what the hell are we being sold? anyway at this time I'm waiting on Danner to respond to the issue but it's something everyone using a pump should be aware of. Here i
DSC029014.JPG
s a picture of my system with chiller hooked up I made a small box out of insulation board and taped to rear of chiller I have a 6" flex tubing hooked to box & direct air discharge from chiller to under my house if needed I can install a inline duct fan in the system I also have a 6" filtered line from under my house which dumps cold air onto my air pumps (I pump 2090 liters of air per hour into my RDWC through 9 air stones) I will be moving air pumps and cold air line to under the chiller so all can benefit) thanks again to all.
 
Thanks to Villiageidiot & MCCdive for responding: McCdive I bring a 6" flex tubing from under my house (I live in Michigan) and use a 4" scrubber fan on it with variable control this empties over my 3 air pumps for veg & bloom areas , I pump 2090 liters of air an hour into my bloom system alone, it was how I controlled the res temps. until I got this chiller didn't work to good during summer. To both of you everything I've checked states to have chiller empty to res so what I did is I have a drain hose hooked to my system to change-out the res, my pump is a 4000ltr/1055gph pump I use it 30 min 0n 30min off. MY system is a 47 gal RDWC output of pump feeds a T to two 28 gal totes both totes return to res on their own return I have two plants in each tote in 10" net pods. I removed the timer from the pump it runs 24/7 now, & brought my discharge line into res & hooked it into chiller the output of chiller is dumping into res I set the feed line control valve from res pump to plants to just over 50% & I let the rest of the output of the pump go through the discharge line to chiller. I used a 1 liter container & timed how long it took to fill from the discharge line from chiller to res in this set-up it was 5 seconds per liter x 60sec= 12ltrspm X 60 min = 720ltrsph convert to gal= 720/3.79 = 190gph MY chiller operating parameters are 180gph low to 600gph high. This got me on the low side of chiller & I was able to test it & it works great even at it's lowest supply settings. I will be adding another 400gph pump in the res for just the chiller I don't think the extra pump heat will be any issue at all beings I'm on the very lowest operating setting on the chiller & still am able to maintain a 66 deg res very easy.
Sounds like your over thinking things first your pump is way overkill for what you have for water the 400gph would be all you need for all of it chiller always from your return and 66 degrees is too cold it should only be that cold on your last week or so when your trying to mimic fall. It’s funny we all feel the need to run extra but I’ve found minimal always works the best
 
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