Water-Chiller Pump Overkill???

[humble1]

I just bought a brand new water chiller.
1/10 HP Active Aqua - the smallest one hydrofarm sells.
I bought it primarily for my 120/360 site EZ cloner.
Now I'm reading that the recommended pump is 250 gallons per hour max!
I was planning on using a ~900 gph pump for this cloner running continuously inline, as opposed to submersible.

My Question:
Will running this larger pump detract from the effect of the chiller?

I dig that it will not cool as effectively because the water will be flowing almost 4x faster, reducing the contact time with the coils. Will this harm my chiller? Should I run a smaller pump? Should I buy a new chiller? I'm just dropping temps from a max of 76 down around 65 F, not all the way to 39 F as advertised. Also, I don't know if a 250 gph pump can adequately power the large EZ cloner. I know it'll work for the 30 site, but the manifold in the 120 site is larger as well.

All opinions appreciated, whether you've been through a similar dilemma or not.

Oh, and bonus points if you can correctly identify the pictured item:

 

[Whatever]

My Question:
Will running this larger pump detract from the effect of the chiller?

Yes...with too large a pump you're reducing the dwell (or contact) time the water/solution has on the chiller coils reducing it's effectiveness and the larger pump will only generate more heat. Not too familiar with chillers as I only ran one once but the manufacturer provided a recommended range of gph for pump specs. Just follow those specs but go on the higher side cause you're gonna have flow loss due to various reasons. No need to over do it in this case and possibly counterproductive. You'll at the least end up spending more on a pump than you really need going the route you're thinking

EDIT - only way I can see it hurting is if the larger pump heats the water/solution up fast. First it will have a longer cycle time because the chiller will need to run longer due to some of the dynamics I mentioned and if you then heat the res up faster there will be less time between chilling cycles and the chiller won't have enough down time and basically stop chilling. This potential problem can be helped if you set the temperature differential higher.

 

[humble1]

What are you doing in my brain, man?
That's a step by step breakdown on BtU loss and transference that I was contemplating.
The pump adding heat I considered, placing it outside (or inline to) the EZ cloner.
The cycling transference I considered, but I figure that my low temperature setting requirements will help with that. Basically ameliorating every factor I can without replacing the parts I already have.

Great Response, though.

 

[Whatever]

What are you doing in my brain, man?

but I figure that my low temperature setting requirements will help with that. Basically ameliorating every factor I can without replacing the parts I already have

That's your brain on drugs...lol.

If you already have the parts, meaning the total overkill pump, then go for it...but a lower temp setting will not necessarily counteract some of the dynamics I mentioned :wink:. What could possibly counteract things is a greater differential between when your chiller goes on and when it goes off (look at your manual under 'differential' or something like that). If you set it too tight...even in an optimum enviro/equipment setup (meaning the properly matched size pump)...it may cycle too fast. In a larger res you also have to deal with currents, eddies and microzones regarding temp...took me a bit to figure that one out...and had to change the differential along with where in the res I was drawing solution in from for the chiller pump.

Anyway...you'll get it to work.

 

[00420]

if im reading this right your trying to use 1 pump for both?

if thats the case it's not going to work..

for a 1/10 chiller a eco185 works fine.... for my 120 ez cloner it had a 900gph

... is it a portable a/c?

 

[FreezerBoy]

A chiller for cloning? I'd throw out the chiller and get a heater instead. Anything under 75º spells slimy death all around for me.

 

[Whatever]

if im reading this right your trying to use 1 pump for both?

if thats the case it's not going to work..

for a 1/10 chiller a eco185 works fine.... for my 120 ez cloner it had a 900gph

Ha ha...lesson learned...thanx.

 

[00420]

now that i think about it a lil more you might be able to tap off the 900gpm pump with a valve the chiller dont need much ...just a flow...just a idea....

i did not hve the cash for a chiller for mine so i drilled in a overflow drain hole and added a 1/4" copper line with a valve (cost about $15) now i have a flow of fresh water into my cloner keeping it cool and clean

 

[humble1]

Whatever - keep on coming with the technical responses. I need all the help I can get.

00420 - you won the grand prize! it is in fact a portable a/c stripped of it's plastic. I just got a new dual hose a/c and got rid of the old robot. Yes, I know you don't like the efficiency of portables. I like the portability.
If I'm reading you right the system would run something like this:
1.drain port on EZ clone 120 connects to 900 gph pump inline
2.pump connects to chiller loop with valve to reduce flow to chiller
3.second valve to prevent back-flow in the chiller loop
4.line reconnects to manifold through drilled overflow hole.

I'm hoping that simply placing the pump outside of the EZ Cloner will reduce the temps adequately, but I'm not counting on it. I like redundancy.

Freezerboy - Usually I hear just the opposite, but there are six million ways to skin this cat.

Keep it coming!

 

[Whatever]

I was just misunderstanding the setup. 00420 pointed out it appeared you wanted to use one pump for the cloner and to also circulate solution through the chiller. Only thing I can reiterate is run the chiller at the recommended flow, setting an appropriate differential is important to prevent too frequent cycling and the larger the res the more important it is to pay attention to solution circulation (intake/output locations).

After thinking about what 00420 said you probably could create two inlets with a Y, or something like that, going into the 900gph pump so one intake would draw from the res straight through the pump and the other would draw from the res through the chiller. Just would have to figure out the size of the intake for the chiller and would maybe go oversize with a valve and start testing. 250gph is 4.2gpm and could use a digital second timer and 5 gallon bucket marked with gallon levels and just play with the valve till you get the appropriate flower thru the chiller. So time for 1 minute and adjust the valve or whatever until you fill the bucket to the 4 gal mark max. Actually you'd probably have to start with a filled bucket and put the chiller intake in that bucket and time for 1 minute and drain no more than 4 gals...leaving enough room in the res to accommodate to addition of 4 gallons if that's possible

With the extra plumbing I'm sure you're gonna lose some flow off that 900gph pump but can't even guestimate what the loss will be.

Think that's right, hopefully at least something in their useful.

 

[humble1]

This is getting too complicated when I can just go buy a 20 dollar pump and solve the puzzle.
I'll still run the 900 gph inline to reduce heat, but I'm thinking I'll run a smaller sub pump on a separate line for the chiller.
Thanks for all the help, guys (and possibly gals, who knows...)
Nothing finalized yet, so any further input is still valuable!!!

 

[Whatever]

Basically ameliorating every factor I can without replacing the parts I already have.

Was just trying accommodate that and thought you had the 900gph already and didn't want to buy anything else.

Yes..a $20 or whatever cost pump is the best solution by far and agree that a submersible pump for the chiller is the way to go.

Good luck!