flower
Well-Known Member
It's 1:00am I just got finished replacing the chiller on the 90g...thank goodness I had broken down the 56g and had a spare chiller all cleaned up and just waiting to be reused (I almost sold it). I smell like a fish tank, my back is screaming...
The tank is not supposed to go warmer then 67 degrees, so if I was going to save the potbelly seahorse tank it had to be done ASAP...tomorrow would be too late. I was ready to begin at 7:00, however I had to wait until my elderly mother went to bed because she can't stand bright lights, and I needed the main light on so I could see what I was doing. She didn't go to bed until 10:30, and an hour into my task...she got up and decided to watch what I was doing...LOL...Love her heart, she said in case I needed her help. LOL I thought... for what...calling the ambulance if my back went out? She can't remember how to use the new smart phone, it doesn't have buttons. That means I could have just done the task at 7:00 instead of waiting so late. Not one peep of complaint about the bright lights either...
It took 2 days to get the RO water mixed and ready. I had cleared the tub just before Passover, and I hadn't made any more water up. This adventure all began 3 days ago when I heard a very disturbing weird noise like the fan was screaming off and on. As soon as I heard that noise I knew it was just a matter of time before it would quit working. I purchased new hoses to fit the other chiller, and was already mixing saltwater. But just before I was ready, the compressor went...The tank went to 71 degrees...74 by the time I was able to fix it. I had ice in bottles, but the constant swing in temps I think was worse then letting the tank alone.
I made a vertical spray-bar out of PVC (put a cap on one end, and glued it, then drilled a few holes). I put the new hose all the way on the other side of the tank, in the far corner...it "should" be more efficient to cool the tank then in a hose the center where it was before. The PVC spray-bar will send cold water in a nice line across the entire side of the tank to circulate.
The other chiller had different size hose fittings, so I had to redo everything...the pump I had before wouldn't work, nothing I tried could get the new hose to fit tight to the pump...so into the garage I went...found a suitable pump, 3 actually, but only one still worked. (I save everything from former days of fish keeping...half my garage is full of nothing but fish stuff from days gone by).
After getting everything together... went to turn on the chiller for it's new run...and the power cord wasn't attached... so into the garage I went again. [Personal note: I must in the future remember to tape all power cords to the gizmo it goes to]...after 30 minutes of searching, I finally found it. I'm so glad I had marked it CHILLER on the cord when it was up and running, the label was still attached, so at least once I found it, I knew it was the right cord.
After it got restarted, the air in the lines was a pain to clear, 10 minutes of lifting and squeezing the flex hose, but finally got it...then the hose attached at the chiller end began to leak...I do hate it when that happens...so I refitted the hose, tightened the clamp, dried it with a paper towel and watched it... so far so good.
No more weird noises coming from the chiller... I needed a breather before taking my shower, so I decided to tell everyone about my little late night adventure. That's right...10:30 I began, and 1:00 before I got finished. But I also cleaned up my mess, put up my tools, and since the top was off anyway, did a nice water change...
The tank is not supposed to go warmer then 67 degrees, so if I was going to save the potbelly seahorse tank it had to be done ASAP...tomorrow would be too late. I was ready to begin at 7:00, however I had to wait until my elderly mother went to bed because she can't stand bright lights, and I needed the main light on so I could see what I was doing. She didn't go to bed until 10:30, and an hour into my task...she got up and decided to watch what I was doing...LOL...Love her heart, she said in case I needed her help. LOL I thought... for what...calling the ambulance if my back went out? She can't remember how to use the new smart phone, it doesn't have buttons. That means I could have just done the task at 7:00 instead of waiting so late. Not one peep of complaint about the bright lights either...
It took 2 days to get the RO water mixed and ready. I had cleared the tub just before Passover, and I hadn't made any more water up. This adventure all began 3 days ago when I heard a very disturbing weird noise like the fan was screaming off and on. As soon as I heard that noise I knew it was just a matter of time before it would quit working. I purchased new hoses to fit the other chiller, and was already mixing saltwater. But just before I was ready, the compressor went...The tank went to 71 degrees...74 by the time I was able to fix it. I had ice in bottles, but the constant swing in temps I think was worse then letting the tank alone.
I made a vertical spray-bar out of PVC (put a cap on one end, and glued it, then drilled a few holes). I put the new hose all the way on the other side of the tank, in the far corner...it "should" be more efficient to cool the tank then in a hose the center where it was before. The PVC spray-bar will send cold water in a nice line across the entire side of the tank to circulate.
The other chiller had different size hose fittings, so I had to redo everything...the pump I had before wouldn't work, nothing I tried could get the new hose to fit tight to the pump...so into the garage I went...found a suitable pump, 3 actually, but only one still worked. (I save everything from former days of fish keeping...half my garage is full of nothing but fish stuff from days gone by).
After getting everything together... went to turn on the chiller for it's new run...and the power cord wasn't attached... so into the garage I went again. [Personal note: I must in the future remember to tape all power cords to the gizmo it goes to]...after 30 minutes of searching, I finally found it. I'm so glad I had marked it CHILLER on the cord when it was up and running, the label was still attached, so at least once I found it, I knew it was the right cord.
After it got restarted, the air in the lines was a pain to clear, 10 minutes of lifting and squeezing the flex hose, but finally got it...then the hose attached at the chiller end began to leak...I do hate it when that happens...so I refitted the hose, tightened the clamp, dried it with a paper towel and watched it... so far so good.
No more weird noises coming from the chiller... I needed a breather before taking my shower, so I decided to tell everyone about my little late night adventure. That's right...10:30 I began, and 1:00 before I got finished. But I also cleaned up my mess, put up my tools, and since the top was off anyway, did a nice water change...
