Chiller Line Placement

I would like to get your thoughts on where in the tank I should run my chiller lines. Currently I have a pump running in the skimmer section of my sump feeding water to the chiller with the return line running back into the same chamber. I think this makes the chiller cycle more, but it still works fine at keeping tank temperature balanced.

The other idea I had was to run one of my two overflow pipes to the chiller, then the return running to the sump inlet. This would keep more of the entire tank in the loop, and not just the single chamber. I would think this would cause the chiller to cycle less often, plus it would eliminate a pump in the sump, which would mean less power use and slightly less heat from one less pump.

What are your thoughts? How do you guys run your chiller lines?

On a side note, I used clear tubing for the chiller lines, and they are in sunlight and starting to look nasty inside. How often should I replace the lines? And would you recommend using black tubing to reduce growth in the tubes? Thanks

 

Extra pumps mean extra power and extra heat produced.
When I still used a chiller I plumbed mine into my return pump so it received clean water from the sump and returned it to the display. No extra pumps and the correct flow range for the chiller to work efficiently. it only added a very slight amount of head to the return so flow did not change much.

 

What you are doing now is fine. The chiller might be cycling more often, but does not mean it is running more time. I took mine out of the return section and ran it right back to it... on the other side.... worked fine.

What AZ said about plumbing off the return pump would work great too even if you just returned it to the sump. And using one less pump is good... I had a Mag 7 and it actually added enough heat to cycle the chiller a lot.... took the chiller off and my tank never got hot....so using the return pump is best.... but nothing is free... more water movement means more heat.

Using overflow would be a bad idea..... the water in the return section isn't "clean"... but it is the cleanest you have. Running raw tank water through the chiller with just gravity I would think would dirty it up pretty fast.