Chiller maintenance/cleaning

Since I am moving things to a new tank, what would be the correct process to clean the chiller?

 

I assume this may vary in accordance with make and model
but having had 2 different models myself

the front cover can be removed and the filter pad and cage given a thorough cleaning (which should be done every other month or so anyway)

and I also flushed tap water through mine using the shower attachment with narrow jet setting ( I used tapwater as I could do this with more pressure than I could do using RODI water ) to clear out anything that had got in there

Steve

 

I took the cover off of mine, even after I vacuumed the front, and blew compressed air through the condenser fins. I could not believe the dust still in there that the vacuum missed. I then blew out the exchanger (The piece the water flows through) There was alot of junk in there also. This brought the chiller from 1 degree in 55min to 1 degree in 36min. Very important to do twice a year IMO. P.S. if you use compressed air, be careful not to hit the condenser hard enough to bend the cooling fins.

 

In addition to removing the front grille and vacuuming/blowing off the dust; my chiller's paperwork says to clean the heat exchange tubing once every 6 months too. This is accomplished by using 3 gallons of RO/DI water (or regular tap water) to 1 gallon of vinegar, and using a bucket and pump to circulate the water through the unit. It's recommended the circulation go opposite the normal operation. In other words, you'll use the bulkhead marked "out" for "in," and vice versa. This water was pretty dirty when I was done. I too, noticed the chiller took not as long to move the system from 80*F to 78.8*F.

 

Exactly how I did mine, vinegar in a bucket with a powerhead to circulate it through the chiller and back to the bucket. I left it running like that for several hours and was amazed at all the crud that came out of it.

 

Thanks everyone

Thanks everyone for their information.

I hadn't considered removing the cover to clean the coils - good suggestion. I have been cleaning the filter and inspecting on a weekly basis, so perhaps I won't find much to deal with.

Wow - 3 to 1 on the water/vinegar mix. That's substantial. I assume the flush with clean water afterwards should be substantial to clean any left over acidic residue.

Again everyone - great information to have. I did a search on this topic before posting, but came up blank.

 

I use the vinegar straight with no dilution for all my aquarium needs including cleaning skimmers, pumps and powerheads. Its safe to work with and when you don't dilute it you can strain the big stuff out with a paint filter or old pantyhose, pour it back in the bottle and use it over and over until the pH is no longer effective then dump it down the drain since its pretty much inert at that point.