Chiller installation, please help

[dba]

I recently picked up a oceanic 1/4 chiller from MR member and am now wrestling with how to go about the install.

Couple of questions.

1) What happens if pump connected to the chiller is on, but chiller is off? does water still flow through but not get chilled?

2) Can I pump water from my skimmer/reactor compartment in sump and dump to return compartment in sump? (my temp probe is in skimmer compartment, is this an efficient way to do it?)

My other option is, on the return plumbing i have a ball valve which Ts a line i can hook up the chiller to. More questions

A) Will a mag drive 9.5 be enough to return water to DT and chiller?

B) in this scenario, where do a i dump the chillers return water?

 

[pecan2phat]

Yes, any dedicated pump used for a chiller would still pump water through an in-line chiller whether the chiller cycles on or is off.

You can pump water from one end of the sump into the other end which would be the return section, don't see any problem for this.
This method is easy if you only want to use your chiller seasonally, easy to take down, rinse and store for the winter.
The other method would be to plumb your return pump through the chiller. This is probably more efficient in terms of temperature control for the the entire volume of tank water and would most likely be a permanent setup where the chiller stays in-line. You can always do a little more plumbing if you want the chiller completely off-line during nonuse by using true union ball valves on both sides of the chiller. This way you can take the chiller out of the return loop when desired.

A Mag 9.5 should do fine because a chiller is a bit restrictive in flow terms. So maybe you'll end up with 600 gph back into the DT.
You plumb the chiller after the return pump to the intake of the chiller and output is back to the tank via your prior return line that use to come from the return pump. So this should clear up where the chiller's return water gets dumped to.

 

[Geraud]

Make sure you check the recommended water flow for your chiller. If it is too much, the chiller does not "have time" to chill the water when it is inside the coils.