How to clean an aquarium chiller

[Rony11]

I bought a new Hailea 1/10 chiller for my 18 gallon tank in March 2012.
I used it during summer which was a great relief.

Now its winter and I dont need the chiller coz the tank temperatures where I live go down to 17-18 degrees without a heater.

Anyways I believe in keeping constant temperature during summer and winter.
So I use an Aquael 75W heater which keeps the tank 25 degrees to keep my tank and fish warm and to avoid temperature swings.

I want to clean the chiller including water inside the chiller and dust which gets accumulated on the external dust net as well as dust which enters the chiller through the net.

I have to clean the chiller anyways to get ready for summer. I have the time and in no hurry so prefer cleaning it now.

Any ideas or links to youtube which can help.

[HD Blazingwolf]

most condensers can be washed out, i don't know how your's is made, but the coil part should be able to be washed off for dust.
internally i hear vinegar works good to remove deposits, followed with a good distilled water rinse

[mrkookm]

Originally Posted by Rony11

I bought a new Hailea 1/10 chiller for my 18 gallon tank in March 2012.
I used it during summer which was a great relief.

Now its winter and I dont need the chiller coz the tank temperatures where I live go down to 17-18 degrees without a heater.

Anyways I believe in keeping constant temperature during summer and winter.
So I use an Aquael 75W heater which keeps the tank 25 degrees to keep my tank and fish warm and to avoid temperature swings.

I want to clean the chiller including water inside the chiller and dust which gets accumulated on the external dust net as well as dust which enters the chiller through the net.

I have to clean the chiller anyways to get ready for summer. I have the time and in no hurry so prefer cleaning it now.

Any ideas or links to youtube which can help.

If you didn't use this for saltwater then cleaning out the cooling chamber is necessary IME, just tilt and pour out the water. If you insist, then:

1) You can either rig a garden hose to NPT connection and turn it on full blast to rinse it out.
2) If you fear deposit build up due to you having extremely hard water then make a empty 3 gals vinegar into a bucket, connect an submersible pump to the chiller input end and a hose to the output with the waster going back into the bucket let it run for a few minutes.

If you have deposits the bits and pieces willcome right out.

Follow up with a thorough water only flush using the same method as step 2 - 2 or 3 times.

[Rony11]

The chiller was new when I bought it never used in a salt water tank.
I opened the box which came from the importer.
This tank has 80% RO.
I was warned against tilting the chiller in the very beginning coz it damages the chiller.

I will try the vinegar method to clean the chiller internally.
But it seems I'm going to need a lot of vinegar solution.
As for dust and dirt I have no choice but to open the screws and suck the dust with a vaccum.

[mrkookm]

Originally Posted by Rony11

The chiller was new when I bought it never used in a salt water tank.
I opened the box which came from the importer.
This tank has 80% RO.
I was warned against tilting the chiller in the very beginning coz it damages the chiller.

I will try the vinegar method to clean the chiller internally.
But it seems I'm going to need a lot of vinegar solution.
As for dust and dirt I have no choice but to open the screws and suck the dust with a vaccum.

I've had 4 different chillers (tradewinds, current & 2 JBJ's) at various times prior to my break and the only one that ever needed a vinegar flush was one that was connected to a saltwater tank. If you are using 80% RO flushing is a waste IME and not needed.

Regarding the dust if you have compressed air that would work well, if not then use a slender paint brush to aid with getting the dust out.