Do you clean or flush your chillers regularly?

[aparnold]

Hey All,

 

Just wondering... Does anybody out there flush their chillers regularly? I recently modified some of my chiller plumbing, and after I restarted the pump all kinds of white flakes poured out in to the water. I think that a few air bubbles helped dislodge the buildup. No harm was done to the tank or any of its inhabitants. I've only been running the chiller for about a month so I was kind of surprised by the buildup. But it got me thinking that it might be a good idea to flush the chiller plumbing every once in a while, maybe like 2-4 times a year. Has anybody done this? If so, how have you gone about doing so?

[BKtomodachi]

Isn't chiller plumbing... kind of always being flushed?

[aparnold]

Isn't chiller plumbing... kind of always being flushed?

 

 

OK Then... Power flushed? All I know is that having some air being passed through the system dislodged some gunk that must have been lining the inside of the chiller and plumbing.

[smoknta]

If you are going to flush it, I would back flush it. Reverse the flow and this might dislodge any build ups.

[Phixion]

Isn't chiller plumbing... kind of always being flushed?

 

We would think, right? But think of when you tear apart a pump to clean the impeller and such. If slimey film can buildup inside a pump or in various lines, no reason why it wouldn't do the same in a chiller. On that note, I've never flushed mine myself. But I wonder if the O/P's issue was maybe stuff that was from manufacturing and it wasn't initially pre-flushed like you're typically supposed to do when setting up a chiller?