DIY Chiller
- Thread starter citytyger
- Start date
>...My chiller ran a total of $175 once completed (without the 6 pack), still significantly cheaper than a commercial unit.
comment:
1, hard to find the wattage of the dorm refrigerator. Need to look at cost per watt (or hp) for these DIY and the commerical chiller.
2, compressor need to be heavy duty. Refrigerator is not meant to run 12 hours a day.
comment:
1, hard to find the wattage of the dorm refrigerator. Need to look at cost per watt (or hp) for these DIY and the commerical chiller.
2, compressor need to be heavy duty. Refrigerator is not meant to run 12 hours a day.
so far all i've really heard is a dorm refrigerator idea. Now isn't there a way to utilize that without running a heater along with it to compensate for the refrigerator?
What if you kept a small(rather than the advised large mass of coil) amount of line in the fridge with some sort of temp sensor in the tank connected to a slow pump that would turn on if the tank reached its maximum allowable temp. Then the slow pump would kick in and that little bit of cooler line that would instantly dump in the tank would not effect it to the point of "shock" but while the pump is on would gradually bring the tank back to specified operating temp, to do this the cooler temp would have to stay above freezing, as to keep the water in the dormant line liquid. And i would need keep the cooler stocked with the proper amount of line to loose enough heat before returning to the tank, and right flow, and keep the cooler full of something like water jugs to help maintain temperature within the compartment. Also, the temp switch i was describing, wonder if that is readily available somewhere?
What does everyone think of that nutty idea? I'm sure someone(not me) is capable of coming up with a mathematical equation for this
Tony
What if you kept a small(rather than the advised large mass of coil) amount of line in the fridge with some sort of temp sensor in the tank connected to a slow pump that would turn on if the tank reached its maximum allowable temp. Then the slow pump would kick in and that little bit of cooler line that would instantly dump in the tank would not effect it to the point of "shock" but while the pump is on would gradually bring the tank back to specified operating temp, to do this the cooler temp would have to stay above freezing, as to keep the water in the dormant line liquid. And i would need keep the cooler stocked with the proper amount of line to loose enough heat before returning to the tank, and right flow, and keep the cooler full of something like water jugs to help maintain temperature within the compartment. Also, the temp switch i was describing, wonder if that is readily available somewhere?
What does everyone think of that nutty idea? I'm sure someone(not me) is capable of coming up with a mathematical equation for this
Tony
There are temperature controller, check out any reef hardware store like marinedepot.com or your local fish store.
However, unless you are running a very small tank, or have very little heat that could be taken care of with evaporative cooling, I don't think a small fridge will give your tank much of a thermal shock.
However, unless you are running a very small tank, or have very little heat that could be taken care of with evaporative cooling, I don't think a small fridge will give your tank much of a thermal shock.
dupaboy1992":39troqen said:
No not the entire room.
But I was thinking of building an insulated box around the "room" end of the air conditioner. And have tubing run through the box. So instead of cooling the entire room you are just cooling the inside of the box.
Of course the "outside" of the airconditioner would still have to exhaust the heated air outside the room where the tank is.
Just wondered if anyone had triet that.
BTUs per hour seem higher on air conditioners and obviously they do have to run all the time in the summer.
beaslbob":3pyana3g said:
You can use the compressor of a window unit. You need to chaing out the supplied coils for one the is SW friendly. They come sized to match the compressor. Put the coil in a housing. That wany you can have the widow unit in a window to vet the heat and the coil by the tank. I've seen some DIY threads with chillers made out of the small spit units, like a regular home AC unit just sized for one room. You need an AC man to hook it up, but IMO the best solution for a chiller.
Here's the thread, the search actually worked for once!
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... ht=chiller
Anyways, I don't know how if the parts are craigslist available, I'd guess not, but it's the closest thing to an actual working DIY chiller I've seen (aside from those doing a geothermal loop)
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... ht=chiller
Anyways, I don't know how if the parts are craigslist available, I'd guess not, but it's the closest thing to an actual working DIY chiller I've seen (aside from those doing a geothermal loop)
I don't know if he mean the bender is $200, or the tubing is $200. I think he means the bender. Anyway, the tricky part is the tubing. It is stainless steel, but I don't know how long it going to last in seawater. Depends on the grade of stainless steel, some won't last too long in seawater.
I have been thinking about the "dorm refrigerator" chiller DIY. Would it be more effective if the coil of tubing were in a container filled with liquid, H2O, antifreeze? Since the mass of the interior of the fridge is full it will maintain the cool temps better. right? and I believe liquid transfers heat better, right? Or did I smoke my breakfast? 8O Just a thought, my sump is in the basement so I'm not real concerned about looks.
I actually considered pokeing a hole in the ends of a chest freezer and then placing a coil of tubeing in it.
I know that stainless steel, or titanium is the "better" for heat transfer, but honestly, why not an external pump pushing the water through a few hundred feet of rubber tubeing coiled inside a chest freezer?
Sorry was a rough idea I was going to look into when I considered setting up an outside growout system for propagation. when it gets 120 degrees here I was concerned.
I know that stainless steel, or titanium is the "better" for heat transfer, but honestly, why not an external pump pushing the water through a few hundred feet of rubber tubeing coiled inside a chest freezer?
Sorry was a rough idea I was going to look into when I considered setting up an outside growout system for propagation. when it gets 120 degrees here I was concerned.
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