DIY chiller

[loismustdie]

Not exactly a chiller, but it works pretty good to keep temps down while lights are on and costs nothing to run.
Material:
-1 5' length 1/2" titanium tubing (www.mcmasterandcarr.com) $35
-2 1/2" bulkheads about $5 each @savko plastics
-32 QT rubbermaid box $3.99 @ HD
-Rigid insulation $10.69 for a full sheet (8'X4') @ HD... you won't need anywhere close to a full sheet, you can use what is left over under tanks, sumps, external pumps to reduce vibration.
Coil the titanium tubing using a pipe bender. Coiling it by hand is pretty hard and you will kink the tubing. You cannot completely remove any kinks and kinks are likely going to crack. Drill two 1 1/4" holes into the box and install your bulkheads. enclose the box with the rigid insulation, make sure you can still get the top off. Connect the titanium tubing to the bulkheads using plastic tubing. Mine is fed off of a bleeder valve from my main pump. This is better than adding another powerhead to you system to feed it. Run tank water through the titanium tubing. It only needs 50 to 100 GPH. Fill the box with ice and cold water. the titanium in the ice will transfer the heat that tends to accumulate in your tank while lights are on. Using this box on my 180 gallon has kept my chiller from having to run, except during the hottest months of the year. It is rather crude in design. You can pretty this up a bit by using acrylic, but this would increase the costs. Also, if you can't put ice in it, you can place a fan on top of the box blowing over the water surface and use evaporative cooling to keep the water in the box cool. If you use a bleeder line off of a pump in your system, this literally costs you nothing to run. As those of us who have chillers know, not only are real chillers expensive to purchase, but they are expensive to run as well. This will help keep it's run time down and only cost a little over $50 to make. If you need pics or help, please e-mail me. [email protected]

 

[aaron]

I saw a similar system to this but instead of using a box of ice they used one of those small 6pack fridges that you can buy at CVS or RiteAid with the tube coil running through it.
I've never tried it myself but it seems like a good idea.
A

 

[loismustdie]

Using the "dorm room refrigerator" isn't the best idea, due to the inefficiency of such units. Your fridge would have to run all day to keep the water cool. You won't like the results on you electric bill. It's okay for tanks 30 G or less, but don't even bother if you've got Halides. Your regular refrigerator is running anyway, so this one doesn't cost you anything. Like I said, it really isn't a chiller, It's just something that I have been using to reduce the the heat from MH bulbs. I just thought I'd post this one up, since cooling is usually an issue for people. Just trying to help.
chris

 

[House of Laughter]

or you can freeze ro/di water like I do and add it at about 4 pm when my chiller usually goes on in the summer time. Save me on top-off (only a little) and keeps the temp in check for a short time. Don't add the cubes to your main system, use sump or other means to avoid salinity, temp swings.

House

 

[loismustdie]

I like that one too house. The "pros" tend to disagree with it, but I do it all the time with no negative results Since I've been doing it with the above described design, I've noticed that the ice lasts longer and there are no drastic temp swings. You also don't have to worry about any cross contamination, since the titanium tube is closed. I love DIY projects. I'm surprised that there aren't more plans in here. I've built acrylic sumps, calcium reactors and chemical filter chambers. I'm no expert, that's why I like to see others projects. If you got 'em, post 'em. Let us check them out!

 

[glipper69]

heres a DIY chiller

Get some empty 2 liter bottles, they can be any brand, I prefer Coke because it tstes better than Pepsi. Make sure u fill it with any tap water you can find, I like to use the water from my kitchen sink because I like my kitchen. OK you got your 2 liter bottle, and filled it with tap water.... ummm Oh yea, don't forget to put the cap on nice and tight. Now here's the tricky part you have to then place it in your freezer for a good 24 hours depending on how efficient it is. when it's good and frozen you now have a quick easy way to help regulate your temp in the summer. I usually like to have multiple bottles on hand for those really warm days.
Hope that helps.

I like DIY project like this also especially when they are idiot proof.

Remember--- don't forget to put the cap on, I seem to always forget that part.

Later
Frank
hehe

 

[loismustdie]

Well, I thought putting a piece of titanium tubing in a bucket with some ice, ,clamped to flexible tubing was idiot proof, but I have obviously been out done. See, when I set up my tank, my chiller came on 3 times per day for about 3 hours each time. I Started adding frozen RO water, but eventually I was topped off and it didn't cut down that much on run time. So, I went to the above mentioned soda bottle trick. A 2 litre bottle of water melts in about 35 minutes with 78 degree water flowing past it. I would need a lot of soda bottles to keep up with the heat from my lights. 1 soda bottle isn't going to change the temps much in a 180 gallon tank. Both techniques, while they do work, took up a lot of room in the freezer, especially if I went with more than 1 frozen bottle at a time. I searched into the web and found a design similar to the one I posted. It doesn't cool as fast, or melt as fast since the water doesn't come in contact with it. It just did a good job of keeping up with my lights. 3 trays of ice cubes also take up much less room than several 2 litre soda bottles and last most of the day. I posted this for anyone who has the same problem that I do. It is an option. Placing more fans are an option as well. There are a lot of options. I found this one and thought I'd share it. I still add a 1 qt container of frozen RO water to my sump, and I also have a frozen bottle of tap water. Screwing the top back on has never been an issue. Idiots need and should have idiot proof designs. I'll post my calcium reactor next. Easy enough for anyone to build with about $12 of acrylic.

 

[Sean]

Glipper very funny.

when I first opened my shop I had a freezer filled with poland spring water bottles( filled with exotic tap water)and I had fans cooling off the tanks.

It worked but it was an all day job of replacing the bottles and topping of water everyday(but then again it was a 1200 gallon system).

I also tried running water into a large freezer. That didn't work at all.

 

[gforce6]

I like the idea of Chris, pretty much same method with expensive chiller out there, differece with using ice instead of freon gas.

Some question for you Chris, how long dose ice last from melting? and where can I get titanum tubing bend it?

I was trying to buy one of those temp controller and hook it up with my AC. When tank water temp gose up, temp controller will turn my AC on. Last summer, I was running 4 computer fan turn on all day, it kept my tank temp as my room temp.

 

[House of Laughter]

Chris,

I have a few in my photo gallery - another that I have seen is putting a large bucket of water in the dorm fridge and putting the Ti tubing in that - since the water volume is larger (and more mass) it doens't trip the fridge as much since it stays cooler longer and saves on the power.

Just some ideas

House

 

[spykes]

how do you coil the titaium tube?

 

[loismustdie]

Sorry I've been out of the loop for a while. I had to go away for a few weeks. You can get titanium tubing from McMasterandcarr.com. You have to use a bender to coil it. You can find benders in the electrical section of HD. Bend and move putting a slight angle into the Bender as you go will give you a coil. I used rigid insulation around the box so the ice ususally lasts a few hours before I notice the temp begin to rise. Much better than the 30 to 35 minutes it takes a 2 litre bottle of frozen water to melt. This has still been good enough to keep my chiller from having to run. I put a john guest bulkhead on the container so I can empty the water from the ice left in the tub without having to move it. Again, this really isn't a chiller. I don't want to give anyone any false hopes that this will solve all heat problems. It does a great job at keeping up with the excess heat from my lights. Just like you see from House, just throwing ideas out there that have worked for me.