Diy water chiller imput

N!pples said:

We did abandon the project and bought a real Chiller after that harvest... lol! Maybe the pump was to big and pumped the water too fast or the freezer just wasn’t powerful enough?! The Freezer still works fine and freezes stuff FAST but not a good chiller.... I don’t know maybe a nice top loading freezer box that you can turn down to like -0 or more.. lol

I'd love to help you more but We gave up on that after 1 round.. It did chill the water about 10-12 degrees! So it worked a little!!!

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I plan on useing a deep freezer how what size copper tube did u use for the condenser and what length of copper did you use for the condenser . What horse power chiller did you end up buying. What were you useing the chiller for. Sorry about all the questions but most of my friends don't like projects and the guys at the hydro store just want me to spend $$$$

Xare said:

What if you had a small freezer and just put an air pump inside. Then pump cold air from inside the freezer to stones inside the rez.

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Might work if your trying to cool a nute Rez but I want to cool lights the room and a co2 gen pluss with house and garden I don't airate my nutes

hey Adam im thinkn nipples must not have had a res.. i cant see how it could get that warm in a deep freeze.. it might have to run in overtime but?

Yea can see that too. But what?

exactly! but nothn..... i think it will work

Sorry been busy... We were using it with a 50 gallon recalculating reservoir with no more than 35 gallons in it at once.. About 50 Ft of coil and the freezer on an old refrigerator was about 10 Ft away(20 ft to and from)... It might work in a DEEP freezer set low... Keep in mind the room it was used in got to 100 degrees at times and the water was 90 or so.. The make shift chiller would cool it down to about 80-84...
Better conditions and equipment will probably give better results…..

Good Luck!

N!pples said:

Sorry been busy... We were using it with a 50 gallon recalculating reservoir with no more than 35 gallons in it at once.. About 50 Ft of coil and the freezer on an old refrigerator was about 10 Ft away(20 ft to and from)... It might work in a DEEP freezer set low... Keep in mind the room it was used in got to 100 degrees at times and the water was 90 or so.. The make shift chiller would cool it down to about 80-84...
Better conditions and equipment will probably give better results…..

Good Luck!

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sweet bro thanks for the input.. so tell me what would you do different if you were to try again?? i have alot of refridgeration and plumbing experience and am just a real good overall DIY kinda guy.. with that said if there is a way i sure would like to find it.. but with help, well it just is that much easier.. thanks..

Hmmm, Lets see!

I think we had 3 main problems: 1, The res temp was to hot to start with.
2. The pump might have been to big so it pumped the hot water too fast and heated the freezer faster than it could cool.
3. And the refrigerator/Freezer was kinda old.. We did drill through the side and who knows how this affected the performance..

I think it could work with the right freezer parts and patience....

N!pples

right on man.. from all that you told me coils, pumps and such.. about the only things i would do different is use a lid style deep freezer, place the res out of room if possible, and valves to control the water flow?

If you could do all that I would say it could work.. We just figured it would be easier and more accurate to just get a real chiller... In the end I am more than happy we spent the money on it...

Good luck and wish you the best... Let us knwo how it works if you proceed!!!!

N!pples said:

If you could do all that I would say it could work.. We just figured it would be easier and more accurate to just get a real chiller... In the end I am more than happy we spent the money on it...

Good luck and wish you the best... Let us knwo how it works if you proceed!!!!

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right on man im not doing nothing but feeding my brain at this point.. but it sounds like an interesting project for a small scale grower like myself..

thanks again.. peace

Hell ya! Happy growing my friend!!!

AdamBlack760 said:

Any input is welcome ...

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Here's a general concept that might be worth investigating and adapting... At a college in Florida, they made a simple and highly efficient commercial air conditioning unit that is based upon freezing a large reservoir of water overnight (when temperatures are lower, the AC isn't being used so nothing for it to cool, and electricity is cheaper). Located in the middle of that reservoir is a network of coiled tubing that air is pulled or pushed through for cooling during the day. Basically it's a small, insulated, swimming pool that is frozen solid overnight. The only trick to it is the reservoir/amount of frozen water has to be enough to make it through the day when the building is occupied and AC is being used (just a matter of volume).

Same concept could be used with a deep freezer converted internally into a reservoir - let it run during the dark period/lights off (and while it doesn't have to cool anything other than the water), have the freezer on a timer to turn off when the lights come on, and rely on the frozen water to do the cooling work... Let's the freezer run at full efficiency and saves you electricity fees.

TaoWolf said:

Here's a general concept that might be worth investigating and adapting... At a college in Florida, they made a simple and highly efficient commercial air conditioning unit that is based upon freezing a large reservoir of water overnight (when temperatures are lower, the AC isn't being used so nothing for it to cool, and electricity is cheaper). Located in the middle of that reservoir is a network of coiled tubing that air is pulled or pushed through for cooling during the day. Basically it's a small, insulated, swimming pool that is frozen solid overnight. The only trick to it is the reservoir/amount of frozen water has to be enough to make it through the day when the building is occupied and AC is being used (just a matter of volume).

Same concept could be used with a deep freezer converted internally into a reservoir - let it run during the dark period/lights off (and while it doesn't have to cool anything other than the water), have the freezer on a timer to turn off when the lights come on, and rely on the frozen water to do the cooling work... Let's the freezer run at full efficiency and saves you electricity fees.

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hey tao i like the idea of the coils bieng inside a block of ice that could totaly work as long as the flow never stops.. also might have to put some antifreeze in the mix.. +1 for the info taowolf

AdamBlack760 said:

I want to get some ice boxes And one of the water cooled co2 gens from hydro innovations and the 1 hp chiller they have is baicly two grand. So I was thinking of making my own. Useing a small deep freezer for $100 to $200. As much soft coper tube to make the biggest coper coil to fit. A 12 or 20 gal
Cooler for a rez. Pump and all the plumbing suplys needed. I've made stainless coil for a jocky box I made befor I got my kegarator so I believe I can make this. Just have a few questions. What diamater coper tube should I use and what gph pump should I use? Any help is welcome. And I plan on doing a full diy write up when I start and complete the chiller an water cooling set up. Thanks.

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Hi guys!
A DIY water chiller is exactly what preoccupied my mind for the past couple days.
I almost bought a freezer to try conversion, but here is what i found online:

http://www.beananimal.com/articles/dorm-fridge-aquarium-chiller.aspx

Very detailed and useful. Still working on trying to wrap my head around all that info, but from the looks of it, seems like a freezer suitable for such conversion will cost as much as proper chiller or close to that.
Let me know how the project goes though and I will post update on my progress as well.
Good luck.

Been busy raceing so haven't had a chance to do any prototyping. But when I got home a 10,000 btu window ac I had stoped working. The fan that blows air across the heat exchanger into the room. Sence I don't feel like trying to find a replacement fan ( probly impossible ) I'm going to try to take apart the ac and run the condenser in a Rez then pump out of the Rez. Should have every thing figured out Monday.

So doing some math each 1k hps puts out 3,400 btu so that's 6,800 btu's for lighting the co2 gen puts out 12,000 btu/hr if it only needs to run 5 min/hr for my co2 needs that's 1,000 btu's so in total that's 7,800 btus call it 8,000 then my 10,000 btu window ac should be enough. And sence cooling water is more efficient than cooling air I should be good. I'm going to start tearing down my ac tonight let you know on the progress

Depending on the size of rez and how far down you need to go ( I KNow y'all's doing lights, co2 gennies, etc ) anyway,,, back to high-jacking this to the side a little.

check out this little chiller...@ marinedepot.com.............coolworks ice probe w/power supply
Description

• Efficient: converts electricity directly into cooling power
• Reliable: the fan is the only moving part
• Easy to Install: one hole, one nut
• Safe low voltage operation
• Environmentally Friendly: no gasses or chemicals
• 1-year manufacturer`s warranty from purchase date

The IceProbe is the ideal cooling solution for small aquariums. This quiet, reliable, and efficient chiller uses advanced thermoelectric technology to directly covert electricity into cooling power.

With its threaded probe, nylon nut, and silicon washer, the IceProbe, can be easily bulkheaded through a 1.25" hole into siphon overflows, prefilters, sumps, or even directly into acrylic aquariums.

A single IceProbe can cool 10 gallons of water 6-8F below ambient air temperature in a standard aquarium. Multiple IceProbes can be used in a single aquarium to achieve higher temperature differentials.

The IceProbe provides continuous chilling power. A separate temperature controller must be used to turn the the device on or off at predetermined temperatures.

Weighing in at only 2 pounds, the IceProbe® is powered by a separate 12 volt D.C. power supply and draws less than 50 watts.


This thing costs $ 119.00 and the temp controller is another 50 or so


peace