Artie_new_grower
Member
Water cooler with water pumps inside, water temps stay at 69 degrees all day...let me kno if u need more info
Water chiller ideas?
- Thread starter Dr.funkenstien
- Start date
Artie_new_grower
Member
Living in the desert with a swamp cooler, ya i need a chiller
Dr.funkenstien
Active Member
How much do one of them things cost? I'm sure I can do the conversion.
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
Great idea Artie and I did something like that myself a couple years ago for my DWC tubs. Got an old cooler from my boss and had that kicking around for a while then came up with a plan. Took the guts out of the cooling tank so I could fill it with a coil of 3/8" tubing that circulates the nutes from the tub(s) or rez up to the tank and back to the rez using a small fountain pump. Covered the inlets of the pump with plastic window screen and used a hot glue gun to seal it in place to keep roots out. Works great and only cost me $14 for the pump as I had a big roll of tubing and got the cooler for free.
The cooler tank is filled with automotive antifreeze to prevent freeze ups and get better heat exchange. I use a timer that does 15 min intervals on the cooler to get the amount of cooling I need to maintain 65 - 68F in the rez. Tried the timer on the nute pump but while it was off the nutes froze in the cooler tank and it took me a bit to figure out what was wrong. Stoners eh.
Hope that helps.
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
Oh yeah.
Insulation around the tub/bucket/rez helps with lo-tech chillers like this.
The white wall insulation is so much better for this use than the pink stuff if you can get it. A little baling wire and it's good to go.
Insulation around the tub/bucket/rez helps with lo-tech chillers like this.
The white wall insulation is so much better for this use than the pink stuff if you can get it. A little baling wire and it's good to go.
Artie_new_grower
Member
Used on Craigslist or yard sale, $20- $40
Artie_new_grower
Member
Thx old med...i basically use my chiller as a rez, i have a bigger pump in my dwc tote pumping into the chiller and a smaller pump pumping back into the tote, i adjusted both pumps to allow slow water movement, giving it time to chill, works perfect! PH, PPM AND TEMP levels stay the same in both "rez" and tote, no fluctuationOh yeah.
Insulation around the tub/bucket/rez helps with lo-tech chillers like this.
The white wall insulation is so much better for this use than the pink stuff if you can get it. A little baling wire and it's good to go.
View attachment 3812516
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
More than one way to skin a cat eh!
Artie_new_grower
Member
HydroRed
Well-Known Member
If you make a chiller out of a mini fridge, I wouldn't advise copper tubing. Use stainless steel tubing so you dont have to worry about the nute solution eating away at the copper. The fridge idea is good since it can be done very easily with a used mini fridge (approx $30-$40), a cheap adjustable submersible pump up to 180gph (approx $15), and some stainless tubing probably 15-20' (approx $20). So for about $75 or so, you can make a mini fridge chiller.
Just run the 15 or so feet of stainless tubing in a coil inside the fridge, drill 2 holes in the side of the fridge and have each end of the coil coming out of each hole. Connect one end of the coil to your submersible pump, then the other end back to the res as a return. This will likely be too cold if used on a smaller reservoir, but this is where a timer comes in. Have the submersible pump on a timer to come on for whatever time needed to achieve your desired temp. As long as your fridge is above freezing, the lines wont freeze even when the pump isnt running.
Just run the 15 or so feet of stainless tubing in a coil inside the fridge, drill 2 holes in the side of the fridge and have each end of the coil coming out of each hole. Connect one end of the coil to your submersible pump, then the other end back to the res as a return. This will likely be too cold if used on a smaller reservoir, but this is where a timer comes in. Have the submersible pump on a timer to come on for whatever time needed to achieve your desired temp. As long as your fridge is above freezing, the lines wont freeze even when the pump isnt running.
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
Good one Red! I would suggest a fan inside the fridge to help with heat exchange.
For bending the tubing without kinks I'd also suggest a cheap coil spring tube bender. I got a set of 3 sizes for under $10 to bend copper tubing to fit inside a coffee can to be a condenser for my still. I just set a 2L bottle of frozen salted water in the middle with antifreeze in it to help with heat exchange. The first one I made I used water and it rusted holes in the can.
You can see the tube bender in the first pic. I used one of the frozen bottles to make sure I was getting the coil to fit close.
Fit in in the can with a bit of cursing then soldered it in place top and bottom.
For bending the tubing without kinks I'd also suggest a cheap coil spring tube bender. I got a set of 3 sizes for under $10 to bend copper tubing to fit inside a coffee can to be a condenser for my still. I just set a 2L bottle of frozen salted water in the middle with antifreeze in it to help with heat exchange. The first one I made I used water and it rusted holes in the can.
You can see the tube bender in the first pic. I used one of the frozen bottles to make sure I was getting the coil to fit close.
Fit in in the can with a bit of cursing then soldered it in place top and bottom.
redi jedi
Well-Known Member
Ive built a mini fridge chiller, I wouldn't recommend it unless your chilling a small quantity of water...under 30 gal. Mine ran so hot it discoloured the paint on the fridge. I was chilling 35-40gals tops.
A small freezer would be a better idea. The mini fridge was about half the wattage of a 1/10hp chiller and was probably running non stop to achieve the 5-7 deg C I was getting...barely enough.
I started out with just a 50' coil of 1/2" tubing....didnt work very well. I then put the coil in 5gal bucket of water...better, but not enough. I then removed the ice box and put it in the bucket with the coil...not bad, but the fridge became a fire hazard IMO and I bought a real chiller.
Oh and the copper almost killed my plants...
A small freezer would be a better idea. The mini fridge was about half the wattage of a 1/10hp chiller and was probably running non stop to achieve the 5-7 deg C I was getting...barely enough.
I started out with just a 50' coil of 1/2" tubing....didnt work very well. I then put the coil in 5gal bucket of water...better, but not enough. I then removed the ice box and put it in the bucket with the coil...not bad, but the fridge became a fire hazard IMO and I bought a real chiller.
Oh and the copper almost killed my plants...
Dr.funkenstien
Active Member
Good to know. That was the route I was thinking of going. My res holds 18 gallons. But I also have a 5gal and 3 1/2 gal bucket. I'm gonna get a good one soon as I can but they are not the cheapest thing out there.
redi jedi
Well-Known Member
Ive seen some videos on youtube were they convert a dehuey into a chiller. Ive heard of others on here doing it also but its involved if your not mechanically inclined.
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
Copper is a no-no as the acidic nutes will leach lots of copper and eventually rot the tubing right out.
Almost killed isn't dead so I hope you enjoyed the smoke.
redi jedi
Well-Known Member
The plants began to yellow out like I hadn't feed them in weeks. It stopped after I removed the diy chiller. Stainless steel coils would solve that problem but its expensive and difficult to bend into a coil. You could make one coil outta copper than get a SS wort chiller coil to put in the res and run the chiller closed loop. Lots of fucking around though for what its capable of.Copper is a no-no as the acidic nutes will leach lots of copper and eventually rot the tubing right out.
Almost killed isn't dead so I hope you enjoyed the smoke.
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
Use one of those cheap coil spring benders to prevent kinks like the one I posted above for the copper coil I made. Way better heat exchange with a liquid around the coil tho. Big soup pot full of water/antifreeze in the fridge with the cooling coil in that should work way better.
If you restrict the airflow thru the window shaker too much, it will freeze the evaporator coil.
HydroRed
Well-Known Member
What gph pump are you using? Could you slow down the flow of the pump if it is adjustable to achieve colder temps? The slower the fluid moves through the coil, the stronger the cooling properties will be on the nute solution. If it is flowing too quick, it never gets a chance to cool the fluid or to keep the coil cold enough to be effective.