DIY= Do It Yourself Water Chiller that Works!

Sometimes simplest is best! I removed the insulated box and fans I had put around the ice tray - and just let it sit exposed in the grow box. Now the condensation on the tray evaporates before it freezes!!! My box is a perfect 71 deg now!!!!! Dude you totally saved my girls! I am on such a fixed budget that this $40 DIY (yea craigslist!) HAS SAVED MY HEAD !!!!

BIG UPS TO cruzer101 !!!!!!!!!

Ok I am firing up the Volcano
 

cruzer101

Well-Known Member
There ya go,

When I try and think of a way to do something different I think of something I learned many years ago in sales training.
K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid. It don't always work out that way though. LOL

Thanks for the props man but I just made a suggestion, you are the one that figured it out. Props to you man!
 
Hey Buddy,

Thought you might see how it turned out. I used a fliter from a cool mist humidifiier to wick up the condensation dripping from the old 'ice tray'. A computer fan inside the filter blows air up thru it. This compensated nicely for the water being removed from the air by the chilling process, and keeps the humidity around 40-50%. Thanks again for the ideas and the help along the way!

-HH
 

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cruzer101

Well-Known Member
Thanks man, I get a much better idea now.
How did you bend the tray flat without kinking the line in there?



Thats a great idea. I have trouble keeping humidity in a cabinet.

So now by running it when lights on it keeps temps in check.

Very Cool.
 

How did you bend the tray flat without kinking the line in there?

I bent it almost flat... by hand, still enough of a curve not to kink... I actually bent it twice... the second time I was shitting bricks.... but it worked!

One week in my lights on is 73 deg - 40-50% hum !!!

Of course now I need another one for my res... HA - I feel another DIY commin' on!!
 

cruzer101

Well-Known Member
I bent it almost flat... by hand, still enough of a curve not to kink... I actually bent it twice... the second time I was shitting bricks.... but it worked!

One week in my lights on is 73 deg - 40-50% hum !!!

Of course now I need another one for my res... HA - I feel another DIY commin' on!!
Cool man (no pun intended) keep us posted.
 
Hey everyone,

I did a little more research and found something for you.
Its called a nano chiller for aquariums that looks like it would work well for a small res. like 10 to 15 gal. for like $159.00
So if you don't want to build one or it is a bit intimidating heres the link:http://www.reefplayground.net/aquaeurousa.shtml

.
That particular unit will not work too well on hydroponic systems. It's electrical based, and is really designed to keep a system of no larger than 12g in the 77-79 temp range.

For keeping the temp bellow that on 10-15g systems, you would need to get a refrigerant based chiller, the smallest one being the AE-USA 1/13th HP chiller.
 

cruzer101

Well-Known Member
That particular unit will not work too well on hydroponic systems. It's electrical based, and is really designed to keep a system of no larger than 12g in the 77-79 temp range.

For keeping the temp bellow that on 10-15g systems, you would need to get a refrigerant based chiller, the smallest one being the AE-USA 1/13th HP chiller.
Thank you.

That was my best guess.
I appreciate the correction.
 

volcomrider157

Well-Known Member
very good info here, I kinda already had my mind made up of how im going to do this but, this is a very sweet Idea. I plan on building radiators with small pvc and tubing. the tubing will be circulating water coming from a small cooler of water with two gatorade bottles of solid Ice in it. then just swap out the Ice as needed. This is all an Idea as of now, I will start construction of the system tomorrow afternoon.
 

MoN3yb4Gs

Well-Known Member
Since the mini fridge couldn't keep up I went with a window A/C unit. It has no trouble at all and only cycles on a few minutes every hour. This is with about 40 gallons.
This might be what I end up doing with my A/C... Any more thoughts on this as a res chiller?
 
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