RE: NANFA-L-- Homemade chiller

Crail, Todd (tcrail-in-UTNet.UToledo.Edu)
Mon, 29 May 2006 15:26:27 -0400

Let's keep the perspective. It's waaaay cheap compared to running a 1/4 hp
chiller running-in-4-5 amps, than whatever the wattage input is ;) Heat
happens no matter what you're running. And going to the sink to get some more
water is way less expensive than going to the garbage can and then driving
back to a collecting locality. Ideally, once it cools off later this week and
I can have a system down to just air pumps, I will get this outlet fixed (they
reversed the hot and neutral gah) and get the room AC running again. I know
the dog will certainly appreciate it... The fans totally freaked her out last
night, she was barking-in-everything, yet nothing.

I've seen a few people who have done the fridge thing. After everything was
said and done, they spent as much money (not to mention their time, whatever
you "bill" your free time at) and just ended up buying a room AC instead to
get the spouse happy again. But... If you're single and like to engineer, by
all means, have a ball :)

Todd
The Fish Room is Air Temp Madness, Toledo, OH
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
http://www.farmertodd.com

________________________________

From: owner-nanfa-l-in-nanfa.org on behalf of Jase Roberts
Sent: Mon 5/29/2006 12:59 PM
To: nanfa-l-in-nanfa.org
Subject: NANFA-L-- Homemade chiller

Hey All,

One thing to consider with Todd's fan chiller (swamp cooler, essentially) is
that box fans use a LOT of electricity. My standard one from Wal-Mart or
whatever draws 120W on low, 160W on medium, and 220W on high... That adds up
quickly (especially if you're running two) And, of course, remember that all
of that electricity is ultimately being converted to heat (in one form or
another). As Todd notes, it's only going to work if your humidity isn't too
high, and you're going to need to add quite a bit of water to the tank as it
evaporates.

Here's a thought I've been mulling over for a cheap chiller... I haven't
built this, but I can't see why it wouldn't work. I plan to do this whenever
I decide to actually start breeding my natives.

Use either a little bar fridge OR your regular kitchen fridge (depending on
proximity of your kitchen to your aquaria and the sensitivities of your
significant other). If you can get by with your kitchen fridge, you'll save
all the extra cost of running a second fridge (those little ones are usually
pretty inefficient, since they're marketed to college kids and cost of the
initial purchase is the driving factor -- certainly not energy efficiency).

- Drill two holes through the side/back of the fridge to accommodate 1/4" ID
vinyl tubing (or whatever diameter you want/need/have on hand). Don't hit the
coils or any wires (unplug your fridge first, please)
- Get enough vinyl tubing to reach from your aquarium to the fridge and back.
- Cut the vinyl in half and pass it through each of the holes in the fridge
(so you have two free ends inside). Use silicone or hot glue to seal.
- Get/make the appropriate fittings to connect a few feet of flexible copper
tubing to the vinyl inside the fridge, and wind that into a coil.
- Inside the fridge, have the copper tubing sitting in a 9x13 baking pan (or
whatever) full of water (better heat transfer). The copper tubing isn't open
to this pan, just passing through it.
- Get a cheap in-line pump
(http://www.discount-pumps.biz/inline-pond-pumps.htm) or submersible pump
(http://www.discount-pumps.biz/aquarium-pumps.htm) and connect that to the
vinyl as a feed from your aquarium. A consideration here is that the pump is
going to ADD heat to the system, so in-line is probably better and as small as
possible definitely best.
- The free end (coming out of the fridge) then just returns to your aquarium.
- Control temperature by turning the fridge up or down, OR by adjusting flow
on the pump (if it's variable)

So the whole thing (drawn linearly) looks like:

aquarium -----> vinyl tube ----- inline pump---- vinyl tube ----->(next line)

|--------------------------------------------------|
---------FRIDGE--->[____copper tube in water pan___]---vinyl tube---(next
line)
|--------------------------------------------------|

----------> aquarium -----> cool, happy fish

Any reason this wouldn't work? The bigger the surface area of the water pan
in the fridge (and the longer the copper tube heat sink), the colder the water
you're going to be able to return to your aquarium.

If you really want to take best advantage of it, get some rigid Styrofoam
insulation to line the back and sides of your aquarium with (reduce
condensation and heat loss).

If you try it, let me know. I'm curious.

-Jase
Montpelier, VT

Crail, Todd wrote:
>>Has anyone tried modifying a personal (tabletop) refrigerator as an
>>inexpensive alternative to a chiller?
>
>
> As for a chiller... Here's one that I put together last night with this
> freakin' hot spell we're under (It's too early for this crap! Sheesh!)
>
> http://www.farmertodd.com/nanfa/reefle/052906/cheapchiller.jpg
>
> One is blowing down, the other is blowing out. Lost the temp on the temp
> gaugae last night (which meant it was in excess of 86 F). It's down to 76
> right now. Also lost about 3 gallons of water lol. Gas exchange can get
you
> out of a bind in a hurry :) You can do the same on smaller systems with
a
> little clip on fan. The only time you get into trouble is when it's
dagnasty
> humid and you can't get a single drop more into the air. However, by doing
> this in combination with AC, you'll make the AC run a lot more efficiently
at
> cooling the tanks.
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