DIY chiller idea, All Imput please :)

[isaac]

I have a Large unused freezer at home about the size as an average fridge it is verry cold (it coats a layer of ice on everything in it about an inch thick in 2-3 days)i wish to build a DIY chiller out of it, by using a bucket of anti-freeze water as the heat-exchange inside the freezer with a coil of tubing inside the bucket

this will be fine, but id like to install a thermostat so it doent get too cold or too hot and doesnt take up too much power. My problem is if i put the thermostat on the freezer cable the freezer will defrost and leek everytime it has reached the required temp, on the other hand if i put the thermostat on the powerhead's cable the water left inside the tube in the freezer will freeze.

any1 have any ideas of a drainage system in the tubing in the freezer?
or any other ideas will be greatly apreciated.

[Poseidon]

Though I don't want to spoil your creativity, if this was a functonal solution to cooling problems, don't you think we would all be doing this?

I know I could have spent that $450 that my chiller cost on something more fun...

I think this idea has potential, but the cost and reliabilty may be factors that sink your project.

Ideally you would need water running through the lines at all times, to prevent freezing, but then you have the potential to cool your tank to much.

There are several DIY "cooling towers" that are inexpensive to make, that would be a much better solution. MOst of these towers use evaporation to cool the water, which means more work for you to keep the water level constant, and SG stable.

Maybe do a google search on "evaporative cooling" or something similar.

[isaac]

where i Live Evaporative cooling isnt an option since it is so humid here
trust me i have thought of that. thats why i theres no point for me in using fans.

but, if it can cool the tank too much there must be a way to make it cool just enought.. right?
i just thought it would work because of the size and how cold this freezer is. its just that a freezer this size would be expensive and mabe people havnt tried it with a freezer this big.

[Reefland]

I don't think that I would trust the life in my tank with a bucket of anti-freeze in a freezer with my tank water running through a tube.

This hobby is not a cheap hobby, and where the DIY'er is admired for creativity and enginuity, it is really best to purchase tried, true and trusted equipment that is available.

[isaac]

my wife wont let me buy a $500 chiller, i explained to her thats a cheap 1 but she said it doesnt justify as a "need" looks like ill have to save money in a jar for a few months untill i set it up.

lets just hope she doesnt find the jar.

>.<

[Reefland]

What is the ambient temperature of the room that the tank will be in? Do you know that a chiller will be required?

[isaac]

i have been told that it would be fatal without a chiller in the summer months
in the summer it is always above 31 degres celciaus (90 degres fahrenheit) and 85% humidity, in the winter (we dont realy have one) its around 82-83 degres fahrenheit.
so as you can see i need a chiller, im going to probly buy 1 i saw for about $600

[SKRIZ]

isaac, since the ambient temperature is pretty consistent, I think your idea could work.

First, I don't think that you would need to use a thermostat to regulate flow. You can set that up manually with a gate valve. You will have to play with the length of pipe that you need inside the freezer; start long, you can always cut it shorter. By turning the valve, you can slow down the water going through the freezer (increasing the contact time and thus making the water colder), or vice-versa. does that make sense?

Since you don't use this freezer for anything else, can you sell it? You may be simply able to buy a chiller with the money from the freezer?

[isaac]

yeah i understand what your saying, but i think it will be too tricky to get working efficiantly, pluss i cant sell the freezer as it shorts out the entire house when you turn it on, i was planing on fixing that if i was to build this DIY chiller, the door of the freezer is also broken, the door comes off it hinges if you open it too fast or too far. i was also planing on fixing this problem, it creates too much ice to be used as a freezer for food. i might be able to get $20-30 for it.

[PurePerfection]

I dont know about that....

[The R/C Man]

Your plan has been done before. If I remember correctly you will need a really long peice of tubing coiled up to increase the contact time as SKRIZ said. Even if you overdue the cooling, a tank heater should be able to compete with the cooling to keep the temperature stable. I don't know how efficient that would be as far as energy consumption goes.

Since it seems relitively inexpesive for you to do. Maybe you should set up the system minus any live stock and give it a trial run for a couple weeks to see how it goes. Your testing information may help many others out there looking to save some money.

I am sure you could probably do the math to figure out how much tube it would take to drop the tank water in the tube X ammount of degrees passing through X feet of tubing at X amount of GPH or feet per sec.... I have no idea what the formulas would be I was just throwing that out there.

[PurePerfection]

energy consumption would be crazy...

[isaac]

instead of doing any of this im rigging a thermostat to my Airconditioning.

[The R/C Man]

I am with you Isaac. I have a window air conditioner and I just keep the entire room cool enough to maintain the tank temp and my happy butt..

[nynex]

I think for you Isaac...maybe a window air conditioner would be your best
option...being that you are so limited on funds..

[Ogdenenator]

OR ----

Sorry for bringing up the old thread

I think the freezer idea would work. I've been thinking about making one my self out a mini fridge.

What I am thinking about is using a pump to move the cold anti-freeze through a closed loop system (rather than moving the water through the anti-freeze), putting a coil in my sump. When the temp gets to high cold anti-freeze will pump through plastic tubing in my sump, thus lowering the temp of the water.

Feed Back anyone.

I guess the only thing i would want to make sure is that no anti-freeze can get into my setup.

[SKRIZ]

that's an interesting take! it is similar to how the drop in chillers operate.

[underseaworld]

I have used a mini fridge to cool my tank. I used plastic water line that is used on refrigirators ice makers. drilled the top of the mini fridge and bring the house in through the top coil 150' in the fridge and drilled out the bottom for the exit. sealed the holes. and then but a shut off on it to let it drip in the tank. mini fridge $80.00, water line and shot off $15.00. cooling the tank down to a good temp. Priceless..... Oh and I live in the desert of Arizona todays temp will be 101. and that is below normal....

[SKRIZ]

this would work well in areas where the temp is somewhat stable. if you "calibrate" it to cool the tank by 2 degrees when the ambient temp is 90, and the temp cools to 70, then you will be fighting the cooling with the heater; killing effieciency.

[trigger happy]

I have used a mini fridge to cool my tank. I used plastic water line that is used on refrigirators ice makers. drilled the top of the mini fridge and bring the house in through the top coil 150' in the fridge and drilled out the bottom for the exit. sealed the holes. and then but a shut off on it to let it drip in the tank. mini fridge $80.00, water line and shot off $15.00. cooling the tank down to a good temp. Priceless..... Oh and I live in the desert of Arizona todays temp will be 101. and that is below normal....

My tank runs at 86 to 88 degrees all the time with no deaths. but still, do you have pics of your chiller plan?
or did I get this right... you have a small fridge with two holes and 150 feet of tubing coiled inside dripping into the tank. do you have a pump pushing water through?