beat the heat for cheap
- Thread starter bkiba
- Start date
bkiba
Premium Member
mr ugly - that is a good idea, actually I was thinking of that initially. But I can't find any good tubing with a good heat transfer for the coil. If would have to be very thin plastic tubing to be efficient. The other positive of that is you can have the tower outside of the sump with it's own cooling resivoir.
The plans you refer to - I've seen something similar and that kind of pushed me along, these guys were using a similar design to cool a computer. So they were free to use copper tubing, which unfortunatly we can't do.
Anyone have any titanium tubing
?
Mine has two fans, you just can't see in the picture because one hides the other. They are facing each other on the wye but this doesn't really impede air flow - almost blew the few hairs I have left off my head when I tested it out.
You wouldn't have to ever top off the tower either if you get a dehumifier coil to recondense the evaped water - just an idea .
another modification is taking the outlet cooled air and using that to pre cool the water coming in, or to just blow into the sump to get more efficiency.
I am certainly going to work on this some more, but I know my tank would have been cooked without it - this was kind of a hail mary and luckily it worked.
The plans you refer to - I've seen something similar and that kind of pushed me along, these guys were using a similar design to cool a computer. So they were free to use copper tubing, which unfortunatly we can't do.
Anyone have any titanium tubing
?Mine has two fans, you just can't see in the picture because one hides the other. They are facing each other on the wye but this doesn't really impede air flow - almost blew the few hairs I have left off my head when I tested it out.
You wouldn't have to ever top off the tower either if you get a dehumifier coil to recondense the evaped water - just an idea
.another modification is taking the outlet cooled air and using that to pre cool the water coming in, or to just blow into the sump to get more efficiency.
I am certainly going to work on this some more, but I know my tank would have been cooked without it - this was kind of a hail mary and luckily it worked.
bkiba
Premium Member
greg good point, I can't say for sure but I don't think it will since all the material is above the waterline. I will keep an eye on the nitrates. I considered this in the design so I didn't use any glue - just tie wraps to hold the tower together, this way I can empty out the old stuff easily. I still have a ton of extra eggcrate and PVC elbows and stuff to throw in there.
bkiba
Premium Member
mcmaster carr (mcmaster.com) has titanium tubing for about $220 for 5 ft little pricey. They also have nickel-chromium (iconel) alloy tubing (non stainless steel) for about half that price; both of those should be reef safe.
I just feel like plastic tubing will really hurt your heat transfer, maybe some sort of ceramic tubing?
Like using a cinder block with holes drilled in it or something - i dunno
I just feel like plastic tubing will really hurt your heat transfer, maybe some sort of ceramic tubing?
Like using a cinder block with holes drilled in it or something - i dunno
bkiba
Premium Member
hmmm i just found this thin wall plastic tubing http://www.cleartecpackaging.com/thank-you.asp?r=sample&c=1953
they give out free samples too! hopefully they send some to me
another possibility is using heat shrink tubing as the thin walled tube. The challenge there is connecting it to a manifold of some sort. That is probably the cheapest way to do it.... now to figure out the heat transfer surface area - back to the drawing board
who else is excited :bounce1: ??
they give out free samples too! hopefully they send some to me
another possibility is using heat shrink tubing as the thin walled tube. The challenge there is connecting it to a manifold of some sort. That is probably the cheapest way to do it.... now to figure out the heat transfer surface area - back to the drawing board
who else is excited :bounce1: ??
sales weasel
New member
What's a bong? I heard some guys talking about one of those when I was in college back in the early '80s.
Mr. Ugly said:
Phoneguy982
New member
How long would it take for a milk container that is frozen with let's say RO water, to melt in the sump?
bkiba
Premium Member
The packing material in the tower is essential for efficiency. It ensures that there is maximal ( at least not minimal) water - air contact - aka evap - aka cooling
If you take the unit and do a external evap core with seperate coolant (tap water) the nitrates issue (which is unconfirmed as of yet) and the evap issue go away.
Like I said, I have a ton of eggcrate bits and left over PVC fittings, you can always take out the internal packing and replace it with new stuff, let the old stuff dry out and then recycle it next time.
I am also not planning on using this year round - only when it gets hot.
the best all plastic (no metal) "showerhead" I found was one on the end of a plastic watering can for plants. All the good showerheads have metal and copper parts. If you could make a really good dipersive sprayer then it would be better - but adding the packing will only increase the cooling efficieny.
If you take the unit and do a external evap core with seperate coolant (tap water) the nitrates issue (which is unconfirmed as of yet) and the evap issue go away.
Like I said, I have a ton of eggcrate bits and left over PVC fittings, you can always take out the internal packing and replace it with new stuff, let the old stuff dry out and then recycle it next time.
I am also not planning on using this year round - only when it gets hot.
the best all plastic (no metal) "showerhead" I found was one on the end of a plastic watering can for plants. All the good showerheads have metal and copper parts. If you could make a really good dipersive sprayer then it would be better - but adding the packing will only increase the cooling efficieny.
hey, great idea,
althought its not a new design or anything, we used this type of cooling towers with computer, yes, computers. when we overclock computers, and run water coolers on our cpu's, this was the best method of cooling the water, next to going with a refridgerator. This stuff really works though.
try just removing the pvc stuff in the inside so that it doesnt collect junk, and then have nitrate problems, also, get as fine of a spray as possible, and make the air go from the bottom to top by using one of those tee's for sewers pvc pipes, so that the fans blow down to the bottom of the tower and then rises.
althought its not a new design or anything, we used this type of cooling towers with computer, yes, computers. when we overclock computers, and run water coolers on our cpu's, this was the best method of cooling the water, next to going with a refridgerator. This stuff really works though.
try just removing the pvc stuff in the inside so that it doesnt collect junk, and then have nitrate problems, also, get as fine of a spray as possible, and make the air go from the bottom to top by using one of those tee's for sewers pvc pipes, so that the fans blow down to the bottom of the tower and then rises.
Beenalongtime79
New member
Really awesome DIY plan. Simple, cheap, and effective.
Peace,
John H.
Peace,
John H.
rsman
New member
ME LIKES!!!
yea itll convert ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate very well, at least if you have any ammonia / nitrite going in .... some thing that might help is to turn it off at night, if those pvc pieces dry out frequently itll prevent the bacteria from growing...
but probibly better to use it to help control the heat than to fight the filtering ....
as for patents well this isnt exactly new, it is a cleverly designed DIY one though
yea itll convert ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate very well, at least if you have any ammonia / nitrite going in .... some thing that might help is to turn it off at night, if those pvc pieces dry out frequently itll prevent the bacteria from growing...
but probibly better to use it to help control the heat than to fight the filtering ....
as for patents well this isnt exactly new, it is a cleverly designed DIY one though
bkiba
Premium Member
well like I said I can't take credit for the idea - as I said before there were some guys using similar designs to trick out their computers - and even if it was original - now that I posted it on here its public knowledge .
All I know is this is the single best life-saving piece of equipment I installed on my tank. It was getting warm and my tank got up to the high 80's. My tank has still been getting warm, but hasn't breeched the mid-80's since this was installed, without it I fear the entire system would have been easily cooked. Talk about just in time.
I'm going to integrate my top off system and a temperature control system this week - so I don't evap all my tank water while I'm gone on vacation all of next week.
.All I know is this is the single best life-saving piece of equipment I installed on my tank. It was getting warm and my tank got up to the high 80's. My tank has still been getting warm, but hasn't breeched the mid-80's since this was installed, without it I fear the entire system would have been easily cooked. Talk about just in time.
I'm going to integrate my top off system and a temperature control system this week - so I don't evap all my tank water while I'm gone on vacation all of next week.
