Whalehead9
New member
Anybody ever made a bong cooler, it sounds interesting, here is the link to wikopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bong_cooler
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bong_cooler
bong cooler
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black_majik
New member
It looks like your mantis shrimp did too!
MeuserReef
Welcome to the next level
We always just used Ice-cubes... 
Fuegofish777
New member
well, at least this thread will get lots of attention... I have never seen one of those but it sounds interesting. it would be like a more controlled form of evaporative cooling... like you could have one hooked up through your sump/tank instead of having big fans blow across them.
spleify- i dont know man, i've seen some pretty intricate umm... "devices" in my day... ice chambers....defusers... vaporizers... they dont mess around!
spleify- i dont know man, i've seen some pretty intricate umm... "devices" in my day... ice chambers....defusers... vaporizers... they dont mess around!
stugray
Premium Member
"man did I get the wrong idea"
Me too!
I love the idea of using this to cool a tank. I think it is doable with some large diameter PVC or ABS, a computer fan & a tiny ( high pressure ) pump.
I'll bet you could eliminate a chiller on small systems for minimal cost.
The things I'd worry about in our systems:
1 - Youd have major salt creep, so it better be easy to flush or clean.
2 - You would massively increase your evaporation so be prepared to need an ATO.
As for the 'i've seen some pretty intricate umm... "devices"'
Dont ask what I can make from:
24 inch tall rubber highway Hazard cone.
Bathtub full of hot water
A Potato
An aluminum tube & Some surgical tubing
.......
Lets just say Ive done a little foam fractination experimentation.
Stu
Me too!
I love the idea of using this to cool a tank. I think it is doable with some large diameter PVC or ABS, a computer fan & a tiny ( high pressure ) pump.
I'll bet you could eliminate a chiller on small systems for minimal cost.
The things I'd worry about in our systems:
1 - Youd have major salt creep, so it better be easy to flush or clean.
2 - You would massively increase your evaporation so be prepared to need an ATO.
As for the 'i've seen some pretty intricate umm... "devices"'
Dont ask what I can make from:
24 inch tall rubber highway Hazard cone.
Bathtub full of hot water
A Potato
An aluminum tube & Some surgical tubing
.......
Lets just say Ive done a little foam fractination experimentation.
Stu
Twz
New member
Wouldn't it make more sense to have the fan blowing air through the water as well as having the water fall? i mean like you would in a smoking bong? but rather than sucking it through you would be pushing it through were you're bowl would be?
then that would cool the water in the reservoir a bit two if there was enough air being pushed through the water
then that would cool the water in the reservoir a bit two if there was enough air being pushed through the water
Whalehead9
New member
TWZ - I think that is how it should work. the principle is mostly that of a deltec eco cooler, but with a much more radical name dude!
Sorry couldn't resist.
Sorry couldn't resist.
DMBillies
Active member
A lot of computer "geeks" use these to chill over-clocked computers (probably says this on the wikipedia site). I've thought about doing this just as a proof of concept build since I don't really have any heat issues (although I would if my AC went out).
My reading on the subject indicates a few major problems for adapting them to a reef tank:
1) In order to efficiently cool, the tower for the falling water would need to be significantly taller than you could conceivably fit under a tank, so it would only be a real option for people lucky enough to have their sumps in a basement or fish room with a lot of overhead clearance (which I don't have).
2) Evaporation of tank water would be ridiculously high in order to sufficiently chill the tank. This would require a big top-off reservoir and a lot of RO/DI in order to offset. More evaporated RO/DI = more wasted water from RO rejection = more load on the filters = more humidity in the house = dehumidifier = etc., etc., etc. The dehumidifier could be avoided by venting the air pushed through the bong outside, but not everyone will have that luxury and you'd also need to take care to keep things from coming into your tank water from outside.
3) Salt creep/corrosion from the salt water (obviously they don't use saltwater in computer application), but I think you could design around this issue.
4) The people using these things don't have the luxury of huge surface areas of water (the surfaces of your tank and sump) to blow a fan across. Certainly you would get more surface area from a bong chiller, but you can get an amazing amount of cooling by blowing a moderately large fan across the surface of your tank ($10 from Walmart) without the additional heat from a pump in the system and a huge apparatus for chilling ($$$). If you think overcoming the heat from a pump is not a concern, try putting a 1200 maxijet in a 5 gallon bucket overnight.
The only solution I've come up with that overcomes quite a few of these problems would be to isolate the chiller system from the tank water. I imagine using a titanium heat exchanger coil (or something similar) in the tank and pumping the bong water through that on its way to the diffuser at the top of the bong. Then, you can just use fresh tap water to evaporate (gets past problems 2 and 3). You can also safely vent outside without worry about things getting into the tank system. Problem 1 will always be there. And building one of these things would of course ignore problem 4.
All that said, I think the heat exchanger would never be efficient enough to get the cooling effect you would need... which is why I never built one.
I'd love to be proven wrong though...
My reading on the subject indicates a few major problems for adapting them to a reef tank:
1) In order to efficiently cool, the tower for the falling water would need to be significantly taller than you could conceivably fit under a tank, so it would only be a real option for people lucky enough to have their sumps in a basement or fish room with a lot of overhead clearance (which I don't have).
2) Evaporation of tank water would be ridiculously high in order to sufficiently chill the tank. This would require a big top-off reservoir and a lot of RO/DI in order to offset. More evaporated RO/DI = more wasted water from RO rejection = more load on the filters = more humidity in the house = dehumidifier = etc., etc., etc. The dehumidifier could be avoided by venting the air pushed through the bong outside, but not everyone will have that luxury and you'd also need to take care to keep things from coming into your tank water from outside.
3) Salt creep/corrosion from the salt water (obviously they don't use saltwater in computer application), but I think you could design around this issue.
4) The people using these things don't have the luxury of huge surface areas of water (the surfaces of your tank and sump) to blow a fan across. Certainly you would get more surface area from a bong chiller, but you can get an amazing amount of cooling by blowing a moderately large fan across the surface of your tank ($10 from Walmart) without the additional heat from a pump in the system and a huge apparatus for chilling ($$$). If you think overcoming the heat from a pump is not a concern, try putting a 1200 maxijet in a 5 gallon bucket overnight.
The only solution I've come up with that overcomes quite a few of these problems would be to isolate the chiller system from the tank water. I imagine using a titanium heat exchanger coil (or something similar) in the tank and pumping the bong water through that on its way to the diffuser at the top of the bong. Then, you can just use fresh tap water to evaporate (gets past problems 2 and 3). You can also safely vent outside without worry about things getting into the tank system. Problem 1 will always be there. And building one of these things would of course ignore problem 4.
All that said, I think the heat exchanger would never be efficient enough to get the cooling effect you would need... which is why I never built one.
I'd love to be proven wrong though...
Roy G. Biv
Premium Member
I was ready to come in here and type IBTL! 
Rysam
New member
the potato replaces the apple. duh.:bum: :rollface:
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12287690#post12287690 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MeuserReef
We always just used Ice-cubes...
try the hottest water you can find that wont break your fractionator. i guarantee it is better than ice. :smokin:
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kevin95695
Member of the Registry
Subscribed. I gotta see where this is all going.
a1amap
New member
If you plumbed off the overflow of your main tank and built the bong water tower there you would have close to 4 feet before the sump(depends on tank setup). Since this is going to dump in the sump, there is no need for an extra pump that you are not currently using. Your return pump will return the water to the main display tank. No extra power head to add heat.
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