Chiller
- Thread starter digidana
- Start date
If you can't find one locally, you may want to check ebay. They had some good prices on used ones when I looked recently.
I have been tempted to try a small refridgerator with some copper coils inside, but I don't know how bad it will be to have the water running through copper. I guess I could use the flexible plastic (poly) line though.
I have been tempted to try a small refridgerator with some copper coils inside, but I don't know how bad it will be to have the water running through copper. I guess I could use the flexible plastic (poly) line though.
reeflover101
New member
i would not copper is copper. it will leach out in the system
cee
New member
Plastic doesn't conduct heat well. I suspose if you had a long enough run it might work but wouldn't be very efficient.
GPhiAce
New member
Is this for the 220 (?) plumbed into the basement? a 1/3- 1/4 should be fine. My 120 has a 1/4 and it is on for about 3 hours/day. It has only come on when my MHs (5hr/day) are on. Good luck finding one.
Correct on all points. You could put a lot of plastic line into a refridgerator, and wind up easily getting the exiting temp down to the temp of the refridgerator, or at least very near it, depending on flow rate. Of course copper would be a better conductor, and they often use titanium because of corrosion resistance being high..
Steel is harder to bend into coils, and rust would be an issue. There's not a lot of options that are somewhat affordable for a DIY application like this, other than poly tube...and I'm not sure how well it would hold up to the saltwater. It may get brittle and become a flooding danger.
You can use Stainless steel, and if bending it is a problem you could always go to a local shop and have it done. the problem is the tubing is going to be about $7.00 a foot before the cost of the fab. If you can't find anyone local, try your local Parker distributer they should be able to help.
macclellan
New member
DIY chillers seem like the perfect way to be cheap on the front end and pay far, far more in the long run due to electrical costs and their inefficiency compared to chillers specifically engineered for the purpose.
That may be possible, but then it's also possible that the technology behind a refridgerator is more advanced due to so much more budget put towards research and development. I wouldn't be all that surprised if a small fridge that is never opened doesn't take that much more to run than a chiller, but might very easily outperform it.
A chiller is basically just a refridgerator. There's only so big of a condenser and evaporator that you can put into a shoebox. When you compare a $50 (maybe even free) fridge to a $1000 chiller, I'd bet that fridge would run for many years before it would use $1000 in electricity, especially since it would never have to be opened.
If it weren't for the availability of cheap used chillers, I'd probably try it and find out.
cee
New member
Not exactly. A chiller directly extracts heat from the liquid being cooled by running the evaporator directly into the liquid. A refrigerator's evaporator is in air, hence cooling the air which has to in turn cool the liquid (2 heat exchanges). Since a perfect insulator doesn't exist, a refrigerator is less efficient and will cost you more in the long-run (as Joel points out) whether you keep the doors closed or not. Both use the same compressors, condensors, etc., so refrigerators have no "technological edge" over chillers. Also, since the amount of heat removed is proportional to the temperature difference, the chiller extracts heat faster since the refrigerant is in (more or less) direct contact with the liquid being "chilled".
shirley386
Member
I've read threads where people have tried to use dorm fridges for chillers but were disappointed that they didn't work very well at all.
But you can put MANY more coils in a fridge than you could in one of the little chillers.
I'm not sure how many it would take to overcome the efficiency barrier (gas to air to water), but I wouldn't be surprised if it could be done in a cost effective way.As for people being disappointed, I can't really say why theirs didn't work. It may be that they didn't have enough coils, or allow enough flow of cold air throughout. Perhaps a small freezer would be better, but then you would have to worry about keeping flow continuous or cutting power when the tank had reached its proper temp.
Without actually doing it and measuring the load, there's no way to know...all we can do is speculate on the outcome.
shirley386
Member
If I remember correctly, they had slightly better results with a big pan of water that the coils were it. The fridge kept the water cold and it was a better thermal conductor than air.
The diy mini fridge chillers will never work as well as a actual aquarium chiller. Its not a new thought, I made one around five years ago for a 55 gallon cold fresh water tank and the mini fridge ran and ran, but never could drop the temp more than a few degrees. I then bought cheap used aquarium chiller and it only ran every few hours and kept the water down in the upper fifties. Then I gave up due to the large amount of condensation and sold it.
Similar threads
