My Chiller Setup **Lots of pictures**

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ReefRelated

Moved On
I was just going through some pictures tonight and I thought I would share my chiller setup with everyone. A friend and I build and install these. I never see anyone here on RC with this type. I use a 6000 BTU Whirlpool window AC unit. It is out in back of my house and the freon/refrigerant is piped in the house to a titanium chiller coil inside of a large PVC housing then my tank water is pumped through the PVC. All the heat and noise is outdoors and only a thermostat and chiller coil is indoors. I use a Ranco 2 stage ETC so I can control my heaters also (two 250watt Ebo Jager). I supply my chiller coil with water from a Mag12 which feeds my refugium also (not shown in these early pictures). I can cool my 180g tank 1 degree every 15 minutes with 1400 watts of light running. If you ever have the chance to get a chiller built like this, do it. Just thought I would share. The cost is almost the same as a standard chiller and way more efficient.

Picture 1 - Titanium chiller coil complete in PVC housing
Picture 2 - Titanium coil inside housing
Picture 3 - Freon in/out and Water in/out and temperature sensor housing in the center(not using)
Picture 4 - Window unit mounted outside
Picture 5 - Coil mounted on shelf
Picture 6 - Ranco Electronic Temperature Control
Picture 7 - Shows plumbing with temperature sensor in line (in the 90 degree PVC fitting)
Picture 8 - Chiller coil mounted on shelf above pump
chiller1.jpg

chiller2.jpg

chiller3.jpg

chiller4.jpg

chiller5.jpg

chiller6.jpg

chiller7.jpg

chiller8.jpg
 
Okay, I'm impressed! Dang good job. Aren't those window units pretty inefficient though? I know you can buy a 5000BTU from Wallyworld for about $100.

Whats the cost of the other stuff (ie titanium coil) and where did you get the other BOM from?
 
Where did you get the titanium coil from? I think I could DIY the rest but it would be nice to know where to get the titanium coil. How well do you think a unit like this would cool a 600 gallon tank with 1600watts of metal halide light? Very clean set up you have there I'm very impressed. What a huge skimmer!

Thanks,
 
Ok that looks very good. the only problem is that in order to operate a 600gallon tank you would need a titanium coil about 2.5 feet long so that you can flow 1500+ gph.

What I want to know is where did you buy the water socks that are in your sump and WHAT THE H#$% do you call them ??
 
Caribbean Reef Man,

MarineDepot.com has the socks and the acrylic holders for them at good prices.

Thanks for the link to to the supplier.

HTH,
 
Carribean Reef Man said:
Ok that looks very good. the only problem is that in order to operate a 600gallon tank you would need a titanium coil about 2.5 feet long so that you can flow 1500+ gph.

What I want to know is where did you buy the water socks that are in your sump and WHAT THE H#$% do you call them ??
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me...this system I have will cool 1000 gallons. This is what some LFS cool there whole store with. This is basically 1/2hp chiller accept I have a coil that is at least 3 times bigger than a standard coil. This coil I have is way bigger than I need. You can get bigger size coils if need be but this is plenty big for 600g tank. Have you ever seen the size of a coil in a regular chiller? This coils probably has 3 times the titanium. This means more surface area for water to contact which means more efficient.
 
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Cookoopod said:
Okay, I'm impressed! Dang good job. Aren't those window units pretty inefficient though? I know you can buy a 5000BTU from Wallyworld for about $100.

Whats the cost of the other stuff (ie titanium coil) and where did you get the other BOM from?
Click to expand...

Well actually not for this application. This thing only runs for maybe 15 minutes at a time and only comes on a few times a day. This system very cost efficient. Remember you aren't releasing all the heat from the condenser/compressor inside your house so the chiller doesn't have to work as hard to cool the water and your home AC doesn't have to work as hard to cool your house. The cool part is indoors and the hot part is outdoors. It doesn't get any better.
 
Would you mind generating a parts list with prices for a setup to cool a 180? That would be cool.
 
This list is based on my system. You can go bigger or smaller based on your needs. All these prices are rough retail prices, I got some parts wholesale through an AC friend.

1. 6000 BTU (6000 BTU = 1/2 ton) Whirlpool window unit $140 from Lowes

2. Ranco Dual Stage ETC $100 from friend

3. 10"x10"x28" (1/2 ton) Titanium Heat Exchanger $285.00 from http://www.sw-wilson.com/prod04.htm

4. (Optional) Mag12 for water $100.00 (you can use your main pump if you would like, no need to buy an extra pump. I did because I feed my refugium with this pump also)

5. A good friend who knows AC = $$ Priceless $$

You'll need lots of extras like copper pipe, insulation, fittings, refrigerant and guages, electrical cord, good silver solder, leak detector, and tools. You will also need some time to do this, it is an all day job but it's worth every minute you put into it. BTW If you are not a DIYer and you live locally, we can build and install these systems for anyone and the price is fair. I may have forgot something, if I did, I'll include it later.

Another good point to make is, if your system ever fails, you can just replace the window unit outside or the ETC. No need to buy a whole chiller ever again. This titanium chiller coil and housing should last you a lifetime.
 
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stephane said:
McMaster have those titanium coil

1/2 inch od X5 foot long 32$

http://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/109/html/0106.html#.
Click to expand...
Is it a coil or tubing? Titanium tubing is very hard to bend nice. It also near impossible to solder. If you don't solder it, then you need to flair it and this can be difficult also. You better off buying it pre-fabricated. We've been down this road before and chose to buy one instead. The coil/heat exchanger should last a lifetime.
 
This is a great idea and sounds fun but with the cost of all the materials and a day of time, aren't you well above what a regular chiller would cost? I guess you got to way the fact that this might be a better system than the prefabbed chillers.

Nonetheless, I think it's a cool concept.
 
Cookoopod said:
This is a great idea and sounds fun but with the cost of all the materials and a day of time, aren't you well above what a regular chiller would cost? I guess you got to way the fact that this might be a better system than the prefabbed chillers.

Nonetheless, I think it's a cool concept.
Click to expand...

Actually you can see the parts aren't too high in cost it's more labor. This is by far a lot better than a regular system. Regular chillers are in some ways the same thing. Some makers even use window units for there chillers. This actually isn't even a new concept. It has been done for years this way comercially. In fact this setup is used with lobster tanks and farms. The coil I have is manufactured for lobster tanks and you know how cold they keep those tanks. It's easy for this to keep my tank 77 degrees.

Basically this is setup exaclty like you home AC is. You have the condenser outside to blow off the heat and you have your coil/heat exchanger inside blowing off cool air.

I have never tried to see how cold I could get my tank but I do know it can get very cold. When I first set it up, we ran the system for a few hours and we had the tank down to 68 degrees no problem. I am sure if I let in run longer I could have got it even colder.
 
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