Homemade Chiller

[minfinger]

Here's an interesting idea.
http://lens.liteserv.com/photo.php?photo=391&exhibition=10&varlist=a%3A13%3A%7Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A1%3A%220%22%3Bi%3A1%3Bs%3A20%3A%22ee_photo.ee_photo_id%22%3Bi%3A2%3B s%3A4%3A%22DESC%22%3Bi%3A3%3Bs%3A20%3A%22ee_photo.ee_photo_id%22%3Bi%3A4%3Bs%3A0%3A%22%22%3Bi%3A5%3B s%3A1%3A%221%22%3Bi%3A6%3Bs%3A6%3A%22thumbs%22%3Bi%3A7%3Bs%3A1%3A%220%22%3Bi%3A8%3Bs%3A6%3A%22public %22%3Bi%3A9%3Bs%3A7%3A%22default%22%3Bi%3A10%3Bs%3A2%3A%2210%22%3Bi%3A11%3Bs%3A2%3A%2240%22%3Bi%3A12 %3Bs%3A1%3A%220%22%3B%7D

Also here's the cover he built for it, notice the 2 fans in the bottom.
http://lens.liteserv.com/photo.php?photo=394&exhibition=10&varlist=a%3A13%3A%7Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A1%3A%220%22%3Bi%3A1%3Bs%3A20%3A%22ee_photo.ee_photo_id%22%3Bi%3A2%3B s%3A4%3A%22DESC%22%3Bi%3A3%3Bs%3A20%3A%22ee_photo.ee_photo_id%22%3Bi%3A4%3Bs%3A0%3A%22%22%3Bi%3A5%3B s%3A1%3A%221%22%3Bi%3A6%3Bs%3A6%3A%22thumbs%22%3Bi%3A7%3Bs%3A1%3A%220%22%3Bi%3A8%3Bs%3A6%3A%22public %22%3Bi%3A9%3Bs%3A7%3A%22default%22%3Bi%3A10%3Bs%3A2%3A%2210%22%3Bi%3A11%3Bs%3A2%3A%2240%22%3Bi%3A12 %3Bs%3A1%3A%220%22%3B%7D

[Troy182]

I guess I missed something. What does he need an air exchanger for?

[Simbo18]

Those links aren't working for me....... Maybe it's the sun storm like Aquarius Lady mentioned?

Luke

[skipm]

I was unable to access the pics too. Skip

[minfinger]

Yeah oh well, bad links

Here's the whole thing. and the pics
http://lens.liteserv.com/photo.php?photo=391&exhibition=10

http://lens.liteserv.com/pics/medium/IMG_0128.jpg
http://lens.liteserv.com/pics/medium/IMG_0131.jpg

[Troy182]

That thing can't work and here's why...
He had to add a mag7 to push a tiny bit of water through 50' of 3/16" tube. That pump alone would cause more heat than it would be curing. I think that if it were gravity fed and had 8 or so more fans it would be a different story but as is I think it would not be very efficient. I think you would be better off with adding a slightly larger sump to increase volume or mounting a fan over the existing sump with a small pump pointed toward the waters surface and a kick butt water top off system or maybe not trying to stuff a 250watt halide over a 15 gallon tank. Just my 2 cents

[minfinger]

Geez...Just thought I'd share ;)

I agree with the larger sump and fan idea too.

[skipm]

Unless the temp in the house is alot less than the tank temp I don't see how this could work even if you teed off of you return line instead of using a dedicated pump for it. I do remember reading the thread that was started by Scubadude when he was building his coral farm in his backyard who did something kinda similar but his pipes were either 4 or 6 inch pvc and he buried them something like 6 feet deep in his backyard. I think he maintained a pretty steady 80 degrees and his tanks are located inside of a greenhouse in Florida. Skip

[minfinger]

I was actually going to use this idea on my 180 if I couldn't control the temp. I could put this contraption under the house and it would keep the tank cold as anything....

Although, you can purchase 1/5HP Chillers for a few $100, so you have to way the cost to the benefits.

[Geepers Creepers]

If you have a dirt crawl space under your house you can “dig�, This is a lot of work! Dig a hole under the house and run a couple hundred feet or so of hose in to a plastic barrel through bulkheads, fill the plastic barrel with water, then have a temperature controlled pump turn on when the tank temp calls for cooling. The water that is in the hose in the barrel will be pumped in to the tank. When the tank cools down the pump turns off and the next charge of water chills again. Will this work?

[skipm]

It should work if you bury the barrel deep enough and have enough water to act as a thermal sink. The one thing that would bother me is if you didn't need the "chiller" for awhile then all of that water would just be sitting there with no circulation. I think running the tubing through a trench dug down a couple of feet instead of the barrel would work just as well since it would be the grounds nearly constant temp. that is acting as a chiller. You would have to dig the lines down below the frost line though. I would run the cooling loop constantly and use heaters to raise the temp if it cooled too well, or you could either use a faster pump so that the water had less contact time with the cooling loop or use a shorter loop for the underground part. JMO, Skip

[minfinger]

Yeah, so I ain't burrying no barrel under the house either ;)

[Aquarius Lady]

Originally posted by minfinger
Yeah, so I ain't burrying no barrel under the house either ;)

Ya owe me a new keyboard Mike, I just lost my coffee on this one!!!!! ROFLMAO!!!!! :lmao: I can see the neighbors now, calling up the FBI, "What IS he burying under that house in those barrels???"
"No really, Officer, it's JUST a lil' ol Home made Chiller! Really! Wanna see?"

Bwahahhhahahaha!!!!! :lol: