Garage setup

[Fishie Nut]

I am setting up my "fish room" in my garage. I've got my sump under the tank with the pumps under the tank. All the rest of my equip is going into the garage.

How do I put holes in the wall and keep out the hot/cold air from the garage? What do you use to keep it neat? I was thinking of bulkheads or maybe spray foam, once I install everything. The foam restricts any changes -- or makes it messy.

I'm really looking for suggestions here before I begin to drill and cut. Pics, too, would be great. Thanks.

[samtheman]

How will you keep the garage cool in the summer?

[Fishie Nut]

The garage will NOT be cool in the summer. I live in L.A. and it get over 100 in the summer. However, my current tank is in the house, with all the heat it generates, you can hardly stay in the room, even with the AC on. I figuered, getting the chiller out of the house,, Ca reactor, water change system and the like, it will lessen the heat in the house and not really be a factor.

My real question is how to make the holes in the wall and keep the heat out of the house. Kind of seal it off. The garage wall is a fire wall and I would like to maintain some integrity there. I'm not the most handy, but I'm comfortable attempting most things.

[harr3826]

what kind of siding is on the wall on both side

[samtheman]

Well I can see moving the chiller, but you will have to plumb two freon lines and then recharge the system, if the distance is more than a few feet. Unless you can do that yourself, it will be expensive.

As for making holes in the wall, you can do it many ways. The wall will be insulated and there may be wiring running through it. I would remove the outside fire rated sheetrock in a 14.5" x14.5" square between two studs. Remove the insulation and look for wires. Drill holes from the inside through your sheetrock with a spade bit of the appropriate size for the holes you need. Make a plywood panel 17.5" x 17.5" and match the hole pattern in your sheetrock. Install the pipes through the wall and foam around them. Install the plywood on the garage side and screw it into the studs. Paint it white and caulk around the holes.

[BeanAnimal]

How does moving the chiller affect it's freon lines unless it is a split unit? The only split units I have ever seen are DIY or some drop ins.

As for routing the plumbing....

Use a jab saw (serated drywall saw) to manually plunge cut a small hole, or use a holesaw to carefully cut through the sheetrock. You do not need to cut a section out of the wall, that is kind of silly. We cut holes daily in walls to route wires, plumbing, junction boxes etc. Just be carefull and do not cut like a madman. With a little bit of pre-planning you can usually see where most of the exisiting wires and plumbing will be anyway.

You can get eschuteons to fit over the plumbing and cover the holes. Check your local plumbing supply (you may have have to use metal and paint them). If you can not find something suitable, you can fashion your own out of hardwood or other material. A simple wood disc with a routed edge and a hole drilled in it may look fine.

Fiberglass insulation should be used to fill the gap around the holes and maintain the fire rating. If you use caulk (messy) it should be a fire rated caulk designed for that purpose. You do not need to use spray foam, but it certainly is an option, though some codes do not allow it to be used as a fire stop. If you use it be carefull that you do not use enough to swell the sheetrock.

You could also get a small bag of hot mud and patch around the pipes and use no eschuteon or DIY coverplate. The hot mud will be fairly hard and resist cracking and moisture due to condensation (it has plaster of paris in it). The faster the mud, the more plaster is un it btw.

I would prefer the fiberglass/coverplate method, as the vibrations from the pipes will not be transfered to the wall mechanically. I.E. pump noise will not transfer to the wall.

[BeanAnimal]

BTW... that is just my 02, sams idea will certainly work (I just think it is much more trouble and invasive than it needs to be).

[Pbrown3701]

My trick for going through the walls is to simply cut out a "gang box" size opening. I run all of my piping through a dual gang box which is at the same level as the others in the house. That way, if we move out of the house, I can simply put a cover plate over the boxes or install an electrical outlet. You can also cut a hole in the cover plate for the pipe and fill the box with insulation which should keep the heat out

[BeanAnimal]

Not a bad idea at all.

[samtheman]

Originally posted by BeanAnimal
Not a bad idea at all.

Are you the judge?

As for the chiller, how do you move a drop in unit?

[BeanAnimal]

Grow up sam. Your childish comments get rather old. Why do you even bother posting? Thread after thread you attempt to belittle people with your snide little comments. Out of your 241 posts only a handful of them have been polite or helpful. Sadly, MOST of the time you are taking unprovoked swipes at people. You truly are an insufferable. Are you that conceited that you somehow think your little one line stabs at people somehow elevate you to a higher intellectual level? From what I (and likely most others) gather Sam, you are certainly not above the intellectual level of the people you attack. Your simply not a polite person. You drop in here a few times a month and insult people then blow out of town until next time. It is kind of entertaining the more I think about it.

But since you ask sam, yes I am the judge when it comes to my own opinion.

As for the chiller? You move it very easily.

1) Inline chillers are far more popular then drop ins... so again it is likely not even an issue.
2) You assume the guy is an idiot and does not know the difference between an inline and a drop in chiller. Nothing in his post would lead me to belive that he is clueless. If it was relevant he likely would have asked.
3) Building a "closed loop" chiller box for an inline coil is trivial compared to extending a refrigerant and suction line, especially for a DIYer. 10 minutes, a section of 6" PVC pipe, and a few reducers is all that would be needed.

What about the heat in the garage Sam? That is why they make insulation. Put a few inches around your "chiller chamber" and your all set.

We will not even get into the fact that the he may have to put another sump or similar vessel in the garage. This of course depends on the location of the tank and the exact list of equipment he wants to implement in the garage.

Sam... I am a deep thinker. Are you?

[marcrunner]

I recently went throught the same thing. I had to cut 5 holes through the drywall and then through the stucco. The first lesson I learned is that a metal/wood holesaw does not go through stucco($20 of fun in about 10 seconds). I decided to use 2" pvc for every whole. After the holes were drilled with a carbide tipped holesaw, I cut 2" pvc the width between walls with an inch sticking out on either side. I slid the 2" pvc into the holes. Keep in mind that the holesaw size should closely match the pvc size. From there, I used rubber pvc joiners to snug up to the wall on either side, closing up the gap around the outside of the pvc. I chose which joiner I used based upon what size pipe was going through it. I now have the option of sliding any size pvc through the 2" pvc that is already in place. The joiners that I spoke of are available in different sizes, including caps that can be drilled what ever size you need. I wish I had a picture, cuz right now it probably sounds like I forgot my meds, but it worked well and no messy epoxy or filler.

[tedu]

I had my pumps and chiller outside.
Cut a hole in both walls, then fastened large generic mouse pads over the openings (piece of neoprene rubber would work too). Cut x-s in the rubber for the pipes to fit through.

[Fishie Nut]

Whew. Lots of information and choices. I love RC. Now I've got several choices to mull over before I make any holes. I just got finished running two 20 amp lines for the tank. Electrician wanted 1600 -- bought the materials at Lowes for $120. I'll post a pic when I get it going. Thanks soo much.

I'm planning on putting the inline chiller, Ca reactor, Kalk reactor, semiautomatic water change system and all the electric I can out in the garage fish room or section as the case may be. My sump in under the tank and not movable, and the plumbing is setup and I'd rather not move it, although I have considered putting the pumps into the garage also, but not right now.

I appreciate the help. and tedu, just as an aside, as opposed to a mouse pad, I was told that an old buggy board is one of the best sealers/insulators; just cut to size. It's dense and waterproof, too.

Tanks again!