DIY "Chiller" Experiment

BeerBudgett

BeerBudgett

AC Members
Jan 25, 2005
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Okay now I am sure this will meet with some disagreement with some folks who may or may not think I am totally whacked, but here goes....


I have had a small automotive oil cooler laying around the garage for some time. It has NEVER been used, but as a precaution I ran alcohol through it and flushed repeatedly with water. It is essentially a small radiator, 6"X8" approx. 1/2" lines in and out and made of aluminum. I have hooked it up to my Rena xp3 so that it is "inline" on the output side. There are 2 inexpensive "computer fans" I picked up at the local electronics warehouse mounted with zip ties. I mounted this in an area away from any other electrical components to try and give it enough air circulation and to avoid it soaking up any residual heat from pumps, etc.

Results so far are encouraging. I was floating around the 80-81 degree F area even with my AC set to 78, ( probably the heat from my lighting ). It is now at a constant 78F. It has been running for 2 weeks with no issues whatever... I am using 2 different thermometers for accuracy. The fans are hooked up to a cheap 12v transformer and plugged into my light timer ( will hook it up "straight" when outdoor temps go up over the 100 degree mark if temp starts to creep up ). Total cost not including the oil cooler was about $12.


Specs are:
55g moderately planted freshwater community tank.
Rena XP3 Cannister
Jager 300w heater (set to 76 deg)
No CO2 (yet, still recovering from 135G apocolypse)


This tank is away from all windows, drafts etc but it IS in Arizona, so heat loading is always a problem..... In full summer with the AC on full, is it always a battle between electrical costs and comfort level for the fish when I am not here during the day. So even a 3 degree reduction in tank temp without dropping my AC controls is a big help.


Looking for comments.
 
I've also taken a little spin off your idea, that I'll probbably use for my 300g tank thats in the garage (TX summers SUCK). I want to take a small mini fridge with out the freezer, drill 2 bulkhead fittings, one for input one for outlet. Water would be pumped into the fridge through one of those oil coolers (small radiator) that would be in a dish of water (very cold water) because water to water coolers are better than air to water coolers (which is what it would be if I skipped the water in the bowl inside the fridge). I would have a timer setup to run the tank water through the fridge for 10 min every hour and if that cools it too much then i will shorten the duration or make the frequency of the cool down less. I was also thinking about picking up some supplies at Radio shack and making a temperature switch to operate the pump.


Sounds like a good idea to me...any suggestions?
 
Kasakato said:

"Sounds good! Do you have any pics of the parts? Also I dont think that alcohol is a good thing to use around your tank. "


Alcohol is a pretty good solvent for the "protective chemicals" that they use in the auto industry. The side benefit of pure alcohol is that it is water soluable. It washes COMPLETELY away with no residue at all....thus why I wrote "plenty" of water.... No pics yet, working on it....

Spartan: I use a 300w heater as it was one of the few things I salvaged from the TI_TANK_NIC (my 135g that fell apart). Also I read somewhere that 5 watts per gallon is about what is needed for heaters and besides, it will never come on again until probably november.... :rolleyes:


Seaman, That's a better idea than mine!!! Would keep my beer cold and close to the aquarium too!! WHOO HOO
 
Not an expert on this stuff at all so take this with a pinch, but I though that aluminum contaminates water. I now that people are being discouraged from cooking in aluminum pots as they'll poison you over time.
 
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Im jealous ;) I have two 3hp chillers on my tank and the electricity bill sucks. Love to see some pics.
 
The idea with the mini fridge wouldn't work like you want. That is too much heat for the fridge to remove and eventually there won't be a change in water temp, or very little change and the fridge will be on 100% of the time trying to handle the head load. Read up on watercooling for computers for more ideas. That's where the first guy got the origional idea to use a heater core with comp fans :P I should know as my computer does have that with a full watercooling setup.
 
re usability of aluminum: There was a scare some time ago about deodorants with aluminum in them causing cancer. Bullpoop. It was a hoax that was later exposed.
Aluminum is very resistant to disolving in water - I would consider it very safe.
 
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