DIY Chiller

[Green Baron]

I went to Best Denki today to checkout the fridges. The smallest is from LG, similar to the one posted by shortman :


It is call LG Bar Fridge, 46L, 433mm(W)x450mm(D)x501mm(H) selling at S$169. The other brands are slightly bigger (~51L) and going for around S$190.

For the DIY chiller, I only need it to bring the water temperature to 25C~26C and if possible, chill a 2ft and a 3ft tanks which are beside each other. And preferably be able to fit in the cabinet with the door removed or modified ;-)

At Takashimaya, I saw a few very compact (17L) Japanese brand drink chillers/warmers. The brand is Stylus. They are probably underpowered for big tank but maybe good enough for 2ft tank ?

[timebomb]

Hey, guys,

I got my freezer!!

I'm exhausted from bringing it home and running around to buy the other items necessary to rig up the chiller. I'm going to bed now and will post the pictures tonight.

Loh K L

[timebomb]

Okay, fellas,

Here's a picture of the freezer I bought today.



The external dimensions are 66.5 cm (Length) X 35 cm (Width) X 84 cm (Height). It's the smallest freezer I've seen so far. I bought it second-hand from the boss of Potong ice-cream who said a new one costs more than $500. He sold this one to me for $150 but don't quote me as he said he wouldn't sell the freezer to me at that price if not for the fact my wife is going to retail his brand of ice-cream .

As you can see, it has only one compartment which is about 65 litres in volume. I checked around and they say it's not wise to fill up this compartment with water as it may leak. So I'm going to make a tank which is just slightly smaller than the compartment. The tank will be about 57 litres.

Jianyang was right when he said it's dangerous to drill holes on the sides. The boss confirmed that the coils are on all sides. So I have no choice but to drill the 2 holes on the cover. But the freezer's cover is such that it isn't very air-tight and it sorts of flips over. Here's a pic:



Melvyn suggested we improvise a new cover ourselves using plastic. We went shopping for the necessary items but haven't got round to buying the piece of plastic yet. Anyway, I went to a shop around King George's Road where they have all sort of hoses for sale. I asked and one whole reel of PVC tubing, 50 metres long, internal width 9 mm and 1 mm thick is only $10.50. Heck, so I bought the whole reel. Here's a pic:



I did some calculations and found that if I can submerge the whole 50 metres of this PVC hose, the volume of water inside the hose at any one time would be about 13 litres. Hmm, that seems a bit too low compared to my tank which is about 380 litres.

The shop whom I ordered the tank from said it won't be ready until next week. That's a bummer as I was hoping to rig everything up by Sunday. Well, no choice but to be patient.

Loh K L

[RonWill]

Here's a picture of the freezer I bought today

Kwek Leong, guess who's the best person to hold an "ice-cream party"!

For the tank-within-the-freezer idea, I think it's your safest bet but don't forget the polyfoam at the base of the tank. Not wise to stress the freezer's base from uneven weight distribution.

If the tubing isn't long enough, just get another roll and connect it up. No fear about leak since it's all within a customized tank.

One thing you missed out... what options do you have for temp adjustment/tweaking?? [ain't cool to have to wipe condensation, just to see the fishes!]

[FC]

KL,
How much power is this fridge rated? I suspect your tank's size would required at least 100 watts model.

[timebomb]

One thing you missed out... what options do you have for temp adjustment/tweaking??

Ronnie,

I forgot to mention that but yes, the freezer comes with a thermostat and there's a dial for setting the temperature. It has 5 settings, from cold to very very cold. I couldn't find the specs though so I can't tell you the wattage. But the boss said it's very low. I suppose it should be about 75 watts or lower.

Guys, if you like the freezer idea, I can give you the contact to the boss of Potong ice-cream. I asked and the boss said he wouldn't mind but he does not want his contact number to be pasted all over the world wide web as he's not in the business of selling freezers but ice-cream. I can't promise he will quote you the same price though but you can private message me for his number if you're interested.

The other thing I've found out, if you're looking for a bar fridge, the ones at Mustapha and Gain City seem to be cheaper. Someone told me that along Jalan Kayu, where the famous roti-prata is located, there are some stores there dealing in second-hand refrigerators. You may want to check them out.

Loh K L

[timebomb]

Hi, fellas,

Today, I did some cosmetic work on the second-hand freezer I bought. This is how it looked before my wife and I started working on it.



This is how it looks now:



Nice?

I should have chosen another colour but it's too late to do anything about that now I didn't paint the freezer; I used Oyama paper which can be quite a job if you're not familiar working with it. Oyama paper costs quite a fair bit if you buy it from the fish shops but from the wholesaler, it's pretty cheap.

Here's the address:

Teck Seng Enterprises (21) Pte Ltd
14 Kaki Bukit Place
Singapore 416192
Tel: 67423035

They have all sorts of Oyama paper for sale and the prices range from between $4 to $6 a metre. The paper is of width 1 metre, I think. They also sell all sorts of tape - Duct tape, Scotch tape, Electrical tape etc. Name the tape and they have it. But no video tapes though

Loh K L

[gweesm1]

Hi Loh,

Nice looking freezer!!! I wonder if it is leak proof, if it is, and there isn’t any electronic device/control in the freezer, I think you can start filling the freezer with water and get it to work.

Regards,

[whuntley]

Okay, fellas,

... Anyway, I went to a shop around King George's Road where they have all sort of hoses for sale. I asked and one whole reel of PVC tubing, 50 metres long, internal width 9 mm and 1 mm thick is only $10.50. Heck, so I bought the whole reel. Here's a pic:



I did some calculations and found that if I can submerge the whole 50 metres of this PVC hose, the volume of water inside the hose at any one time would be about 13 litres. Hmm, that seems a bit too low compared to my tank which is about 380 litres...

Loh K L

The picture was the final incentive for me to speak up. What is being called PVC tubing is known here as clear vinyl tubing, and it is dramatically different from PVC rigid pipe. We routinely use it for drains, airlines and even filling tanks.

That said, it should never be used in a long-contact or repeated contact situation with water. To make it flexible, chemical plasticizers are needed in the body of the tubing. Those are somewhat toxic and can usually be ignored in air, but in intimate contact with water, for a long time, they will gradually dissolve to the detriment of your tank's inhabitants.

There is a huge difference between a one-pass use as airline or fill tube, and long-term contact with the tank water. Ask someone who knows hospital procedures why they are outlawed for any major patient-contact applications. OK? There, all oxygen lines, etc. are silicone based. Only brief contact applications, like IV tubing is ever vinyl, AFAIK.

I could be all wet on this, but don't think so. I'd rather be embarrassed like mad than have you do something potentially harmful to your tank's inhabitants. [I'm even less anal about copper and aluminum tubing than I am about organic plasticizers. ]

Wright

[TyroneGenade]

Even if one ignores the possible effects that the chemicals may have on the health and fertility of your fish the fact remains that plastic has very poor heat exchange properties... I would of thought Wright being the engineer may of caught on to this.

I wish I could suggest an alterantive but I can't. Why not get an airconditioner and then everyone can enjoy the cool experiance?

[timebomb]

Wright,

When I bought the PVC hose, I asked and the guy at the shop showed me another type of hose called PU. I don't know if PU is the same as polyethylene but I kind of suspect it is. I offered to buy the PU hose but the guy said it's not suitable for fish tanks as over time, it will melt if it's in contact with water for too long. I'm quite sure the guy wasn't pulling my leg or something as the PU hose costs 4 times more than PVC. He would surely have made a bigger profit if I bought the PU.

Tyrone,

The reason we don't use air-conditioning is simply because it can be very expensive. Some would already consider it extravagant to have air-conditioning for humans, much less fish. I have air-conditioning in all 3 bedrooms in my house but the main tank is in the living room and it would cost me big bucks to air-con that room.

Loh K L

[ruyle]

KL, is there a distinctive fragrance to this hose? Does it get its name for
content, or reputation?

[timebomb]

Hi Loh, Nice looking freezer!!!

Well, well, look who's here. Where have you been, my young friend. We miss you.

The freezer isn't leak-proof so I'm going to use a tank to hold the water. I collected the tank yesterday from the fish shop. It's about 57 litres. As for temperature control, there's a knob for setting it. I'll show the pictures later. Melvyn is coming over this afternoon to help me rig everything up. You're welcomed to drop over if you're interested. And so is Gan and everyone else who wants to see if the DIY chiller is going to work.

Loh K L

[stormhawk]

PU stands for Polyurethane. Different in properties from PE, Polyethylene.

[stormhawk]

An article on the use of the pthalate-group of plasticizers in the making of PVC products, like hoses.

http://www.mercola.com/2000/dec/24/plasticizers.htm

[stormhawk]

Having studied polymers during my polytechnic days, I would not recommend the use of cheap hoses as some of these are made with some toxic plasticizers like the phtalates. If anything's safe I'd go with Eheim hoses or any hose made for aquarium use. Nothing beats using something that is trusted by many people worldwide.

[ruyle]

Jian Yang, that's pretty dazzling! Thanks for the bouquet of hoses! As an experiment say "phtalates" standing close to a mirror....be honest now,
did the mirror get wet?

[ruyle]

Hummmm, then polypropylene is probably "PP" right?

[stormhawk]

Yup. That's right. The plastics have a numbering system. Look for the triangular recycling symbol on the bodies of the plastics and there will be a number in the middle of the symbol. That denotes the plastic material.

KL, if its possible, try to get food-grade PVC tubing. These are non-toxic and safe for aquarium applications I think.

Here's a website of a Canadian manufacturer of food-grade and aquarium-safe plastics.

Dynamic Aqua-Supply Ltd.

[ruyle]

http://www.mercola.com/2000/dec/24/plasticizers.htm

Very sobering indeed, especially the link to the IV bags which are universally used in US hospitals!