DIY Chiller

[timebomb]

Yes, please let us know how things work out for you with your DIY chiller, Sugato. Don't be too disappointed if the temperature in your tank does not show a sharp drop after the chiller is rigged up. It takes time for a DIY chiller to cool a tank. With mine, it took more than 24 hours before there's a significant change in the temperature. A tank takes time to be cooled but the good news is it also takes time for it to be warmed up again.

Loh K L

[whuntley]

Dead soft aluminum tubing may well be pure aluminum. If so, it should be quite safe. Aluminum quickly oxidizes, on exposure to air, to form an extremely inert coating of sapphire (aluminum oxide) on its surfaces.

I would worry if a bit of copper or other heavy metals were used as an alloy to "improve" the properties of the tubing. That just might permit some leakage of toxic products if the pH gets very low. It might be worth some Google searching to see what standard practices are in the industry, before risking any fish to long-term exposure to chiller tubing of aluminum.

Just being a worry-wart.

Wright

[BeyondGomer]

http://www.efunda.com/Materials/allo...m/aluminum.cfm

All you want to know about aluminum

Example for the composition thatyou are asking about. 6061 is extremely common..atleast for me when I machine parts.
Element Weight %
Al 97.9
Si 0.60
Cu 0.28
Mg 1.0
Cr 0.20

[eddy planer]

Hi Loh,

Am new here....read about the DIY thread till almost 3.15am ( unitl my wife start pulling my ear to bed!) .

If you dun mind.....I would like to go ur place to take a nice look at your wow DIY chiller of ur. I thought using the used Polyscience chiller mainly used for research laboratorys to use for my newly 3ft startup plants tank to breed killies or drawf chillids like Rams or smaller types.

I always a failure to grow mosses...due high temp. 29-30 'C.

If you dun mind......share wif me pls.

just ring me...+6593869654....I be there if you are free.hopefully during weekdays .

Thank you for attention.

[timebomb]

Am new here...

Hi, Eddy,

If you noticed, nowhere in this thread (which consists of 22 pages of posts), did anyone write in sms shortforms. Since you're new to the forum, we will forgive you. But please take some time to read this before making your next post.

We may seem like we snobbish but we have good reasons for insisting that all users make an effort to spell correctly. To be honest, if your post had been a private email, it would have gone straight into my trash bin and your request would be ignored. Please don't take offence. It's nothing personal. We just don't encourage "butchering" of the English language, that's all.

You're welcomed to visit and see the DIY chiller up close but I won't entertain any requests that are filled with deliberate spelling errors.

Loh K L

[EvolutionZ]

hi guys, i am seriously interested in making this DIY chiller. for my 2ft CRS tank. anyone did a diy chiller and can keep 2ft tank below 24C?
please give advice and comments on the DIY chiller..
and also where can i find cheap 2nd hand bar fridge? i hope i can find something like what KL you posted in page 1. james's bar fridge chiller.
thanks alot
regards,
venson.

[timebomb]

Venson,

Before you get yourself the bar fridge, you may want to take note of this -

About a year or so ago, one of the members in this forum asked me for help to rig up his own DIY chiller. He had already bought a brand new bar fridge and needed my help to drill the 2 holes on the top of the fridge. We brought the fridge to a friend who had all the necessary equipment and tools for the job My friend proceeded to drill the 2 holes but the moment he drilled the first one, we could hear a hissing sound. It was the sound of gas escaping from the fridge.

For reasons we could not understand, the gas leaked when a hole is drilled on the top of the fridge. My friend bought the same brand of fridge as the one James was using, LG. We don't understand why James did not encounter the same problem when he drilled the 2 holes on the top of his fridge. It could be that although they were the same brand, the fridges were of different models.

Anyway, the fridge no longer worked after the gas leaked out. My friend had to call off the project. As for my DIY chiller, it's still working fine. The temperature of my tank hovers around 26 degrees C on most days. On raining days, it can be as cold as 23 C. Occasionally, there's condensation on the glass. I have Crystal Red Shrimps in the tank and they have been breeding.

Loh K L

[EvolutionZ]

hi KL,

the bar fridge is in my house now. my uncle gave it to me. i already have the drlling equipments.. tomorrow will be doing the drilling.. after reading your post. im worried that my fridge's gas will leak.. maybe you can ask james why when he drill the hole. the fridge didn't leak?
anyway. my bar fridge was rated 95watt.

venson

[EvolutionZ]

hi KL,

i have got a good news. i went on to did the drilling with risk. and im glad that after 2 holes is drilled. i hear no hissing sound at all. went to silicon the fitting in. got to wait for a day for silicon to dry

[timebomb]

Hi, Venson,

I'm glad that things work out well for you. It's a mystery to me why the gas leaked when we drilled my friend's bar fridge. I've already asked James about this when it happened but he did not know the answer either.

My friend actually went back to the shop to enquire about the position of the coils in his bar fridge. But the sales people there had no idea where the gas coils were located. They never thought that anyone would want to drill holes into a brand new bar fridge.

Loh K L

[EvolutionZ]

hi KL,

i will be fitting a 35x28x15cm box in the fridge.. also along with 10m of PVC hose. bought from Nature Aquarium in thomson. its the replica of ehiem hose. size is 16 according to NA's boss. i am wondering if my ehem 2213 (440l/hr) canister filter will be able to push through the 10m long hose?

anyway. im waiting for the silicon to try.. Saturday morning will start everything running and moniter the temp. thanks

venson.

[timebomb]

Venson,

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to use a PVC hose. It may be of the same size as an Eheim's but there's something about PVC that could be harmful to fish and shrimps. If we are simply using a PVC hose to change water, it won't do any harm because the water passes through the hose just once. But now you are going to rig the hose up such that the water from your tank passes through it continually. Over time, the hose will contaminate the water in your tank. You can prevent this by changing the water often but then again, I would advise that you keep a close watch on your shrimps.

Your Eheim 2213 should be strong enough to push the water through 10 metres of hose. If it does not work and no water is coming out of the outlet, it would mean there's a blockage somewhere. Even a little bit of water anywhere in the system would prevent the filter from working. I don't know if you understand what I mean but if you run into problems, call me at this number - 97951519.

Loh K L

[EvolutionZ]

hi KL,
im not sure if the one i bought is PVC.. didn't ask the boss too. but i use the hose for my filter. as in i use the same type of hose for my filter inlet and outlet.. used it for 3months and it didnt gave me any problem.. i still do 10 - 20% weekly water change. anyway to ID if my hose is PVC?
the hose is green also. exatly the same as eheim just that its a replica of it.
thanks for you help.
venson

[timebomb]

I think what you bought is "imitation Eheim". It's green and looks just like an Eheim hose but it isn't. It's a lot cheaper than the real Eheim though. I don't know about others but I'm quite happy to pay more for a genuine Eheim hose. For one thing, it never hardens like other ordinary hoses do after a while.

I'm not sure but I think you can tell a genuine Eheim hose from its imitation by the numbers that appear at regular intervals along the hose. In your case, you should see 12/16 mm 4004940.

Loh K L

[EvolutionZ]

Hi KL,
so is my hose PVC? i bought it at $2 per meter... dun wan to waste $20 just to change to ehiem.. ehiem is $3 per Meter at C328.

[timebomb]

I don't know enough of plastics to tell you for sure but I think your hose isn't PVC. In any case, your hose should be okay as you have already used it before with your filter and you didn't encounter any problems.

Loh K L

[EvolutionZ]

hi KL,

will start running everything tomorrow. still waiting for silicon to harden.
will post pictures of it too =)
thanks alot.

[EvolutionZ]

heres some explaination to go with some photos!

firstly, i'll post my bar fridge specs. you can use a Freezer. but i would recommand a bar fridge for any tank small den 3ft. a freezer would be a better chioce cause there will be much more space for the tubes to be in.


heres how the inside of the fridge looks like


basically.. the making of the DIY chiller will be. placing 1 tub of water in the bar fridge. with as much hose you can coil inside. for me. i used 10m of eheim replica hose. didnt get the eheim hose as its quite expensive to get 10m. so i got the fake version.

Drilling is required. for hose connection from your aquarium to your filter. meanwhile. it will pass by the long hose in the cold tub of water. that will cool your tank down.
Drilling in process!


do watch out for coils on the fridge. i tested and run the bar fridge first so that i know where is the coil. when the fridge is running. the side and top of the fridge will get hot.. so drill 2 holes where the coils are not there.

2 holes drilled!


okay. now you should get ready the hose and the tub. like what i said, i used 10m of 16mm hose. filter im using is media fully packed eheim 2213(440l/hr). i noticed my filter flow rate reduced by 1/4 - 1/3.. that dosn't really matters to me.. so for a 10m hose. minimium are a 440l/hr or best get a 700l/hr and above filter for better results.

[EvolutionZ]

after drilling. its time to silicon the filtting to the holes.. so that it can hold the hose properly.
for me i DIY-ed the fitting myself. i found 1 hard tube in my storeroom. and also pushed 2 short hose inside so that it works like a stopper. den silicon.

a close up of the fitting
it looks the same from the other side

okay.. finally a day has pass and my silicon should have dried. i connected the hose and placed the tub in.. with 10m of hose in the tub

heres how the hose is connected.

after that. went on to connect my filter to it.. thats when i noticed my filter flow rate is reduced.. everything is now connected and runing.. but i still haven on my fridge yet. waiting for tomorrow morning so that i can observe my temperature closely.. just to play safe for my CRS tank..


Thats the end for now. i will post my how many C is my tank after fridge is running.
oh ya anyway. do note that before turning on the fridge. turn off your filter first den you start your fridge. cause your fridge takes shorter time to chill the water in the tub with the hose in.. rather then to chiller the tub of water in the fridge and the whole lot of water in your tank. after the water in the fridge is around mid 10C its time to on your filter again....
cheers!

[timebomb]

Nice work, Venson.

By the way, is there water in the tub? On your picture, the tub (holding the hose) appears to be empty. Is it really?

Loh K L