DIY chiller

[kendrick_86]

i am using diy chiller made from mini fridge. wish to know how to make the temp stay below 26 constantly. anyone also using this method, please advise me on the timing to on the fridge, hence making it most cost effective.

[jackwolf]

Sound interesting.. But....

You mean using de-commissioned mini fridge and convert it to cool down tank water? That might be a costly modification. You need extra storage tank to house heat exchangers, thermostat, etc... The fridge compressor might be too big for just cooling water to 26degree and it mean more "start/stop" and that means more power consumption... ("starting" of compressor takes up the most energy)...

I have see people using aircon outdoor unit to convert into tank water chiller but that is for very huge marine tank... if your tank is not huge maybe is not practical...

[kendrick_86]

what if i turn it on for 24 hrs? i can set the thermoset at 3(medium power). would it still consume alot of electricity power? btw, the mini fridge is to chill a 3 ft tank.

[jackwolf]

You can't use the original thermostat of the fridge for the chiller... You will need to get another analog thermostat that is able to sense water temperature at around maybe 16-30 degree.. apart from this you need to build an small storage tank(maybe inside the fridge), and extend the original evaporator from the fridge into this storage tank(if the evaporator is small. if not,you might need to change to a small heat exchanger)... the water from the tank will be piped such that when it enter the storage tank, it pass thru the evaporator and being cooled down, before it return to the fish tank.. This might be a difficult part because you need to size up the pump accordingly to the water flow rate which is able to be "cooled down" before it leaves the exchanger...

Maybe we can think of inventing a mini-fridge that also serve as an aquarium chiller.. and patent it... haha...

[tawauboy]

what is the temperature that you can achieve currently?
you can check the consumption from the back of the fridge. there will be a ???w rating.

for a start, you can adjust the fridge thermostat to 1/2 and check you tank temperature after a day or two. increase to 3/4 or maximum setting if your tank temperature is not low enough. observe and adjust accordingly. there will be a long delay between adjustment and getting the temperature down.

[kendrick_86]

what is the temperature that you can achieve currently?
you can check the consumption from the back of the fridge. there will be a ???w rating.

for a start, you can adjust the fridge thermostat to 1/2 and check you tank temperature after a day or two. increase to 3/4 or maximum setting if your tank temperature is not low enough. observe and adjust accordingly. there will be a long delay between adjustment and getting the temperature down.

it's 90+ watt. my 3 ft tank temp maintains at around 26.5 with thermostat to 1/2. the fridge might not be powerful to cool my 3ft tank. sigh..

[tawauboy]

don't be pessimistic. with thermostat at 1/2 setting, you are getting 26.5 deg c. increase the thermostat to 5/8 or 3/4 and check the temperature over the next few days.
at 90 watts, the electricity bill will ve around $15 for 24/7 operation.

[simontay78]

I am building a experimental chiller....hee wish me luck

[kendrick_86]

i might be selling my diy chiller set le... haha...

[mzyao76]

DIY chiller cool, you have the circuit diagram? i might wanna do 1 myself, i am doing now a climate control system for my tank, using thermostat and mist blower, so far havent found the high pressure pump to pump the water the the mist nozzel.

[simontay78]

mine is simple using Peltier as the electric cooler...click on the link to see the images by google....I have 2, one is 12V 13Amp another one is 12V 8Amp. The 13ampere ones super cool!!

I still building it so wish me luck

[rogerboi]

safety first guys !

[kevanyap]

Just to share my experience which I ever tested using those commercial chiller used to store can drinks, whereby you will have a glass door that can see inside. It has a exisiting florocent lame which lights up the entire space inside the chiller, so converted a extra switch panel for my filter and airpump.
Placed a 1 feet tank inside without any shrimps yet.
So 1st step trying to get to my desire temp of 24 degree. It is very difficult to adjust to the temp you want as the chiller is about 3degree above the water temp.
2nd put in some CRS and tested for 2 weeks. They all survive but after that took out my test as the chiller belongs to my fren.

[joeyttk]

I was at a restaurant at suntec, and they converted a mini fridge (6 can drinks cooler), to store milk. It has 2 pipe, that goes into the chiller. if you open it up, you will see that it then reach into a container of milk.

it is hooked up to their expresso machine

It is not the same as placing tank in a chiller.