DIY Chiller

[unclerobin]

You are really brilliant unclerobin. Hope to meet you some day and learn from you.

hi leechaorui
thank for your comment
you are most welcome to join me in my project, anyway everything on my tank are diy except for the tank and stand which was given to me by a friend.
regard
robin

[windcharm]

hi windcharm
for a diy chiller i don't think i am able to get the temperature of 23c and also depend on the light i use.Every morning the water temperature read at 24.5c all the way to 4.00pm when my light are on ( 4x39watts T5HO) and gradually increase to 26.5 at night with the all the light on (10x39watts T5HO) my tank light are off at 2359hrs.
anyway the water temperature when using the chiller was maintain at 26c to 27c which was very comfortable for myself and the environment inside the tank.to be able to get this reading for the diy chiller was a great achivement to me spending only a little sum of money and saving alot on monthly electrical bill.
regard
robin

Thank you for your feedback. How does the pipe in the aluminium container runs? Simply a U shape back?

[unclerobin]

IMHO, if you could replace the hose from rubber to copper is the best.


cheers!

hi, aquaSynthesis
agree with you by using copper piping for better heat transfer, but was worry of the high copper content in the water which might affect the water hardness ( correct me if i ma wrong )so will be switching to use stainless steel was awaiting for my friend to pass me the tools to bend the pipe ( pipe bender )
hopefully by using stainless pipe will bring down my tank temperature by a few more points

regard
robin

[aquaSynthesis]

hi, aquaSynthesis
agree with you by using copper piping for better heat transfer, but was worry of the high copper content in the water which might affect the water hardness ( correct me if i ma wrong )so will be switching to use stainless steel was awaiting for my friend to pass me the tools to bend the pipe ( pipe bender )
hopefully by using stainless pipe will bring down my tank temperature by a few more points

regard
robin

sir...do u intend to coil up the S/S pipe? i believe you can only coil for a few rounds, else the water pressure will be reduced.

[unclerobin]

sir...do u intend to coil up the S/S pipe? i believe you can only coil for a few rounds, else the water pressure will be reduced.

yes bro, aquaSynthesis/windcharm. I coiled up the present rubber hose in a rectangular manner using cable tie to secure the shape ( about 3 coil ) water flow rate drop about 20% was expected due to the diversion of the pipe, but was good in the way that there are more cooling time in the fridge, but can feel that the canister filter are pumping more harder to deliver the water to the tank.

[wllm33]

thanks for sharing this wonderful idea.
from my simple minded understanding, is it just an in out system in the connection to cool down the tank water?
sorry for being simple minded, but presume your pump to push the water to the freezer compartment of the fridge is in the plant tank and can know what is the flow rate you are using for this part.
thnks for enlightening.
cheers.

[sookf]

I have tried the bar fridge method last year. Was having the same idea as yours. I manage to cool my 2ft tank to 22 degree C.

I shut it down after a month and scrap the idea eventually as the running cost was not as cheap as I thought. Although the spec of the fridge is 80W, the actual consumption was about 170W (can't remember the exact figure) when measured by a power meter. Which turns out to be about 80 cents to $1+ per day.

Do you have a power meter to measure the daily consumption? You might be surprise by the actual cost of running your diy chiller.

[unclerobin]

I have tried the bar fridge method last year. Was having the same idea as yours. I manage to cool my 2ft tank to 22 degree C.

I shut it down after a month and scrap the idea eventually as the running cost was not as cheap as I thought. Although the spec of the fridge is 80W, the actual consumption was about 170W (can't remember the exact figure) when measured by a power meter. Which turns out to be about 80 cents to $1+ per day.

Do you have a power meter to measure the daily consumption? You might be surprise by the actual cost of running your diy chiller.

hihi sookf
i agree with wat you say that the total wattage comsumption of your bar fridge are 170W but i'm just refering to the compressor.
maybe the 80W spec you seen is only refering to the compressor itself, your are getting the total reading of 170W might be due to the following reason.
1: did you unplug the heater coil connection ( the heater coil is to prevent the housing from sweating usually can be seen clearly in the early morning of cool day if the heater are not working properly) from the electrical suppy compartment, hence the heater are running 24hrs x 30 day.
2: is there a fan in the bar fridge, it might be a small wattage fan but when the door are close it runs non stop thus increasing your reading too.

Due to the 2 factors your bar fridge spec show a 90W increase in the total reading, IMHO you should only reading the reading only from the compressor and not the whole.

sorry bro who are reading this post, please correct me if i'm wrong, it just only my few cents counts .... cheers
feel free to comment to my unprofessional quote.

[shrimp999]

The fridge compressor will keep running.
Eventually will damage the fridge.
It will not save energy but rather use more than normal conventional chiller.

[wllm33]

i think no matter how "inefficient" this project sounds like , the fridge only cost $20/- , and if you compared to a new chiller , can probably buy 10 fridges, not to mention the maintainence for a chiller after a while, which can be pretty expensive adding to the cost of the whole chiller usage also.

If not mistaken, a chiller like the CL650 has a rating of 600w, so no matter how inefficient this project can become, it will never reach this wattage.

So IMHO, if we compare these facts it is still a very good DIY project and will still save some money if not short term.
Guess it will still be worth it for most of us who has a bit of problem with cash flow and still wants to enjoy the hobby.
my 2 cents worth.

[unclerobin]

The fridge compressor will keep running.
Eventually will damage the fridge.
It will not save energy but rather use more than normal conventional chiller.

hihi shrimp999
for your information i had a timer attach to my fridge, it run 2 hours and stop for 15 mins during lighting period, when light off from midnight to 4.00pm the next day my timer will be set at 2 hours and rest 30mins, till date i had no problems with it and due to the 22% raise in electrical bill i still save a few piece of red note on the utilities bills compare to using the chiller, btw i still connect the chiller to the filteration system just in case the fridge failed me.

[unclerobin]

i think no matter how "inefficient" this project sounds like , the fridge only cost $20/- , and if you compared to a new chiller , can probably buy 10 fridges, not to mention the maintainence for a chiller after a while, which can be pretty expensive adding to the cost of the whole chiller usage also.

If not mistaken, a chiller like the CL650 has a rating of 600w, so no matter how inefficient this project can become, it will never reach this wattage.

So IMHO, if we compare these facts it is still a very good DIY project and will still save some money if not short term.
Guess it will still be worth it for most of us who has a bit of problem with cash flow and still wants to enjoy the hobby.
my 2 cents worth.

hihi bro wllm33
thank for the compliment
sorry to not have reply to your earlier post .
i bought a Hailea chiller at $360.00 and was using it for a month before using the mini fridge and totally agreed to what your had post. the frigde cost only $20.00 from ebay and my PUB bill was sky high compare to my average monthly of $130.00.
the first month into using the mini fridge to cool my tank i can see the decrease in my PUB bill,
just to kill yor curiosity you are most welcome to my place to view my diy project ( any bros here who are interested into diying a mini fridge to cool his/her tank water are most welcome too, am most willing to share my ideas)

[wllm33]

thanks for the invitation, but also would like to let us have some "lobang" of how to get a second hand fridge cost $20/- also.
That is real cheap for a working second hand fridge.
Is ebay really so fruitful all the time?
I don't go there as it is rather busy there , so many things.
Perhaps I should , since you showed us that there are really worthy bargains there with your fridge, especially in such times.

[windcharm]

I got my mini frigde for $20 dollar too! I am using it to cool my 20" 20" 24" tank. I manage to cool down the water temperature by 3 - 4 degrees. Currently, I have disconnected it from my tank due to rescaping. I am also using this opportunity to add more piping to my DIY chiller compartment.

I believe the running will definitely cost less than a chiller especially when the temperature is constant & maintained.

I will update my DIY chiller again once get it up and runnning again.

[unclerobin]

thanks for the invitation, but also would like to let us have some "lobang" of how to get a second hand fridge cost $20/- also.
That is real cheap for a working second hand fridge.
Is ebay really so fruitful all the time?
I don't go there as it is rather busy there , so many things.
Perhaps I should , since you showed us that there are really worthy bargains there with your fridge, especially in such times.

hihi bro,
i use to roam ebay every morning sometime when you are lucky you will be able to get very good deal there.
if you are interested into diying a mini fridge to cool your tank i'm most willing to share my humble knowledge with you

click on the link, there's a mini fridge now bidding at $38.00. ( will monitor for a good one for you if you need it as i roam ebay every morning.
http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/Mni-Fridge_W0...1%7C240%3A1318

[unclerobin]

I got my mini frigde for $20 dollar too! I am using it to cool my 20" 20" 24" tank. I manage to cool down the water temperature by 3 - 4 degrees. Currently, I have disconnected it from my tank due to rescaping. I am also using this opportunity to add more piping to my DIY chiller compartment.

I believe the running will definitely cost less than a chiller especially when the temperature is constant & maintained.

I will update my DIY chiller again once get it up and runnning again.

hey bro,
how's thing going on on your side , though you give up your idea, still waiting for your update of your diy project, can we have some picture next time you update your project.

happy diying

[wllm33]

hihi bro,
i use to roam ebay every morning sometime when you are lucky you will be able to get very good deal there.
if you are interested into diying a mini fridge to cool your tank i'm most willing to share my humble knowledge with you

click on the link, there's a mini fridge now bidding at $38.00. ( will monitor for a good one for you if you need it as i roam ebay every morning.
http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/Mni-Fridge_W0...1%7C240%3A1318

hi robin,
thanks for the nice gesture.
will appreciate your help.
as you know nowadays economy bad, so everyone is looking at cost effectiveness.
i also like to diy like you, but on top of saving cost , is sort of give you the feeling of satisfaction that you had done some achievement. It's like building your own pc.
cheers.

[windcharm]

hey bro,
how's thing going on on your side , though you give up your idea, still waiting for your update of your diy project, can we have some picture next time you update your project.

happy diying

Will do, I am busying shifting house now.. thus my tank has not really been setup yet. I am also DIYing my own stand to have my fridge hidden from sight..

[fabby]

Unclerobin sir,
I am very fascinated with your DIY Chiller. Is it still working fine?
Currently i am keeping a crs tank. approx. 1.5ft using a fan to lower the temp.
Quite successful as now the weather is so cold.
Was thinking, how much time did u dedicate into this project? was thinking of doing one for myself.
I have became your number 1 fan. What other DIY projects you have?

[unclerobin]

Unclerobin sir,
I am very fascinated with your DIY Chiller. Is it still working fine?
Currently i am keeping a crs tank. approx. 1.5ft using a fan to lower the temp.
Quite successful as now the weather is so cold.
Was thinking, how much time did u dedicate into this project? was thinking of doing one for myself.
I have became your number 1 fan. What other DIY projects you have?

hi fabby
thank for your compliment, till date it give me zero problem at all.
i'm not into crs so not very sure what is your tank water temp, to use a fan to cool down your tank temp it depend mainly on your room temp to cool down your tank water. for a 1.5ft tank using a fan i presume your water temp should be around 26 to 27 degree.
quite a straight forward project, just get a new/used fridge, piping and neccessary fitting. btw you need to have a canister filter to use this diy mini chiller.my light set are also diy.( feel free to contact me if you need any assistance on your project i'm most willing to guide you, ( hehe i'm your fan )
btw we are having a gathering this coming sunday over at my place at 2.00pm, maybe you can join in to discuss on your oncoming diying chiller, refer to this tread>
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=50848