DIY: Chiller with sump?

[windcharm]

Hi,

I am toying with the idea of building a chiller from a mini fridge. In the mini fridge, I am thinking to build a small sump to do the filtering and at the same time to cool the water. This help to save some spaces.

The green lines are the pipes (left inlet/ right outlet). The brown color is the filter head to pump the water out back to the tank which will be connected from external power. The red box is the cooling area to cool the water before pumping back to the tank. This is the coolest area as it is for freezing water to ice.



Any comments on the fleasibility of this?

Thanks

[khtee]

sound cool. but need to take note that the in flow rate and out flow rate should be the same. else you may end up lesser water in the sump tank or over flood in the fridge. maybe you need to incorporate some sensor to stop the pump if there is an over flow or sump water level is less than a predefined height.

[windcharm]

By the way, do I need 2 filter head for sump? One for inlet the other for outlet?

[neon]

Will the tank crack due to contraction overtime?

May want to consider the following :

a) keep square plastic container inside with water
b) connect inlet hose and outlet hose to a metal coil. Probably can buy from those bro with spoilt chiller and remove the titanium coil. You need to soak with a coil to increase the area of contact with chilled water as well as something which can absorb the lower temperature effectively.

[windcharm]

Will the tank crack due to contraction overtime?

May want to consider the following :

a) keep square plastic container inside with water
b) connect inlet hose and outlet hose to a metal coil. Probably can buy from those bro with spoilt chiller and remove the titanium coil. You need to soak with a coil to increase the area of contact with chilled water as well as something which can absorb the lower temperature effectively.

I don't think is will crack so easily for the glass as it is not in the freezer area. In the freezer area, I intend to use a metal/aluminium tray to hold the chilled water.

[unclerobin]

I don't think is will crack so easily for the glass as it is not in the freezer area. In the freezer area, I intend to use a metal/aluminium tray to hold the chilled water.

hi,windcharm.
cool design you have. imho use the aluminium tray for a better heat transfer, i tried the sump method but failed reason maybe the mini chiller cooling capacity are not cater to chilled such a big quantity of water.
can i know what is the wattage of your mini fridge,
anyway my diy chiller are running fine on the water temperature of 24.6c in the morning reaching to 26.5c in the night with the maximium lighting of 400watts.


regards
robin

[windcharm]

hi,windcharm.
cool design you have. imho use the aluminium tray for a better heat transfer, i tried the sump method but failed reason maybe the mini chiller cooling capacity are not cater to chilled such a big quantity of water.
can i know what is the wattage of your mini fridge,
anyway my diy chiller are running fine on the water temperature of 24.6c in the morning reaching to 26.5c in the night with the maximium lighting of 400watts.

regards
robin

The wattage is 90+ for the mini Fridge. I am using it to cool my 150 litre tank. The purpose of the sump concept in the mini Frigde is not cool the water so much (of course it will help a little) but it is more to save space. The actual cooling area is where the ice compartment is before the water flow back to the tank.

My worry now is how to prevent water from overflowing from the sump tank in case 1 of the pump failed (inlet/outlet pump)....I presume that I will need 2 power head to do so, one for the inlet and one for the outlet.. Any suggestion?

[neon]

This will potentially flood-prone option. Further more having a pump inside the fridge will generate heat also .

Best to have close-connection (ie coil) , water will simply go and out.

[unclerobin]

The wattage is 90+ for the mini Fridge. I am using it to cool my 150 litre tank. The purpose of the sump concept in the mini Frigde is not cool the water so much (of course it will help a little) but it is more to save space. The actual cooling area is where the ice compartment is before the water flow back to the tank.

My worry now is how to prevent water from overflowing from the sump tank in case 1 of the pump failed (inlet/outlet pump)....I presume that I will need 2 power head to do so, one for the inlet and one for the outlet.. Any suggestion?

bro, if you are using a canister filter as a stand alone to filter your tank, then you need not have to worry about water overflowing in your sump tank. Fix another inlet and outlet pipe in your tank and use the gravity flow method, only the water that goes back to the tank will need a powerhead but you need some calculation on the tank water level and the sump tank inside your fridge.happy diying, hope to hear your result soon

regards
robin

[breadshrimp]

Great idea. But hard to find a 2nd hand freezer.

[windcharm]

Great idea. But hard to find a 2nd hand freezer.

I have already got a second hand freezer from one of the nice bro nice at $20. Must thank him for supporting my project. haha

My worried now is the overflowing issue if one pump malfunction.

[windcharm]

bro, if you are using a canister filter as a stand alone to filter your tank, then you need not have to worry about water overflowing in your sump tank. Fix another inlet and outlet pipe in your tank and use the gravity flow method, only the water that goes back to the tank will need a powerhead but you need some calculation on the tank water level and the sump tank inside your fridge.happy diying, hope to hear your result soon

regards
robin

I actually I have this crazy idea of putting the canister in the fridge itself..haha. However i thought I might want to try out sump because it is more versatile compared to cannister. You can build a biohome, skimmer there etc.

[unclerobin]

I have already got a second hand freezer from one of the nice bro nice at $20. Must thank him for supporting my project. haha

My worried now is the overflowing issue if one pump malfunction.

actually you need only 1 powerhead for this project by doing the gravity flow for the outlet from your tank to the sump, no need worry about the overflowing matter in your sump.i done this many year ago for my six feet tank .

[windcharm]

actually you need only 1 powerhead for this project by doing the gravity flow for the outlet from your tank to the sump, no need worry about the overflowing matter in your sump.i done this many year ago for my six feet tank .

Wouldn't it be very slow for outlet? Y do you said so that I do not need to worry about overflow?

[unclerobin]

Wouldn't it be very slow for outlet? Y do you said so that I do not need to worry about overflow?

hi windcharm, just my humble sketch for your curiosity, hope it will help ( any bro correct me if i am wrong ) click ----> sump

regard
robin

[windcharm]

hi windcharm, just my humble sketch for your curiosity, hope it will help ( any bro correct me if i am wrong ) click ----> sump

regard
robin

Thanks Unclerobin. If the outlet pipe is so high up, it would not be efficient to do a good filtering..but just creating waterflow in the tank? This may cause a problem if I am away for a few days of vacations.. the whole pumping system will haul if the water fall below the water level. Topping up of the water need to be very frequent.

However, you gave me some ideas on how to idea on how to control the overflow issue..

[unclerobin]

Thanks Unclerobin. If the outlet pipe is so high up, it would not be efficient to do a good filtering..but just creating waterflow in the tank? This may cause a problem if I am away for a few days of vacations.. the whole pumping system will haul if the water fall below the water level. Topping up of the water need to be very frequent.

However, you gave me some ideas on how to idea on how to control the overflow issue..

hi, windcharm no thank required it just my humble idea.
as i did mention on my earlier post..if you are using a canister filter as a stand alone to filter your tank,then there this method might work.
hope to see your good result soon

happy diying
regards
robin

[CK Yeo]

You only need 1 pump in the sump.
Water can go out of the tank via overflow.
See link

ck

[windcharm]

Currently, I am able to achieve 24.3 degrees at night around 9pm (without light) using similar mentioned as unclerobin. I am using a very thin plastics pipes instead of those normal water pipes. No ice added to the cooling compartment.

I am now testing out the tank with another controlled pail of water. The DIY chiller manage to cool down the temperature by 2 -3 degrees.

Any bro know where I can get services to bend the metal pipes? I want to futher lower down the water temperature, i think that may help.

Thanks.

[unclerobin]

Currently, I am able to achieve 24.3 degrees at night around 9pm (without light) using similar mentioned as unclerobin. I am using a very thin plastics pipes instead of those normal water pipes. No ice added to the cooling compartment.

I am now testing out the tank with another controlled pail of water. The DIY chiller manage to cool down the temperature by 2 -3 degrees.

Any bro know where I can get services to bend the metal pipes? I want to futher lower down the water temperature, i think that may help.

Thanks.

Yeah bro you made it..just want to know what temperature did you achive with all the light turn on, did you use the sump method and how many powerhead you using.
maybe you can post some picture here for viewing

actually i am thinking of using copper piping for the coil in the strainer but was worry due to high copper content in the water ( any bro here can please give some advise) if is ok to use copper piping i can diy them, maybe we can share cost in diying it as i got all the equipment and tools

regard
robin