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Hi timebomb,
so the hose size will be 12 internal / 16 external mm correct?
Thanks a lot.
Mon Oct 11, 2004 6:18 amOriginally Posted by Kenji80
Mon Oct 11, 2004 12:09 pm
Yongda, most of the members here participate as hobbyists and do not monitor the forum 24/7, responding "on time, everytime" like Fedex.
Kindly exercise some patience, allowing time for people to respond and refrain from one liners.
None. If you study the photos in earlier postings, the hose are 'joined' using hose connectors. Neither is glue used to secure the connectors to the freezer lid. Silicon will suffice.What is the glue that you use to join the inlet and outlet to the freezer?
Braided hose is available in most hardware shops and even neighbour stores. Look around and you'll be amazed by what you can use for the aquarium.Can I check with you where did you buy the braided hose?
What is the size of the hose?
Size of hose is not important, unless you're modifying a freezer. What's important, is a size that fits your pump/canister filter.
I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
Ronnie Lee
Hi timebomb,
so the hose size will be 12 internal / 16 external mm correct?
Thanks a lot.
Btw today I just gone to the same shop.
I was told that the hose is $1.30 per metre. They told me that they do not
have any 50 metres hose but only 100 metres.
Hey timebomb, did you remove the insulation on the cover of the freezer?
Thanks.
Regards,
Yongda.
Yongda, I'm quite sure I didn't make a mistake with the length of the hose. It's 50 metres. At 100 metres, I doubt there will be enough space for it in my freezer. Buying by the metre will usually cost more. It's best to get the whole reel if you're going to use a freezer too.
I showed a picture of the freezer's cover in this thread. You must have missed it so here it is again:
Loh K L
Hi Loh
I'm sure it is floating about in the thread somewhere but could you let us know at what temp your tank is running currently?
Thanks
Tyrone,
My temperature now is about 25 C most of the time. It should be colder but I decided to put the freezer on timer. For 6 hours everyday, the freezer is switched off. I did this because I'm concerned that the compressor will burn itself out in no time if I let it run 24 hours non-stop. With normal usage, freezers and refrigerators have thermostats that cut off the power when the desired temperature is reached. But in the case of my DIY chiller/freezer, that never happens as the temperature in the chiller never falls below 22 C.
After all the experimenting, I've come to the conclusion that I was right from the beginning. There's no way to lower the temperature of the chiller as the fish tank will keep warming it up no matter what I do. I also concluded that the conductivity of the hose does not affect the temperature very much. Whether it's a copper tubing, a PVC hose or a braided hose like what I'm using now, does not make much of a difference. A longer length will compensate for poorer conductivity. It also does not matter whether I use a glass tank or a plastic bag to hold the water in the freezer. We can't get the water in the chiller to become any colder because (I repeat), the fish tank will keep warming it up. There's also no necessity to use a powerhead to circulate the water in the freezer but you all already know that. What is most important is the cooling power of the freezer and that is limited by the wattage. The other important factor is the ambient temperature. On cold days, I get 23 to 24 C in my tank. On hot days, it goes up to 26 C. But that's still pretty good, considering my tank was mostly 28 C before I had the chiller.
All in all, it was worth all the trouble. Your opinions are greatly appreciated. Although not every suggestion worked, there were many valuable lessons learnt.
Loh K L
Hi KL,
I have a suggestion to the timer usage. Instead of switching the freezer off every 6 hrs, do it more often and shorter stop period. For that I mean, stop more frequently, say every 2 hrs, and stop for 15 minutes each time.
There are 2 advantages:
1) the freezer's walls (where the condensor coil is) get cool more often, thereby increasing the cooling efficiency, lower elect bill.
2) the compressor get to rest/cool down more often and thus more reliable. And it starts off again not in complete cold state.
Hi timebomb,
1) What did you use to drill the holes on the cover?
2) Did you remove the insulation from the cover? Because from the look
of the pic, it seems like you have remove it.
3) The cover of the freezer is quite thick right? How did you manage to
put the inlet and outlet sockets to it?
Btw there is a device called fox controller where you can use to control
the temperature.
Thanks.
Kenji,
I did not use the original cover. I improvised my own. I use a piece of acrylic and on the perimeter, it's lined with a piece of angle iron. I used Oyama paper to make it look like it's part of my freezer. Here are some pictures I took when my friends, Deric and Melvyn were rigging up the cover for me. Fortunately for you, I didn't delete these pictures from my camera.
I'm curious about the Fox controller you mentioned. How does it control the temperature? Does it work like a thermostat?
Loh K L
Try visit this URL. There are information about the fox controller.
http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/inde...fox+controller
KL,
looking at your cover, would it be better if the inside was lined with styrofoam or some insulation material?
Zulkifli
Hi Timebomb,
will using a plastic container with water reduce the efficiency of the chiller
as compared to glass or plastic bag?
Plastic is a poor thermal conductor and would not give you as good heat transfer as glass or thinner plastic.
Zul, the inside of the cover, along the perimeter, is lined with a piece of rubber. Rubber may not be as good an insulator as styrofoam but it's easier to paste. In any case, the temperature of the freezer is not affected much by this. I carried out an experiment the other day. I switched off the filter and after about 12 hours, the temperature in the freezer dropped from about 22 degrees C to 5. I then switched on my filter and in less than an hour, the temperature in the freezer rose back to 22 C again. During this period when the temp went from 5 to 22, the temp in my fish tank remained the same. I expected a drop of 1 or 2 degrees but there was hardly any change.
I wrote the other day that ambient temperature is a big factor. It's been quite cold the last week and now, I come home everyday to see condensation on the sides of my tank. The condensation is so heavy I can't see the inside of the tank. That's one problem with the freezer; I can't set a desired temperature. Strangely however, the thermometer has never registered a temperature lower than 23.0 C. It hit 23 on many occasions but somehow or other, it has never gone below that figure. Maybe I should change the thermometer
As Tyrone has pointed out, plastic is a poor conducter of heat when compared to glass. That's true in theory but in our case, it won't make much of a difference. The efficiency of the chiller remains the same; it depends on how high is the wattage. The efficiency with which the freezer can cool the tank depends on how large is the tank compared to the freezer. The material and quality of the hose is an important factor but length can compensate for poor conductivity. A long plastic hose works just as well as a short metal one. I tried using a copper tube but I ran into all sorts of problems. The copper killed the bacteria in my filters and the water in the tank turned cloudy. I also found out later that all my shrimps disappeared.
All in all, I'm quite pleased with the present setup. The temp in my tank has never gone below 23 C but it's quite low generally. Even on hot days, the temp rarely goes above 25. That's a lot better than when I was using fans. Surprisingly, my electric bills has gone down since I had the freezer. Not much but I had expected a rise so I'm quite happy with everything.
Loh K L
So you set your freezer to run for 6 hrs and then stop for how long?
Thanks.
Hi timebomb,
Can I know the exact address of where you bought the giant plastic bag
and how much does one cost?
Thanks.
Regards,
Yongda
It's the other way around. The freezer runs for 18 hours a day and is switched off between midnight to dawn.
I bought a few plastic bags from 2 different shops. They are both in the Joo Chiat area. Here are the addresses:
Poh Siang Trader
29 Onan Road
Tel: 63482387
SKP Pte Ltd
64 Onan Road
Tel: 63466121
As for cost, the plastic bags are pretty cheap. It's not worth the trouble hunting around for cheaper ones.
Loh K L
Thought I show you guys how heavy the condensation is sometimes:
A fly came visiting today and got itself stuck to the tank:
Here's how it looks with flash:
Loh K L
Hahahahaaaa..
Regards
Peter Gwee :wink:
Everything's fine now, Peter. On hindsight, I shouldn't have used the copper tubing. It killed all my shrimps and the bacteria in the filters. The tank turned cloudy as a result. I think some residue of copper stayed in my tank for a long time; many of my mosses turned brown and some plants died. Fortunately, almost all the mosses have recovered and they are growing much better than before, what with the colder temperatures now.
Kho aka Shortman brought a diatom filter to my house the other day. We started using it at about 4.30 in the evening. Kho left shortly after and I considered letting the diatom filter run until the next day. Thank goodness I didn't. About an hour past midnight, after about 8 and a half hours, I switched off the diatom. When I tried to carry it to my balcony to wash it, I found that the motor was so hot it could have burnt my fingers. I don't know if it would have caught fire if I had let it run the whole night. It took about half an hour before the filter was cool enough for me to touch it.
Loh K L
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