Martha Stewart
Member
Indeed!...Great info!
Martha S.
Martha S.
Dopest's "Cooler" DIY Chiller
- Thread starter The Dopest
- Start date
thanks Martha and frosty! 
Haps post up man, that sounds like another success story waitin to happen. btw you could use this in a standard reserve it doesnt have to recirculate. or you could add one 2gal bucket and a small pump to make an external chiller bucket. either way gl and be sure to show your work
Haps post up man, that sounds like another success story waitin to happen. btw you could use this in a standard reserve it doesnt have to recirculate. or you could add one 2gal bucket and a small pump to make an external chiller bucket. either way gl and be sure to show your work
G
Guest
hey dopest do you know how many watts it runs on? really appreciate you sharing this thread 
http://www.icmag.com/gallery/data/500/7541cachart.jpg
here is the manufacturer specs on the compressor. ^
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=32973&highlight=compressor
and here is the thread where we discussed the compressor.
try it, you'll like it
here is the manufacturer specs on the compressor. ^
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=32973&highlight=compressor
and here is the thread where we discussed the compressor.
try it, you'll like it
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Legit_User
Member
Nice post.
I would like to add a few things to broaden your choices.
Labs,hospitals use chillers. Matter of fact if you ever see a chiller at the hospital chances are it will look exactly like the aquarium chillers.
I scored a 1/2 hp lab chiller in the science/lab equipment section at ebay for 70.00.
I was using a 1/4 hp laser MRI chiller before that.
Ranco makes the temp switch for 50.00, EXACT same as the ones you see for 130+ dollars.
Mine chills down to 68 and then will not kick back on till 71.
Totally programable.
Hydro and aquarium store vendors buy this lab equipment and relabel them.
Look at a pacific coast chiller and a thermotek mri chiller.
Same exact thang....
On ebay they will have recirculating,baths, and drop in chillers.
Check it out.
Stay peacefull.
I would like to add a few things to broaden your choices.
Labs,hospitals use chillers. Matter of fact if you ever see a chiller at the hospital chances are it will look exactly like the aquarium chillers.
I scored a 1/2 hp lab chiller in the science/lab equipment section at ebay for 70.00.
I was using a 1/4 hp laser MRI chiller before that.
Ranco makes the temp switch for 50.00, EXACT same as the ones you see for 130+ dollars.
Mine chills down to 68 and then will not kick back on till 71.
Totally programable.
Hydro and aquarium store vendors buy this lab equipment and relabel them.
Look at a pacific coast chiller and a thermotek mri chiller.
Same exact thang....
On ebay they will have recirculating,baths, and drop in chillers.
Check it out.
Stay peacefull.
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(That's my style of bumping...)
Inspired by The_Dopest, I decided I had to have one of my own for my next grow! I saw a water cooler on a local community board, and had to snatch it up. It was listed for $35, but I traded him 2 cases (288) AA batteries and in return got a water cooler delivered to me + $20 cash. Not too shabby, considering I had no use for all those batteries!
Anyhoo...
Took a look at it and it's a little different than yours. I wish I had a camera, but I don't so I'll do the best I can to describe it. There is that plastic "bowl" on top, where the bottle sits and the water is pooled (we'll call it the reservoir). The reservoir is plastic. Around the bottom 1/3 or so of the reservoir are copper coils that wrap around it. The copper coils and the reservoir sit inside a larger, hard-foam structure (obviously for insulation purposes).
Is it okay to have this copper coil dipped directly into the nutrient solution (in the controller bucket, I guess)? I recall reading something or another about how copper shouldn't make direct contact with nutrients for some reason, but I can't be sure. In normal operation of this water cooler, the water does not ever touch the copper coils.
Edit: Just saw hazywonder's and DeVenT's pictures:
It's JUST like that, except it's wrapped around a plastic bucket that easily slips off. Encased in foam. Also with all that nasty green corrosion / residue built up on the copper... ugh.
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clowntown wassup buddy!
yeah if you have the copper setup use some plastic to separate the copper from the nute solution, you should do fine.
yeah if you have the copper setup use some plastic to separate the copper from the nute solution, you should do fine.
Thank you for the response, your awesome DIY water chiller idea, and the writeup on it all!
This thread was the hope I had of being able to do a successful hydro run the next grow, instead of soil (and like the lorax, I also do not appreciate the rate of growth in soil compared to hydro)!
Hopefully I will be able to get a camera by the time all is set up and running. Can't wait to show it all off...
This thread was the hope I had of being able to do a successful hydro run the next grow, instead of soil (and like the lorax, I also do not appreciate the rate of growth in soil compared to hydro)!
Hopefully I will be able to get a camera by the time all is set up and running. Can't wait to show it all off...
Finally got around to taking my cooler apart, pulling the compressor and all out, and hooking it up. Filled a 5 gallon bucket to roughly 4 gallons with cold tap water initially reading out at 65.9F (room temp. ~73F), about 10 minutes ago. Plugged the compressor in, turned the setting to the coldest setting. Stuck the coil in 3 ice bags, and dipped in water.
Slowly but surely dropping, seems like it's stuck at about 64.1 - 64.3F, bouncing back and forth. I'd like to test this on a stable temperature water (water that's been sitting in the room for ~24 hours), and on capacity that I'll actually be running with. I'm hoping to run 6 to 9 buckets, and I'm guessing ~3 gallons per bucket plus rez. But for now, this test will be enough to make sure things are firing.
63.7F now.
Back of the unit reads 1.2A (120V), and 1.35oz of R-134A. Whatever that means, but it doesn't appear to be that powerful of a unit judging by the 1.2A. Then again I don't know what a typical compressor draws either.
Also don't know how old / inefficient the unit is, but whatever.
63.5F now.
Hopefully I'll be able to keep everything chilled to under 70F at all times, when I get set up!
63.4F now.
Edit: Make that 63.0F...
Slowly but surely dropping, seems like it's stuck at about 64.1 - 64.3F, bouncing back and forth. I'd like to test this on a stable temperature water (water that's been sitting in the room for ~24 hours), and on capacity that I'll actually be running with. I'm hoping to run 6 to 9 buckets, and I'm guessing ~3 gallons per bucket plus rez. But for now, this test will be enough to make sure things are firing.
63.7F now.
Back of the unit reads 1.2A (120V), and 1.35oz of R-134A. Whatever that means, but it doesn't appear to be that powerful of a unit judging by the 1.2A. Then again I don't know what a typical compressor draws either.
Also don't know how old / inefficient the unit is, but whatever.63.5F now.
Hopefully I'll be able to keep everything chilled to under 70F at all times, when I get set up!
63.4F now.
Edit: Make that 63.0F...
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its goin down!!!! nice job clowntown! glad i could do some inspiring, its usually conspiring(sp) i do
High Dope and clown!The Dopest said:its goin down!!!! nice job clowntown! glad i could do some inspiring, its usually conspiring(sp) i do
...darn I wish id seen this thread over the summer. I sold a water cooler at my yard sale for $30 because i couldnt think of what to with it. Oh well, that only means there are probably more used ones out there. even though my AC unit is working great, I wonder if an AC running all winter would be suspicious?? Anyway guys, great thread and very informative. Peace. TBug
Oh yeah, forgot to update!
Left the cooler-chiller on for half a day... left in the morning, came back home in the early evening to find it sitting at exactly 50.0F, compressor not running. I'm pretty sure that's due to the thermostat shutting the unit off at 50F. After seeing that, I have a pretty good level of confidence that with a ~30 gallon system I could manage to keep the temperatures fairly comfortable for my plants! Although I need to do some more testing once my buckets are hooked up and ambient temperatures rise...
BTW: I traded the cooler, listed on craigslist for $25 (I think; I forgot already), for a bunch of AA batteries I didn't need and received $20 back! To clarify: it cost me nothing, and in fact made $20 out of the deal! The guy even delivered it to my apartment (no grow going at the time, of course).
Left the cooler-chiller on for half a day... left in the morning, came back home in the early evening to find it sitting at exactly 50.0F, compressor not running. I'm pretty sure that's due to the thermostat shutting the unit off at 50F. After seeing that, I have a pretty good level of confidence that with a ~30 gallon system I could manage to keep the temperatures fairly comfortable for my plants! Although I need to do some more testing once my buckets are hooked up and ambient temperatures rise...
BTW: I traded the cooler, listed on craigslist for $25 (I think; I forgot already), for a bunch of AA batteries I didn't need and received $20 back! To clarify: it cost me nothing, and in fact made $20 out of the deal! The guy even delivered it to my apartment (no grow going at the time, of course).
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Hi All ! Nice info !!!! For someone on a very low budget, a simple easy way to chill your water is to freeze the same water used in your rez orwater storage unit in your freezer,(ice cube trays, washed out milk cartons...
etc...etc...)when these are frozen just place in your rez and adjust temp with
room temp water to desired temp....a cheap water chiller........
works for me, keep temps in a range of 68---72.....I like 70.....Peace!
Haven't read the thread yet but I've been thinking about chillers lately since I just got a fridge for a DIYer. I think it's a good idea to run a pump to run the nutes through the chiller, rather than chilling the res directly. Because until you get it dialed in right you don't know where the temps are going to fall to. With a pump you can use a timer and/or valves to dial it in right before you put your plants in there and freeze 'em.
Once I get the fridge modified I'm going to set my flower system up exactly as it will be run except without any plants, turn the lights and the blowers on 12/12, and run it until it gets temps right where I want them.
Once I get the fridge modified I'm going to set my flower system up exactly as it will be run except without any plants, turn the lights and the blowers on 12/12, and run it until it gets temps right where I want them.
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58FLH said:
sounds feasible...ok someone with the copper coil type try before moddin, may be easier and save some mulah! thinkin outside the box 58FLH 
58FLH said:
i should have clarifeid, i meant if you dont have the plastic cooling thing inside like mine. then you probably have the copper coil type and you should try this plastic tubing mod 58FLH is talking about so you dont have copper coils in your reserve
G
Guest
I liked it last yr and it still rocks.....
I liked it last yr and it still rocks.....
Just another one of my buddy`s "outside the box" solutions for the "DIY" kinda guys.... ......My aqua-logic drop-in chiller cost $750........just to keep things in perspective......Inline chillers like eco-plus and such inhibit flow control , drop-ins keep the rez`s and controllers nice and chilly as well as being able to use larger pipe for faster flow but at a price as in my situation....... TD has done it for peanuts and dropping rez temps 10 degrees is about as much as you can hope for with small drop-ins and inline chillers ability constant unless you spend mega bucks for overkill like me...Costs out the ass but takes care of buncha buckets.....Peace......DHF........ 
I liked it last yr and it still rocks.....
Just another one of my buddy`s "outside the box" solutions for the "DIY" kinda guys....
......My aqua-logic drop-in chiller cost $750........just to keep things in perspective......Inline chillers like eco-plus and such inhibit flow control , drop-ins keep the rez`s and controllers nice and chilly as well as being able to use larger pipe for faster flow but at a price as in my situation....... TD has done it for peanuts and dropping rez temps 10 degrees is about as much as you can hope for with small drop-ins and inline chillers ability constant unless you spend mega bucks for overkill like me...Costs out the ass but takes care of buncha buckets.....Peace......DHF........
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