[four20_oem]

My resavoir is getting way to hot It got to 90 this afternoon, in the tub.and I need a good way to cool the resavoir with stuff that I can find for a reasonable price..

heres the plan->
The Stuff:
-fridgerator (go to a appliance repair store and get one for cheap $10)
-Garden Hoze (any nice size hoze to move water around $15)
-2 oil coolers (somthing to suckin heat and then somthing to dissipate it shucks has oil coolers for $9.99 so x2 = $20)
-Some clamps $2
-proper fittings (homedepot $10)
-H/O Pump (harbor frieght $32)

Step 1
-Drill holes in the fridge (harbor frieght has a hole saw kit for 3.99, as long as you have a drill..)
Step 2
-Run the hoze into your fridge (set on cold cold right above 32)
Step 3
-get an old ac accumulator (whatever your using the move the heat) (If you cant find an accumulator just use an oil cooler, or evaporator, or basically anything that will disipate heat fast shit use a radiator) ... any way
Step 4
-Plumb the heat exchanger to the pump (mounted inside the fridge as well)
Step 5
-Plumb the pump to the resavoir where the other heat exchanger is (Note this heat exchager needs to be stainless, does aluminum react with the nutes?)
Step 6
-Close the loop, go from the oil cooler with the warm water back inside the fridge and connect to the other oil cooler.
Step7
-This is where some people may branch off.. if you like using timers that will work.. just turn the pump on for 15 mins every hour or so
But if you like precision get yourself a heat switch on ebay ($15 - 30 bucks) and a relay from radio shack (you need a 30amp to be safe) probably like $5, but relays are easy to find for free if you have some scavenging skills.. anyway then wire the heat switch to the relay which runs the pump and its automatic!

its multi functional (hold beer, bongs, weed, seeds, pollen, nutes)

The numbers up there add up to $89, but its not to hard to find this kinda stuff. and you dont really have to worry about it.. no High Pressure gasses No propane No craziness..

I havent made it yet but It sounds good to me. Can yall think of any problems? Plan to Get the stuff tomorrow I already have an extra fridge and a bunch of oil coolers..

Any ideas where ill find a heat switch? Have to go check ebay.... Ill post tomorrow and tell yall how it worked without the heat switch..

[Coreolis Effect]

I'm having trouble visualising your idea four20
but I know most fridges are only good for about ten degrees drop in temps
so you might have to use a fan on the res too, or pump groundwater through stainless pipe in the res to act as an heat exchanger and cool it that way down to the magic 68 degrees

My understanding the problem lies with the fridge, they are designed to remove heat, when you keep adding heat they run to much for their design. Thats why many go to evorative type exchangers, maybe that would knock out some of your heat issues, but a 25 degre drop is a lot. I thnk res chiller is in order. But that is just my .02. Good luck in your quest.

[BlueHaze]

i try the fridge route and it was just a waste of money. go to www.overgrow.com do a search they got couple of thread how to drop water temp in the res with a small fan and a pvc exit on the other side type of thing. If you have the space try putting it in another room. I even try the frozen bottle thing but it was a pain in the butt. Chiller is the way to go if you have the money. hope you get the temp down

[four20_oem]

well Its good thing i posted before I bought.. thanks for the insight.

[four20_oem]

alright, I agree that the fridge part may not be strong enough to lower the temp that much. but what if I made like a 5 or 6 stage heat exchange in the freezer part then drilled a hole to go down to the fridge part where the pump will be. This way ill have to mix some antifreeze with the water so it wont freeze when its off. what do you think of that? See I already have a fridge, a pump, and a bunch of oil coolers.. So this wont be to spendy.. just some stuff from the home depot.

[no-one]

the fridge dont work! tryed it dosent happin! bottles of ice might be ok ina small res with not much flow but done that too and not good enough! if ur going to insist on low temps u will have to buy a perpose built device! i.e a chiller! what system u growing in? do u realy need a chiller"? give us some deatails! btw the best home built low doller chiller ive seen to date is nitrous one made from a small a/c unit! was a nice job!!

[Coreolis Effect]

Same thing mate i'm afraid
i had mine running through a fridge/freezer a few years ago
when think about it - your fridge/freezer is insulated to hell to keep it cool in its very small sealed enviroment
Now open the door on your freezer and what happens even with the freezer running constant it defrosts because it just canot keep up with the warm air of the room
10 degrees was all I got off mine infact an evaporation fan could match it

But something tells me your obsessed with the fridge and wont let it go till you've tried it - so good luck anyway

i've not tried it or heard of anyone trying it, but if you guys have heard of what is called a "jockey box" it's basically a device that you hook a warm keg of beer up to that is a tap, and when you use this tap the beer is cooled on the way from the keg to the tap, i bet something like this would make a nice rez chiller somehow....

https://www.beveragefactory.com/draft...ey-boxes.shtml

https://www.beveragefactory.com/draft...xes/jbck.shtml

could probably setup a standard air pump to pump your nutes through this type of thing somehow. Like i said tho, i have no experience with anything like this .... i'm just throwing out ideas here.


THC

[no-one]

it would prolly work better than ice bottles in the rez but u would still go thru a lot of ice! if u had an ice machine that would be cool but if ur paying for it u would be better off saveing for a chiller!