I need a chiller

Wismo · Jul 23, 2019

So like is the title says I'm in the market for a water chiller I have three buckets and a reservoir 5 gallon so I need to cool approximately 20 gallons of water.

I'm not opposed to DIY either , I see somebody here made a pretty cool one with drinking water cooler.

What's a good option I want to stay under $300 if possible.

A lot of the chillers I looked at have mixed reviews so I'm looking for somebody with personal experience with one. My water temperature is about 80° right now.
Thanks I really appreciate the help

negative37dBA · Jul 23, 2019

I purchased a Active Aqua 1/10 hp chiller a few months back....best thing I ever did for my RDWC. It has performed perfectly, although I have not had it long. My system is only about 11 gallons. Holds it at 65 in ambients of 80 plus no problem. I have nothing but good things to say about it. Make sure you size it right and you will be a happy camper. I also insulated my lines and buckets to help. You can check my latest thread in my sig if you want to see it in action.
Not the best shot of it but here it is installed.

Have a great day.
Peace, negative.

Wismo · Jul 23, 2019

I'll check it out.
Not to get off track but that's a nice setup you have there.

negative37dBA · Jul 23, 2019

Thanks for that sir...I have worked a long time to set it up right. Went through a ton of changes over the years. Have decided water is the way forward for me. Dirt is to dirty...hydro is precise. I also was able to eliminate most of the reflectix from the tops of things. No reason now that the chiller is there. Plus the canopy is much denser now. 80 is a bad temp for your water. I am sure you know this. So many things start to go wrong at the same time it will overwhelm and plants will suffer. Have a great day!
Peace, negative.

Drop That Sound · Jul 31, 2019

Pretty simple to make a working chiller from a dehumidifier or old window AC. Just take the case apart, carefully bend the copper lines and dunk the evaporator coil into an insulated bucket/cooler of water/glycol coolant mix.

Notice I didn't say directly into the res like some guys do, because the metals will corrode and leach into the system. Especially with nutrients in the mix.

Now, hook up an extra pump in the chillers dedicated res, and make another separate coil ( as many as you need for different systems unlike buying multiple chillers) out of pre coiled up stainless steel tubing, most like 3/8" diameter coming in rolls just like the SS wort chiller coils used in brewing beer. Or just use an already made wort chiller coil but it will cost a little more probably 50-60 bucks for a 25' one. Then dunk that coil into your res.

Use a cheap temp controller to regulate the temp by turning it on or off.

If you know where to source the parts like craigslist or FB marketplace, and or already had an AC/dehumidifier, it could be dirt cheap.

Lookup DIY chillers there is plenty of vids showing that they work fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iIK1Xpum1o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piOhjhXM7-k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdcXacuwCsc

Wismo · Jul 31, 2019

Thanks for the video links.
I think I may try that .
So I basically want to make the cold water in a separate resivor.
Then put a stainless steel coil in any bucket I want to cool.
And pump that cold water through the coils.
Think I got it.

f-e · Jul 31, 2019

An old chest freezer will hold, or even be, a bucket. Just fit a stat inside, that turns it on/off. Or, use a fridge. As a rough guide, they offer about 3 times more cooling, than the rating plate by the power wire states. So if it's a 200w fridge, it offers 600w of cooling. Which for prospective, cools just over half a fan heater switched on one.

A typical portable air con here is 12,000btu which is around 3000w and to do that 1000w of electric is used. Just chucking a few rough numbers about.

Drop That Sound · Aug 2, 2019

Yep separate so you don't have copper or solder, etc from the exchanger coil contaminating the plants. Also allows you to add glycol to the solution if you do it that way.

Chillers use titanium which is probably a lot of the cost, but SS will hold up well. A pre made Coil that's 3/8" would be easy but I suppose you could use regular straight SS pipe peices, and make a manifold or coil by using flexible hose to connect the pieces together, then dunk that into a res, unless you got a mini pipe bender..

A chest freezer would totally work, but would take up a bit of space. It is good to oversize so your not running it all the time though. A 12,000 BTU AC modded is equivalent to a 1 ton chiller. 6000 about 1/2 ton, etc.

A small 30 pint dehumidifier would probably work the best for a small DIY system. I see people selling them used for $20-40 all day long, and most of them are manual controlled, unlike the digital ones where you would need to bypass the controls. I would have a spare for backup too.

I looked into the water dispenser coolers too, but they have real small compressors compared to the 30 pint, and the condenser coil is just a bunch of tubing like the back of a mini fridge.

Honestly if I was only running a single little RDWC I would probably just get the 1/10th, but making a DIY chiller is especially cool if you were gonna upgrade and have a larger or extra systems to chill so they can all share the same cooling res, instead of forking out for a large chiller.

In my case I've only needed one for maybe a month or so out of the year (like right now if I wasn't on break), but switching to LED soon and sealing the rooms (and all my res are remote in their own cabinets outside the grow area's) should keep the temps in check anyway. I like DIYing too and the only reason I'll make one is it gives me something to do, and just in case it is needed.

Wismo · Aug 4, 2019

Well I scored this digital dehumidifier it was a yard sale freebie.
I may replace my old one with it and use the ancient one as a chiller... Maybe.

Wismo · Aug 4, 2019

Here they are

bt420 · Aug 8, 2019

interesting topic. cheers.

Wismo · Aug 24, 2019

Finally got around to taking apart my dehumidifier.
And what..no copper I do believe this is stainless steel.
Right into the bucket she'll go.

Wismo · Aug 30, 2019

Ok so I may have aluminum here not stainless.
Will salts be a problem if I put it directly in the resivor ,or do I need to run the water through stainless tubing.

Also I'm a little unclear on if I leave the fan or get rid of or disable it.

Thanks

Chemdawggy Dawg · Aug 30, 2019

You'd be much better off to buy a real chiller.

kookied · Aug 31, 2019

If your into DIY then look at this site.

https://www.shine7.com/aquarium/chiller.htm

Iv built one for 40$us and it keeps my five gallon reservoir at 70 F with no problems.

Drop That Sound · Aug 31, 2019

The lines running to the 2 aluminum exchanger coils (one is the condenser, the other the evaporator) should be copper it looks like. That's good.. but its hard to tell how you would do it by the pics, or exactly what your working with without seeing underneath\around them better.

You need to separate them, and still be able to bend and dunk just the evaporator coil (the one that gets cold, which should be the one in front) into the res, and very carefully without kinking\cracking the lines so all the refrigerant leaks out.

And ya.. you still want to run a dedicated chiller res, as the solder and the aluminum can leach toxins into your plants. An insulated cooler would work good as the res, and you can add glycol at different ratios to make sure the water don't freeze up, and also preserve the water for a long time, and coil, etc.

You can notch the cooler some if you had to. To make sure the coil is submerged well, or have the correct placement, in the case the copper lines are to short or whatever.

You do want the fan running still, to blow through the condenser coil and also help cool the compressor a bit.

Bipolar Bear · Aug 31, 2019

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=365652

My friend made me 1 lol

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=365652

Wismo · Aug 31, 2019

Bipolar Bear said:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=365652

My friend made me 1 lol

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=365652

That pretty bad ass.
I like it.

not4n · Nov 24, 2019

Water chiller

Water chiller

I've seen a guy use an actual water cooler, like in the office. Cheap, easy to rig up, easy to find, no questions about what it's for.

armedoldhippy · Nov 24, 2019

not4n said:
I've seen a guy use an actual water cooler, like in the office. Cheap, easy to rig up, easy to find, no questions about what it's for.

that's what i'm looking for, a water fountain out of a school that is being closed or something.

I need a chiller

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