nanoreeftank.com Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I'm considering purchasing 5 thermoelectric cooler heatsinks and attaching them to the back glass of my nano tank, with heat sinks on the back, then attached to a temperature controller to be used as my tank cooler. ~35 dollars for everything. Has anyone done this? Will the thermoelectric pads chill so quickly they will crack the glass? I'm trying to build cheap to keep on topic for my website Http://www.nanosaltwatertank.com Link to comment
hipower Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I had a Chill Solutions chiller that went haywire on me and cook my tank. I went and got a AquaEuro chiller that actually works... Link to comment
The Aquarist Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 +1 on the Aqua Euro chiller. Works Great. Link to comment
nanoreeftank.com Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 They make something suitable for a 5 gallon tank? Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 They make something suitable for a 5 gallon tank? A micro fan Link to comment
RK_tek Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 How much of a temp drop are you looking for? Heat transfer through the glass isn't very ideal. An ice probe chiller may be a better option. If you want to DIY, you can build a closed loop chiller with Peltier devices and a water block Link to comment
WhiteWulfe Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 TECs/Peltiers are also known for being notoriously inefficient. Link to comment
PicoSavvy Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 Be careful with the material you choose For your water block if you go that route unless if its titanium or hdpe or a material with a protective layer that is reef safe, It can leach chemicals that can nuke your tank Link to comment
nanoreeftank.com Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 It's a five gallon tank and I plan on attaching the pads on the glass on the back. I will have them attached to a temperature controller as well as a heat sink on the back of them. I'm not sure how well the glass will transfer the cooling or if the pads will be too powerful and freeze so quick it cracks the glass. If it works, it should only need to change the water by 1-3 degrees before its automatically turned off. Since its a small tank, I assume the pads will be powerful enough to cool. If it works, its a perfect little chiller for less than 35 dollars. I have a fan now and I just ordered a temperature controller to work with it. It works great but the evaporation is annoying, and it tends to cool to 74 degrees which is a bit low. But that should be eliminated with the TC Link to comment
LynkUK Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 OK, it is easy to over think the cooling of a small tank, but I would stick with the fan and deal with the evaporation. Just to give you some idea of my quandary - Biocube 29, built with me keeping one eye on the heat buildup problem with these enclosed tanks. So I purchase a Nanobox Retro (less heat output), Vortech MP10 (less intank heat output), keep the back lid open (increase gas exchange) and with it being nearly 100 degrees here in Texas I get a 4 degree swing in temp (when averaged over a 7 day period) with a high temp recorded of...wait for it...84.5 degrees...WTF!!!! What the hell would it be without the MP10 and LED mod?? Anyway, obviously the high temp and dramatic swing, are not good. No coral or fish loss, but certainly no growth and everything generally looking ugly. Lay a piece of eggcrate along the open back, cable tie two 80mm fans to it, directing the airflow into the rear chambers, control them with the Apex, and within 3 hrs almost a 3 degree drop. At last cooler temps and stability! The evaporation will be handled by the ATO. I'm happy and my corals look happier. One thing about the cooling pads, sounds like a great idea, but I'm sure if they worked in this hobby, there would be a major manufacturer selling it for 5 times the cost. If you are having trouble with the fan cooling down to 74 degrees, then get a controllable fan, or just a smaller fan. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 For dropping 1-3 degrees, evaporative cooling will be far more efficient than using TECs. Most likely by a factor of 10. TECs are inefficient to start with, and bonding them to glass as a heat exchanger just makes that efficiency many times worse. It's really not worth it. Link to comment
PicoSavvy Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Here you go bro (http://m.ebay.com/itm/Thermoelectric-Peltier-Refrigeration-Cooling-System-Kit-Cooler-fan-TEC1-12715T-/181764612023?nav=WATCHING_ACTIVE) if your into diy this will do what you want. It is only 60 dollar. If you do get it I recommend you to take out the aluminum water block and anodize it with a reef safe material. Link to comment
nanoreeftank.com Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 OK, it is easy to over think the cooling of a small tank, but I would stick with the fan and deal with the evaporation. Just to give you some idea of my quandary - Biocube 29, built with me keeping one eye on the heat buildup problem with these enclosed tanks. So I purchase a Nanobox Retro (less heat output), Vortech MP10 (less intank heat output), keep the back lid open (increase gas exchange) and with it being nearly 100 degrees here in Texas I get a 4 degree swing in temp (when averaged over a 7 day period) with a high temp recorded of...wait for it...84.5 degrees...WTF!!!! What the hell would it be without the MP10 and LED mod?? Anyway, obviously the high temp and dramatic swing, are not good. No coral or fish loss, but certainly no growth and everything generally looking ugly. Lay a piece of eggcrate along the open back, cable tie two 80mm fans to it, directing the airflow into the rear chambers, control them with the Apex, and within 3 hrs almost a 3 degree drop. At last cooler temps and stability! The evaporation will be handled by the ATO. I'm happy and my corals look happier. One thing about the cooling pads, sounds like a great idea, but I'm sure if they worked in this hobby, there would be a major manufacturer selling it for 5 times the cost. If you are having trouble with the fan cooling down to 74 degrees, then get a controllable fan, or just a smaller fan. They actually do sell the exact same thing for 5-10x the cost of building it yourself. This is a Peltier Plate with a heat exchanging probe attached to it and the other side of the Peltier plate has a heat sink attached. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006JKO6U/ I managed to get a temperature controller for 15 dollars and connected the fan to it so now the temperature of the tank is stable. I have not received the Plates just yet in the mail but when I'm finished prior to application, I will test them with a scrap piece of glass. I also understand glass is not a great conductor of heat, however its not the worst. Glass's Thermal Conductivity = - k - W/(m K) Glass- 105 Aluminum- 205 So the 3rd best Thermal conductor in the world is only 100 above glass. I know the transfer rate will obviously not be as good as aluminum but I believe it will be good enough. If you notice the probe in the product I listed, you can see it is also encased in glass and also using glass as a transfer. I'm pretty excited to see if this works, if it does, it would be perfect for tanks 5-10 gallons made of glass, because acrylics thermal transfer rate is basically nothing, its 0.2 vs glass at 105 or aluminum at 205. Someone was saying how the Peltier plates are inefficient and they are correct, I believe its a 30% efficiency but when were talking about 3-6 watts or a .03 kwh that's pennies of electricity a month if it ran continuously. I will update later tonight with my findings. Hopefully this works!! Thank you all for so much input! Link to comment
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