Chiller Solution under $60!!!

[shao-lin nano]

Havent found anyone else with this idea yet so here it is:

 

Pump water from the tank into a mini fridge where there is a holding a resivoir where it chills and gets pumped back into the tank. A used mini fridge on craigslist.org goes for around $30-$40, a pump for around $30 and some tubing for a couple of bucks and there you have it!!!

 

You can store food and etc that need to be frozen or kept cool too.

[shao-lin nano]

here's a pic of concept:

[Prunfarm]

I've seen them where they used coiled tubing (instead of a reservoir)in the fridge for faster/more efficient cooling.

[ccjung]

Yeah, get one used for a beer keg, i believe its called a Coil system. It will get nice and cold in there... LOL.

 

Chris

[shao-lin nano]

I'll take that into consideration, thanks. The greater the surface area the better the heat exchange. The only problem with coil tubes is that the tubing may insulate the water too much and the water inside the tube will retain the tank temps. A resivoir with thin walls and high surface area might be better in the heat exchange...not so sure, I'll have to flip through my old physics textbooks to look up the heat transfer coefficient / conductivity to see which non-metal materials will work best.

[Prunfarm]

I'd never leave my room if I had a kegerator next to my reef. I mean, why would I have to?

[666]

to take a ####.

[shao-lin nano]

just do it into the tank and do your water changes more frequently.:x

[drparker]

It just might work if the mini fridge was cold enough and you coiled a lot of tubing in it. The new fridge my wife got coils the plastic water supply line inside, behind the bottom draws to cool it before it goes to the door. I think you would want to use low volume pump to move less water slower.

 

Drew

[CRAVIN CRITTERS]

Tons of people have tried this but most to no avail. Most people say it just doesnt get cold enough and the pump makes enough heat to cancel it out.

[aggiereefer]

what sort of tubing do you plan on using? Copper and Aluminum are out of the question. You might be able to use stainless but I dont know.

[BKtomodachi]

Not to mention that running the electicity for the fridge is pretty expensive.

[shao-lin nano]

Ya, gonna scrap this idea and go with a peltier such as the iceprobe or a diy chiller using the same concept. Acutally to run the mini fridge is only about $25 worth of electricity a year. I was concerned about it also and looked at the energy guide that comes with new ones and it's surprisingly effieient.

[FateX9]

i was thinking about doing this too but with one of those transportable chillers for cars and use a coiled pipe of some kind and fill the compartment with water or a cooling gel but this has been on the back burner until summer when i have a little more time

[B16A2NR]

the rubber tubing acts as an insulator, if you go titanium it will prevent rust and be the best conductor for heat exchange however its damn expensive. To get a big enough pump to push the water through enough tubing will cause a lot of heat by the powerhead alone. They basicly cancel eachother out. I have yet to see a truly effective minifridge chiller. I got my iceprobe and controller for $90, and its 20 times smaller than a mini fridge.

[shao-lin nano]

B16A2NR:

 

where did you get an iceprobe and controller for $90 and was it new or used?