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Keeping the tanks cool


Dave ESPI

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If heat gets to be a problem.. and it does in the summer ( without central air ) try this method. It has worked well for my reefs...

Take a 2 or 3 litre bottle. Fill it with dechlorinated tap water. put it in your freezer ( cap off)

wait  some hours.

remove frozen bottle and recap.

float in your tank. it will drop the tank slowly by a few degrees an hour depending on size and temp.

make a few of them ( youll need spares )  :)

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sounds like a good idea, but will that work for a nano with no sump?  if i displaced 2 liters of water i'd have an overflow situation :o

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put a 6 pack of 20 oz plastic bottles in the freezer..... they work just as well, just need more of them..LOL

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Guest AbSoluTc

I don't know how handy most of you are but, while I was shopping at CVS a few days ago I picked up a "Mini-Fridge" that used thermo electric technology to keep drinks cold.  Noticed how I said COLD and not COOL.  This MF (mini fridge from now on) chills the hell out of drinks.  Now I looked inside of it and noticed the simplest of materials used.  

 

1 - heatsink - 1x2

2 - 4" Computer Fan

3 - another component I cant see without taking it apart.

 

Other than that - very simple.  Now all one would have to do is basicall rip this thing apart and make a new case for it.  Attach the metal part to the back of the nano and woila!  Instant chiller.

 

Since heat and cold work via transfering one to another form - IE - metal to glass - glass to water - this idea would work perfectly IMO.  

 

Best of all, it only cost 40 bux.  If you want pics - let me know!

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I am curious how much of a temp reduction did you see and what size tank are you using?

That is pretty much what an ice probe is but they are around $100.

I have always had heat transfer problems with glass being the insulater that it is how did you overcome this?

TIA,

Toy

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Guest AbSoluTc

To make it clear - I have NOT used this "idea" - setup yet.  Im in the working stage now.

 

I did not know what an Iceprobe was, but I went to ebay and checked it out.  From what I saw and read, the Iceprobe is made out of the same IDENTICAL components that the MF is made out of.  Just a different concept of design.  

 

For $40 bux, and the thing has the same components, hell I would be more than willing to be it works the same way!

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Does/will the TEC actually make direct contact with the glass, or does/will it generate cold air that is then blown over the glass with the fan?

 

Given the extremely cold surface tenperatures of TECs, aquarium glass cprobably could not handle the stress of the temperature differential.  With all the weight of the water behind it, that could invent some real problems.

 

If the TEC does not make direct contact the glass, then a lot efficiency will be lost to the cooling of air.

 

I suspect any sort of TEC device would not be strong enough to cool even the smallest of nano aquariums, even if it was direct-contact.  This thing was designed to cool small, insulated areas, with only a small amount of liquid.

 

Not to say it won't work, as I don't actually know the materials and the plan you're working with.  But in my mind, there are some big obstacles.

 

I'm curious, how do you intend to control it?  Automated, or just leaving it on during warmer days, letting the thermostat in the heater do the temperature regulation?

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Guest AbSoluTc

Well, the more I think about it, the more you are right.  Attaching it to the glass would create alot of byproduct. WASTE!  However I have come up with something that will use most all of the energy produced, efficiently.

 

Instead of attaching it to the glass, I would find a LIQUID SAFE water block.  The block would sit on the cold side of the plate and there would be a little pump that would pump the water through the tubing.  In escense cooling the water.  There would be a probe that would allow the cooler to turn on and off according to water the temprature is set at.

 

This seems to fix any "issues" there may have been.  Basically your creating a radiator.  However it is a radiator that actually is COLD.  

 

Just a Thought!

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i have made something almost identical to the ice probe.  the thermoelectric cooling (tec) gets really cold when a big enough heat sink and fan are attached to the hot side.  they establish a heat differential,  the cooler you keep the hot side the cooler the cold side gets.  i dont think attaching it to the glass would transfer enough of the heat. i made a probe that goes into the water and that does create a great deal of cooling (it keeps my 28 gallon from overheating with my 175w halide)  without the chiller the temp keeps creeping up.  i made mine for around 50 bucks including the dc power supply(12v 6amp) i got my mini fridge from walmart for around 30 bucks, it came with the tec, the heat sink and a fan.  then i bought the power supply online for 20 bucks.  i left my homemade chiller out of the tank over night to see what would happen and the probe had about a quarter inch of ice built up on it from frozen condensation.  it gets cold.

 

(Edited by mxpro32 at 5:30 am on May 30, 2002)

 

 

(Edited by mxpro32 at 5:33 am on May 30, 2002)

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Listen to this...My tank stays at around 80 some times a litltle more with a 12vDC fan blowing through my hood to cool my PC lights...Well I never could get the temp down to about 75-76 were I want it until today!!! I took a 120volt fan just like the one from computers only a little bit bigger maybe 4"x 4" and this sucker really blows

and I made it blow under the hood accross the waters surface...I came back 20 minutes later and the temp was already at 76! This thing realllllly worked great for me and best of all it was free! Just take an old PC fan or buy one from radio shack and let it blow on the waters surface...cool your tank for $5.00 But just keep in mind the water will evaporate faster this way... The 120v fan cooled my 29G tank  4-5 Deggrees! No joke...Also, The minifridge Idea is great, I am going to make one for my octopus tank since they prefer water  in the 60's

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i am using a fan blowing across the surface in my 2 gallon and it keeps it cold too.  my heater is on almost all the time just to compensate.  but it evaporates about an inch a day.  its a real hassle.  im gonna try to just flow the air over the bulbs and not the water.  i will post pics of the chiller when i get time.

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MXpro,

When you said you made a submergable probe could you explain what material and how you mounted it or better yet Help Cam-bar and my self by posting a pic or two? Or a fully rendered CAD drawing...J/K

I'm thinking if its alot of work I'll just pay the $100 for the "Ice Probe". If its not I gotta try it for $40!

On another note, I have built two mini chillers out of dorm room fridges, the heat generated by the units completely erased the results in the water by raising the room twemp at least 2 degrees F, I only saw a 2 degree difference in water temp on a 45 and on my 35 only 3 degrees running 24/7.

TIA,

Toy

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   sorry i havent posted the pics yet i am in the process of moving and have been really busy. im not even sure where my digital camera is.  but when i find it i will post the pics.  i machined a probe out of pure aluminum bar stock.  then i tapped the block of aluminum that came with the mini fridge and spread some heat transfer grease between the probe and the block and bolted it on.  as far as heat goes it puts out very little heat.  tec's are very efficient.  mostly they just tansfer the heat from one side to the other.

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so if someone dosen't have the machine-ing? tools they cant do it huh?

better just stick to the Ice Probe I guess :(

Toy

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