DIY Peltier "ICA" Chiller

[Perpetual98]

Ok, about an hour later, the water has dropped 1 degree. Probably not bad for a 40mm peltier. I'm not sure how big the ICA peltier is.

 

Anyway, i sketched another idea for a prototype. I'll probably wait and see if my company decides to get a laser before I try to cut all the small pieces with my table saw.

[nanocustoms.com]

Lol. That looks kinda sorta familiar.. Just make sure they dont sue you.

 

I heard that chris guy from nanocustoms can be a real ****Tard.. Just kidding. I'm not.

 

 

The ICA has a 40x40mm TEC rated at 78w. We run about 100 BTU (8.4v) and 125 BTU (12v). We run a direct contact waterblock and have gotten some good results with the newer design.

 

One question tho, I know you wanted to go with this as a DIY, but you probably could have saved some time and effort with an ICA from us. We buy everything at a wholesale level from local vendors, so we are able to offer it at a pretty fair price.

 

How much did your project cost you? Time, money, frustration, etc.. I love DIY, dont get me wrong, but sometimes comparative advantage works wonders.

 

I was going to send schematics for the passive controller, but you mentioned that it "could have been sanskrit", so I didnt email you.

 

Anyways. It looks good. Based on my calcs, you got about 83 BTU from your prototype. I think if you dropped the voltage or decreased the hot side temps, you could get a 100BTU from it.

 

Chris

Edited July 26, 2006 by nanocustoms.com

[Perpetual98]

Hey Chris. I didn't realize that your new ones looked like that. LOL

 

I was basing my designs off of water cooling blocks that people use on their computer CPUs. They all use copper or aluminum though, which as we know wouldn't work terribly well.

 

Right now I'm probably at about $25 spent and who knows how much time. I might not even be quite that high, in fact, I'm probably below $20. I had everything laying around.

 

In the last two hours, the 10G tank has gone from 80.1 to 78.6 with no change in ambient temp. I'm going to play with different power supplies over the next couple days I think.

 

Did you guys have that waterblock custom made for you, or is that an "off the shelf" item?

 

Oh yeah, and send those schematics if you want. If I don't understand them, it's no biggie.

 

Eric

[nanocustoms.com]

The waterblocks were made for us by Swiftech, and are made of Acetal Delrin (Thermoplastic).

 

They liked the design so much that they used it for some of their watercooling systems. Lol.

 

HTH

 

Chris

[Maeda]

how many btus do you get out of the 228w peltier? o.O

I think I need around 1000......

[Perpetual98]

7/27 experiment:

 

Office considerably cooler this morning. A/C ran over night. I expect it to heat up, especially this afternoon when the sun blasts in.

 

Ambient temperature at 8:00AM: 72.7

10G tank temp 73.2.

Sola/Hevi-Duty 12V 2.5A power supply.

Microjet 404 throttled all the way back.

 

If anyone gives a crap, I'll update with temperatures later.

 

Eric

Edited July 27, 2006 by Perpetual98

[Perpetual98]

Ok. 4 hours later:

 

Ambient temperature at 12:00PM: 77.7

10G tank temp 72.7.

 

While the tank is only .5 degrees cooler, the temp in the room has gone up 5 degrees.

 

I can't find the plug for my other power supply, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow I guess to test that one. It's slightly higher Amperage, but lower voltage.

[Xytrix01]

Lol. That looks kinda sorta familiar.. Just make sure they dont sue you.

 

I heard that chris guy from nanocustoms can be a real ****Tard.. Just kidding. I'm not.

 

 

The ICA has a 40x40mm TEC rated at 78w. We run about 100 BTU (8.4v) and 125 BTU (12v). We run a direct contact waterblock and have gotten some good results with the newer design.

 

One question tho, I know you wanted to go with this as a DIY, but you probably could have saved some time and effort with an ICA from us. We buy everything at a wholesale level from local vendors, so we are able to offer it at a pretty fair price.

 

How much did your project cost you? Time, money, frustration, etc.. I love DIY, dont get me wrong, but sometimes comparative advantage works wonders.

 

I was going to send schematics for the passive controller, but you mentioned that it "could have been sanskrit", so I didnt email you.

 

Anyways. It looks good. Based on my calcs, you got about 83 BTU from your prototype. I think if you dropped the voltage or decreased the hot side temps, you could get a 100BTU from it.

 

Chris

 

Hey chris, just curious, what kind of amps are you running through there? I'm working on a DIY unit right now, and have yet to figure out the correct volt/amp ratio. Also could I get a copy of the controller schematics too? Being an EE major, I think I might be able to figure them out.

Edited July 28, 2006 by Xytrix01

[smithpl]

I would like to ask you about your projects.

 

Now I try to make a chiller using peltier module.

But I have a problem with decide how connect salt water with peltier module :-)

 

I see that you use acrylic but, it's not good material to use for temperature changer...

 

So, I think it would be better use 6mm pipe spiral stainless steel....

and on this one put 2 x 100W peltier module...

 

 

What do you think about it ?

 

Will be a problem during contact stainless steel with salt water?

Edited June 9, 2009 by smithpl

[shookbrad]

I would like to ask you about your projects.

 

Now I try to make a chiller using peltier module.

But I have a problem with decide how connect salt water with peltier module :-)

 

I see that you use acrylic but, it's not good material to use for temperature changer...

 

So, I think it would be better use 6mm pipe spiral stainless steel....

and on this one put 2 x 100W peltier module...

 

 

What do you think about it ?

 

Will be a problem during contact stainless steel with salt water?

 

No, Stainless is ok in saltwater. However you have to be careful about the stainless you buy. a lot of the stock coming from China lately has not been the correct metal mix and it rusts. but a little rust (a very little) will not hurt your tank. Rust is just another form of Iron and some Iron is water is not bad.

One of the screws in my Mag 12 pump is showing signs of rust. manufacture must have had a bad batch mixed in with a good batch of stainless screws.

[evilc66]

Stainless and saltwater don't mix very well, regardless of the alloy. There are some that will not rust in salt (316 is one), but they are typically very expensive in comparison to alloys like 18-8 or 304. Another option that will not rust at all is titanium, but again, it's pretty pricey.

Edited June 10, 2009 by evilc66

[shookbrad]

One option is to buy a old chiller that does not work for cheap and reuse the titanium heat exchanger from it.

[CrazeUK]

Bringing an old thread back to life...

 

I have a 23l (6uk Gal) tank that i want to chill.

 

I am considering uisng a 60 Watt Peltier.

 

Did this project work?

[dhipz]

any update of this diy build?

i just build my own waterblock,and adding it with 2 TEC,but it seems that the peltier only draw 2.9amps each,even the rating was 6amp?

sory for my bad english,..

[tony french]

Making Acrylic Boxes.

 

Dear Fellow Aquarists.  Best boxes are made of perspex which is dissolved by either chloroform or metylene chloride,  which fuses the two pieces making one piece and a nice eg peltier or filter box.  

 

You don't need metal contact with water, glass is a good conductor.

 

Tony