titanium tubing

[StirCrazy]

well I found some 0.5"OD titanium tubing on e-bay. Befor I place my order I was wondering if anyone else would be interested in some. the cost should be between 25 and 30 bucks + shipping ect. per 4 foot length.

Let me know with in the next 36 hours.

Steve

[Buccaneer]

What are you going to use it for ?

Cheers

[StirCrazy]

going to try make a chiller for my tank.

Steve

[Jack]

Steve,

Thanks for dropping off that template BTW I owe you one. So are you gonna run cold water through your sump or are you actually gonna make a chiller?

[StirCrazy]

Steve,
So are you gonna run cold water through your sump or are you actually gonna make a chiller?

I am going to try cold water first and see how much water that would actualy take. it might be more cost efective to make a chiller.

Steve

[Canadian Man]

Hey Steve,
How are you planning on piping up to the ti tubing?
Are you going to attempt to weld it :eek: If so I don't believe you will have any luck.

[StirCrazy]

no not wield, but I have to look into it a bit more.. there are compression fittings that are pricy but aproved for refrigeration. Also some one told me I would still be able to sweat the copper to titanium with a silver solder, but I have to look into this more.

they do it in the comercial coolers so what we need is some on who has one to tell me how they did it LOL

Steve

[Jack]

Sounds like a brave experiment. The cold water might be enough in our climate but with summer fading I guess you have awhile to figure something out before the next long heat wave. Aren't you going for a bigger tank in your new house? You might need a lot of that tubing.

It would be cool if it worked.

[ldzielak]

Steve,

Where was this months ago!!!! What are you going to bend it with and will it bend? I have worked with 0.5" SS but not Ti. This will take some power to bend.

Put me down for a section if it is possible to bend the stuff.

I'll look into getting some fittings for this project.

Lee

[UnderWorldAquatics]

You could easily bend the tubing with a small hand held coil mandrel bender used in the heating and air conditioning industry for bending copper pipe and avoiding kinks. And it can be brazed to copper pipe fairly easily. I would try to braze it, over trying to solder it with a propane torch, but that may work fine too?

[Wilty]

Should be able to use a pipe bender, We use a lot of Stainless steel tubing on Separator package in the oil patch. You can buy hand held pipe benders at Canadian Tire (I've seen them). Depends on the Radius you need, there is a limit to what you can bend a pipe.

[StirCrazy]

I have a actual mandrel bender that goes in a vice. everything I have read states it is simular to SS but can not be bent to as tight of a radius cold. if you can heat it you can do anything with it. I can also free bend it around a pipe as ling as I pack it with sand first to keep it from colapsing.

as for brazing, Silver solder is a brazing, actualy one of the strongest brazes there is. It is done using a oxy accetalene set up as a normal propain torch isn't hot enuf.

I am going to order 4 tubes tonight (unless more people want some) so I will have one or two to sell.

Steve

[UnderWorldAquatics]

sorry Steve, I thought for some reason that you meant using a propane torch.... a real torch is much better...

[Buccaneer]

Here is a DIY chiller design that looks interesting ...

http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aloha.net%2F%7Eh qf%2Findexdonschiller.htm

Cheers

[StirCrazy]

Here is a DIY chiller design that looks interesting ...

http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aloha.net%2F%7Eh qf%2Findexdonschiller.htm

Cheers

Not a good way of doing it. a fridge has a low duity cycle and a tank will make it work to hard and it will burn out the motor sooner.

Steve

[Buccaneer]

It's not a motor but a compressor :rolleyes: ... but anyway what data do you have to back up your assertion that it wont work efficiently ?

Cheers

[StirCrazy]

actualy if you want to get that indepth it is a hermeticaly sealed motor/commpressor combanation (you need a motor to turn the compressor :rolleyes: )

anyways dorm fridges are cheep inexpensive units, and the main thing that changes the cost of a equivalent BTU unit is the duity cycle. a 150.00 dorm fridge will have a low duity cycle unit.. I have not worked on one yet that hasn't.

having said that if you have a 20 gal tank with NO lights you might never burn it out but that same tank with MH will probably burn it out in a couple years, a bigger tank with MH will probably burn it out faster.. it is all relitive.

this is why the air conditioner units are better, as

Stevenormaly a good brand name air conditioner will have a high duity cycle unit in it.

Steve

[Buccaneer]

Have you actually built one of these dorm fridge units to say it will be ineffective or is it merely a educated guess ? ... also what do you think then would burn out faster ... the motor or the compressor ?

Cheers

[StirCrazy]

Have you actually built one of these dorm fridge units to say it will be ineffective or is it merely a educated guess ? ... also what do you think then would burn out faster ... the motor or the compressor ?

Cheers

I have talked to a few people that have built them, they seam to be able to pull a small tank down a couple degrees, I think DJ88 had one and it pulled his 45 gal down 2 degrees.

It would be the motor that would burn out but it doesent matter as because they are a sealed unit if one goes the whole thing goes in the garbage. for the same price you can get a AC unit and chill the room the tank is in. I am going to rip appart a AC and hook a tube type chiller into it, I have all the equipment at work to evacuate it and recharge it so it is cost effective for me, other wise you have to hire a refrigeration dude to set you up, for a couple bills

Steve

[Buccaneer]

for the same price you can get a AC unit and chill the room the tank is in.

Got central air this year so not a problem for me but looked like a fairly easy project for someone that is having a hard time keeping their tank cool ... if you figure that a cheap a/c unit would do the same job then do you have a how-to on that setup ?

Cheers