DIY chiller

pirate · #1 05-14-2010, 06:18 AM

Well with all the warm weather we have been having, I've noticed that the temp on my biocube was getting into the 82 range. Too hot for the coral. So I went looking for a chiller. Too much money right now for me. So went looking on the net, nope I dont want a bar fridge in my livin room.
Then people started talking about peltier. Sounds do-able, so went looking for one! a-ha found one at canidian tire, its used to heat and cool drinks and runs off of 12v ad they give you a 110AC adaptor. Then how to cool water now, I had an old HOB filter lying around could I use it?

So I took apart me new purches and do just a bit of wiring and now I have a peltier with a heatsink and a way to turn it on. Silconed it together and zip tyed it to the hob filter on the outside.

Waiting for it to dry and see how it works. hopefully tomorow.
I'll let you know how it works.

Mech Eng · #2 05-14-2010, 06:23 AM

Pics please, and let us know how well it works.

Can't wait to hear

pirate · #3 05-14-2010, 02:54 PM

I must be doin something wrong because I can't upload pics

.

pirate · #4 05-14-2010, 03:17 PM

Attachment 6244
hope this works. This is the start of my DIY chiller a drink heater and cooler.
Attachment 6245
Here it is taken apart.
Attachment 6246
Here is the heart of the project. The little square in the center is the peltier. They heat and cool so make sure that you use the correct side.Attachment 6247
Getto attached to the HOB fliter.
Attachment 6248
A shot of it on my tank.

The only problem that I ran into was when you cut the heater wires you will have to solder a jumper wire there, other wise the thing does not work. Its something interal to the circuits. If it works good then I will order the peltier fom ebay(cheaper) and try it on a canister filter with some kind of temp control. Right now it turns on and off with my HQI.

pirate · #5 05-14-2010, 09:45 PM

Well I had it up and running today, and the temp is about 80.5F with a floating thermometer. So it drop it 1.5 F or so. The water in the HOB filter is closer to 80. This is with a closed lid lifted off the tank by about 1/2 inch and the back porotion opened. (the lid is a nanocube 150HQI lid) on my 28g biocube.
It does work for what I need its still a bit to hot for me but hopefully it will stay like this now for the summer, but I'm gonna have to slow down the Hob pump to make it chill a bit better, or find a bigger peltier ( this one is 1.5" square)

So for about 30 buxs I droped, I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. So now what is the best way to slow down a HOB pump?

Well maybe it off to EBAY for a bigger peltier as well.

hillegom · #6 05-14-2010, 10:12 PM

I don't think slowing the water down will make the unit more efficient. It would be better if you could attach the peltier device to the glass. Because heat will travel through glass faster than plastic.
Because this device is on the outside, why not try a thin layer of that thermal paste they use on the cpu of a computer? That would make the heat transfer more efficient, Just don't get any into the water.

pirate · #7 05-15-2010, 05:28 PM

I was affraid to put it on the glass. I just see big cracks startng in my mind. It has a little bit of that grease stuff on it but not much maybe I'll try more. I was thinking that if the water was moving slower then it would be in contact wih the cold plastic for longer witch would turn into colder water.

Maybe for my winter project I'll make a canister type on, so I guess I'm gonna have to start looking for all the parts now. Any other ideas out there?

DiverDude · #8 05-15-2010, 07:46 PM

Look for a water cooler -the kind that takes 5 gal jugs. What you have right now simply does not have the thermal capacity to deal with the volume of water you have to cool.

You could make a down and dirty chiller by running a few loops of tubing through the water-holding portion of the water cooler. However, you need to be very careful because you need to ensure that the chiller doesn't over cool the tank either. Now you're into measuring temperature and feedback loops.

Frankly, I'd suggest you implement some simple short-term fixes and shop for a used chiller. Point a powerhead at the surface to get is disturbed. Raise your lights if possible and/or look at shortening your photoperiod a bit.