Advice for "aquarium" need (cooling water / technical setup / no fish)

MnFish1

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The copper coil is in the big tank only ;) What better way to get perfect mixing then to just mix the cold water with the warm water...
Then you're not understanding what people are saying:). The idea is that you have a closed loop between both tanks - with coils in both tanks. Of course the coil in the smaller tank will be 'smaller'.

I.e. - no water is 'mixing'. The cold water from the big tank is sent (via copper tube) to the small tank - where another copper coil cools the water in the small tank - then that same tube is emptied back into the big tank. You only have 1 pump. and one 'tube' - Of course the part of the tube exposed to air needs to be well insulated.
 
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niels123

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Then you're not understanding what people are saying:). The idea is that you have a closed loop between both tanks - with coils in both tanks. Of course the coil in the smaller tank will be 'smaller'.

I.e. - no water is 'mixing'. The cold water from the big tank is sent (via copper tube) to the small tank - where another copper coil cools the water in the small tank - then that same tube is emptied back into the big tank. You only have 1 pump. and one 'tube' - Of course the part of the tube exposed to air needs to be well insulated.
I don't think there is the need for 2 copper coils. You can place a pump outside a tank, put 2 hoses in the tank and connect them to 'in' and 'out' of the pump. This will be perfectly safe, there is no absolute need for a cooler. Without a cooler in the loop and only a single pump and 2 hoses nothing bad will happen. Then add a copper coil to this loop and place it in a cold water bath. The situation is still the same, except now your hose / coil runs through another bath with water. There is no actual mixing of the water between the two baths, just mixing of cold and warm water in the same bath.
 

MnFish1

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I don't think there is the need for 2 copper coils. You can place a pump outside a tank, put 2 hoses in the tank and connect them to 'in' and 'out' of the pump. This will be perfectly safe, there is no absolute need for a cooler. Without a cooler in the loop and only a single pump and 2 hoses nothing bad will happen. Then add a copper coil to this loop and place it in a cold water bath. The situation is still the same, except now your hose / coil runs through another bath with water. There is no actual mixing of the water between the two baths, just mixing of cold and warm water in the same bath.
Right - and what I'm trying to say - is that you may need more copper tubing in your bath than just running the tube through it - i.e. a coil of copper which is much smaller than the big tank - but bigger than just putting a copper tube through it. But - it will be interesting to test how well it will work. Keep us updated!!
 
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niels123

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Right - and what I'm trying to say - is that you may need more copper tubing in your bath than just running the tube through it - i.e. a coil of copper which is much smaller than the big tank - but bigger than just putting a copper tube through it. But - it will be interesting to test how well it will work. Keep us updated!!
I will!
The big disadvantage of more copper coil in the big tank is loss of flow. If you go from 60 L/h to 10 L/h you have less cooling in the small tank as well... That's why I decided to not take too much copper (5m x 15mm).
 

MnFish1

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IMH) your problem is the smaller tank ( the most important one)???
 
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niels123

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IMH) your problem is the smaller tank ( the most important one)???

I think I've solved it with a big coil in the big tank and an isolated pump that circulates the water of the small tank through the coil in the big tank. Let's first see how it works :)
 

MnFish1

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I think I've solved it with a big coil in the big tank and an isolated pump that circulates the water of the small tank through the coil in the big tank. Let's first see how it works :)
let us know
 

ZombieEngineer

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Then you're not understanding what people are saying:). The idea is that you have a closed loop between both tanks - with coils in both tanks. Of course the coil in the smaller tank will be 'smaller'.

I.e. - no water is 'mixing'. The cold water from the big tank is sent (via copper tube) to the small tank - where another copper coil cools the water in the small tank - then that same tube is emptied back into the big tank. You only have 1 pump. and one 'tube' - Of course the part of the tube exposed to air needs to be well insulated.
He doesn't need a coil in both tanks. He needs a pump in one and a coil in the other.
 

ZombieEngineer

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That's exactly what I am planning on. The other option is a coil in one tank and a pump outside the tank next to it.
The potential issue with a pump outside is you would need the entire inlet below the water level of the container which would require drilling with a bulkhead on that container. If you go external and don't do that, it will run dry on startup and burn up your pump.

But if you do put a bulkhead in and go external, it will take up a lot less space in the container.
 
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niels123

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The potential issue with a pump outside is you would need the entire inlet below the water level of the container which would require drilling with a bulkhead on that container. If you go external and don't do that, it will run dry on startup and burn up your pump.

But if you do put a bulkhead in and go external, it will take up a lot less space in the container.

Oh I have pumps that have tube connectors for both in- and outlet. They are designed to be placed in air with 2 hoses running into the water. You can place them under water though.
 

ZombieEngineer

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Oh I have pumps that have tube connectors for both in- and outlet. They are designed to be placed in air with 2 hoses running into the water. You can place them under water though.
You still have to create a siphon into the inlet if you run it external. Bulkhead is the easiest way, but you could also use a Tee fitting with a threaded cap to pour enough water into the pipe to "prime" the line if a bulkhead is not feasable for whatever reason.
 
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niels123

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You still have to create a siphon into the inlet if you run it external. Bulkhead is the easiest way, but you could also use a Tee fitting with a threaded cap to pour enough water into the pipe to "prime" the line if a bulkhead is not feasable for whatever reason.

There is definitely no room for a pump in the small water bath. Since you need to suck in water from the small bath with the pump being external you need a hose connection for it. The Eheim 2400 L/h pump I plan on using for it is already equipped with 2 hose connectors:

1657139931738.png
 
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niels123

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Small update: most stuff is standing in the lab at the moment. I'm waiting for some polycarbonate sheets since most equipment will be placed inside a custom-made enclosure connected to an air duct to avoid getting solvent vapors in the lab. When that is delivered I can put everything together and see how it works :)
 
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niels123

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Another update: we are
eheim2100.jpg
finalizing the setup and hope to start soon. There are 2 issues however. The first one is that I don't like the "christmas tree" of adapters coming from my Eheim 2100. The colorless transparent hose has an inner diameter of 12mm and needs to be connected to that pump. The problem is that it comes off far too easy, even with the hose clamp attached. There must be more efficient adapters? The hose diameter for this pump is 19 mm.
 
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niels123

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Second issue is the antivibration feet of the Eheim pumps. Shown is the bottom plate of the Eheim 2100 with one rubber foot. The seller told me that you must insert them into the grooves of the plastic plate using a rotating motion. However, the diameter of top round part of the feet that is supposed to send up "above" the grooves is far too wide. Therefore the feet don't seem to fit and I can't get them into the grooves. Does someone has experience with this system and any tips or suggestions?
eheim2100 feet1.jpg
eheim2100 feet2.jpg
 

Dan_P

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I hope my question is allowed here. Please be kind. :)

I work as a chemist in the lab and want to use an aquarium cooler to cool things down. Mainly because I think they are good enough for my purpose and they are a fraction of the cost of a lab cooler (that goes to -80C / -112F). To get some "heat buffer" I want to use a 64 liter tank and fill it with water that I cool to 4C / 39F.

The equipment that has arrived: Teco 1000H cooler / Eheim CompactON 600 / Eheim CompactON 2100 / Eheim Universal 2400 L/h + hoses. Nothing has been installed, everything is still boxed.

Situation: the 64 liter tank is on a workbench. Next to it is something called a rotary evaporator ("rotavap"). It has a cooling spiral and I want to pump cold water through it. Then close to the workbench (with walking space in between) is a fume hood where I want to have a smaller tank (like 2-3 liters) that needs to be cooled as well. The tubing runs across the ceiling, hence the large 2400 L/h pump that can pump against some height.

The problem is that I'm a bit uncertain how to exactly set everything up and I'd like some advice here.

My first idea was to place the 2400 L/h pump in the large tank and have the hoses connected to this pump and running to the smaller tank. However, the problem is that I now think it looks like that placing the 2400 L/h pump in the big tank won't help much because it doesn't mix the water from the small tank with the cool water from the big tank.

So I'm trying to figure out what the best setup/solution is to mix the water between the two tanks. There are some solutions I am thinking of:
1) Make a T-joint close to the 2400 L/h pump with the T's in the big tank, so the water gets mixed. However, I am worried it can create a flow imbalance and can overflow the small tank.
2) Keep the 2400 L/h pump in a "closed loop" with this pump connected to a copper spiral (for effective heat transfer) placed in the big tank and the hoses ending in the small tank.
3) Use 2 T-joints on the cooler so you connect 2 pumps connected a single cooler. Each pump then circulates the water of its own tank then. But since the pumps are sort of connected together I am worried about a water imbalance and potential overflow of the small tank. Is this a possible risk? The setup is also running unattended and I dont want to come back the next morning to find all the water of my tank on the floor of the lab!

Suggestions / advice welcome!
This system may not work because of large heat gain from the large uninsulated system and submersed heat generating pumps. The chiller is likely too small. To maintain cooling there has to be a temperature difference between the cooling medium and the liquid you want cooled. If it is not 10 to 20 degrees, you might find it impossible to chill the system in a timely manner. This all depends on your desired temperature. 50 F, maybe. Near freezing, next to impossible.
 
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niels123

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This system may not work because of large heat gain from the large uninsulated system and submersed heat generating pumps. The chiller is likely too small. To maintain cooling there has to be a temperature difference between the cooling medium and the liquid you want cooled. If it is not 10 to 20 degrees, you might find it impossible to chill the system in a timely manner. This all depends on your desired temperature. 50 F, maybe. Near freezing, next to impossible.

Hopefully we will soon find out. I think it should be possible, The cooler is already quite big and the bath I need to cool has a tiny volume (1 - 2 L) compared to my main tank (it will contain about 50 L of water).

What I am curious about: do most aquarium users that use these kind of coolers have a valves fitted inside the tubing so you can disconnect the cooler without flooding the floor?
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 44 46.8%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 50 53.2%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 21 22.3%
  • None.

    Votes: 25 26.6%
  • Other.

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