Diy chiller help!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Duane Fagan]

so here's what's running through my head. I've had that cooler in my truck and even on days that hit 100° it's kept it's temperature on average 40° to 50° less than the ambient temperature. So here's where I'm stuck or kinda stuck. Is this a good idea or a waste of money? My thinking is if I drilled 2 holes stuff it full of regular garden hose let water flow through it constantly but hook it up to this temperature controller in the picture which is also hooked up to my heater once the water gets too hot it will kick on and cool the hose inside I should also add I remember it keep its temperature (inside cooler) for a few hours once turned off so every time it turns on it won't start at room temperature. Here's my questions 1 will this work on a 380 gallon (including sump volume) acrylic aquarium I'll only need it for about 5 to 7 hours 4 or 5 days a week. 2 should I use garden hose or some other kind of tubing? Thank you in advance

 

[TheEngineer]

The simplest and shortest answer, no it won't work. That's not enough for even a 10g tank. It can't remove heat fast enough. It is designed to keep a well sealed, small volume space cold. It won't work with water flowing through like you describe. It is the equivalent of leaving the door open.

I did a write up on the specifics of this some time ago. I'll try to find it.

 

[TheEngineer]

It was on another forum :p

Copy, paste;

The problem is that those mini fridges just don't move enough heat. You'll be lucky to get 100 BTU/hr out of it. Remember, they are designed to cool a fixed volume and expect the door to be closed most of the time. In essence, by pumping water through it, you are leaving the door open.

If we assume all of your tank components add 300 watts of heat to your tank, that's 1,023 BTU/hr you need to pull out. That's 10x what a mini fridge can do. Even if your equipment adds just 50 watts of heat, that's 170 BTU/hr almost double what the fridge can handle.

Unfortunately, that approach simply isn't feasible for a tank much bigger than around 25 gallons. If you compare the amount of heat the mini fridge can pull out (100 BTU/hr) to a very small room air conditioner (5,000 BTU/hr) you'd be better served adding a small air conditioner for that room and keeping it cooler.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Agree with @icecool2 ......it's not going to work. Heat transfer form air through plastic/rubber tubing is not very efficient. You'd have to have hundreds of feet of hose in a very large freezer for this to begin to work.

Don't know how bad your heat problem is, but start with putting fans over the DT or sump to cool things down.

 

[Duane Fagan]

Thank you very much you just saved me alot of money and frustration I'll just buy the stupid smart house temperature controller thingamajiggi lol

 

[Duane Fagan]

I'm in California my wife says when she comes home it's 90 in the house don't have my setup yet just planning ahead basically solving problems and such before they happen Oh acrylic is good on holding heat what about keeping cold? Lower temperature