DIY Chiller ideas?

[Jr'sReef]

You say your sump is near the garden. Why not plumb the return line to go underground about 4” for as much as you can before it gets back to the tank. Or add an additional pump in the sump that connects to a line, something like 1/4 or 1/2 “ water line like used in fridges. And coil that say maybe 75ft under ground and then let it drain back into the sump.

It won’t drop it say 10degrees but I’m sure it will definitely drop it 4 or 5

 

[stefanm]

Would have done an geothermal loop, but I live in a flat, can't really "steal" anymore of the garden, though I might do if no one is looking!

 

[Devaji]

any updates on this?
love Goa BTW :D

 

[stefanm]

any updates on this?
love Goa BTW :D

Yep, made a titanium drop in coil and attached it to the 1 ton window A.C. Right now it's working extremely well, as everything is close together the efficiency is very high, back pressure on the compressor is very low, actually lower than the A.C. running the standard evaporator, have it hooked up to a commercial controller right now which only does 1°c increments, Will hook it up to my arduino (just waiting on a part) then will have higher.accuracy.

Currently the probe in the sump is set to 26°c, the display stays at 26.5°c +/- 0.1°c, it kicks in around 17 times a day for between 3 and 5 minutes max. Ambient temperature between 34°c day and 28°c night and due to the high humidity I've not had to top off any rodi water, on the contrary the tank is pulling in atmospheric moisture and the volume of water has increased in my sump, salinity has dropped a tad also because of this.

 

[Devaji]

glad to hear this is working out for you I might have to do the same...

 

[techhnyne]

where are you guys getting the titanium coils?

 

[George Lopez]

I would like to know that ^ too

 

[Fishy McFish]

Check out the DIY chiller thread w/ a window AC!

 

[drevalenz]

I’m lucky that a fan worked to cool mine down.. haha. Interesting to see what you stick with

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Yep, made a titanium drop in coil and attached it to the 1 ton window A.C. Right now it's working extremely well, as everything is close together the efficiency is very high, back pressure on the compressor is very low, actually lower than the A.C. running the standard evaporator, have it hooked up to a commercial controller right now which only does 1°c increments, Will hook it up to my arduino (just waiting on a part) then will have higher.accuracy.

Currently the probe in the sump is set to 26°c, the display stays at 26.5°c +/- 0.1°c, it kicks in around 17 times a day for between 3 and 5 minutes max. Ambient temperature between 34°c day and 28°c night and due to the high humidity I've not had to top off any rodi water, on the contrary the tank is pulling in atmospheric moisture and the volume of water has increased in my sump, salinity has dropped a tad also because of this.

If you can insulate all cold pipes in contact with air. Helps a lot. If conditions right, any flare nuts in ice can loosen, and cause leaks. Nice setup