Mixing Station in Freezing temps

[wpapaslow]

Greetings,

I live in Bozeman, Montana where temps can get to -40F in the winter. I just recently had to move to a place that doesn't have a heated garage. Space in the new house is limited, so the mixing station wont feasibly fit in any heated part of the house. The garage will likely stay warmer than outside ambient, but I fear during cold snaps it will definitely see below freezing temps. I will be using the mixing station for ATO and AWC.

"The cold season lasts for 3.5 months, from November 17 to March 1, with an average daily high temperature below 40°F. The coldest month of the year in Bozeman is December, with an average low of 14°F and high of 31°F."

Are there any other reefers dealing with a similar setup, location and climate?
Do you heat your RODI/Salt tanks when below a certain temp to prevent freezing?

There is a crawl space that *should* stay above freezing... but I really don't want the mixing station to be so inaccessible.

Thanks,

 

[blaxsun]

I think you're going need to have some sort of heating system - either in the garage or the containers.

 

[FishTruck]

Just guessing... but...

I think a simple powerhead will be enough to keep the water from freezing. You might need to wrap you containers with a space blanket and put your containers on pink foam (not on the slab). Whatever wattage your powerhead uses is about the same heat transferred as a heater of the same wattage. Once set up, the question is just how many watts of power are you willing to put in to make this work.

 

[wpapaslow]

Just guessing... but...

I think a simple powerhead will be enough to keep the water from freezing. You might need to wrap you containers with a space blanket and put your containers on pink foam (not on the slab). Whatever wattage your powerhead uses is about the same heat transferred as a heater of the same wattage. Once set up, the question is just how many watts of power are you willing to put in to make this work.

For transferring, mixing, and the occasional stirring I have an externally mounted pump. Though I could easily add a power head. I suspect a power head in the salt tank wont be needed, and just a heater instead. I can increase the automatic stirring schedule which will keep the water moving. The RODI side would likely need a power head and/or heater.

Good idea on the insulation! That would certainly waste/require less energy to keep from freezing.

 

[c4haskett]

Get you a cheap grow tent off amazon and outfit it with some insulation. Put in a heater or two with an inkbird controller.

 

[FishTruck]

I’d skip the external pump. Have the transfer pumps submerged and the transfer line (s) should stay dry where exposed (when not pumping). I would start with four maxi Jets and two brut cans. The challenge will be keeping the transfer lines from freezing… and ice on the floor from the drips.

The ro system will be indoors? The product line to storage is another challenge

 

[exnisstech]

I would think the water in the lines for the ato and awc would be more problematic to keep thawed than the containers

 

[wpapaslow]

Get you a cheap grow tent off amazon and outfit it with some insulation. Put in a heater or two with an inkbird controller.

I do currently have a spare inkbird controller and had planned on using it somehow in this setup. The grow tent is a good idea, way cheaper than using lumber to build an enclosure and probably a bit less clumsy than trying to insulate the awkward shape of a brute. Additional insulation and access to the lids would be easy if sized appropriately. Good ideas all around here. I wonder about venting it though so the air surround the cans doesn't get too stagnant...

I probably should have specified but the system is already built and running aside from being plumbed for ATO/AWC. It is the standard dual Brutes on a stand with a transfer pump set between the two. Pic attached from when I built it. Its not currently in its forever home in the garage yet so no pics of it there.

 

[wpapaslow]

I’d skip the external pump. Have the transfer pumps submerged and the transfer line (s) should stay dry where exposed (when not pumping). I would start with four maxi Jets and two brut cans. The challenge will be keeping the transfer lines from freezing… and ice on the floor from the drips.

The ro system will be indoors? The product line to storage is another challenge

This is a preexisting system, see reply above. Id rather not reengineer it if possible.

The transfer lines could easily be insulated, and wouldnt travel exposed very far. Ideally the Brutes will be on the wall headed into the house and plumbed from there into the crawlspace. For a smaller tank (WB 70.3) I do have a fair amount of evaporation due to the open top. Currently the ATO (Hydros) runs every 12-15 minutes. I don't recall it changing too much in the colder months just because of how dry it gets here in the winters. Idk if flow every 15 minutes would keep lines from freezing or not. AWC could be set to a similar schedule if it works for ATO.

I do like the idea of having an enclosure around it.
RO system is indoors, laundry room. I could, rather than pulling from the RODI container, pull straight from the filter system in the laundry room for ATO. Its relatively close to the tank, but would still have to be plumbed through the crawlspace. I just don't trust that as a source should a solenoid fail open. But redundancy would be easy enough to implement.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

Check your local farm supply store they make heaters that farmers put in their animal water containers. Cheap and easy. For our lagoon I needed lots of clean water. We Have 500 gallons indoors ro/ di for ato and a 3000 gallon ro/ di reserve for waterchanges/ emergencies. It sits outside in illinois winters. So far it’s been doing fine the top freezes but the bottom stays liquid enough for my uses

 

[wpapaslow]

I would think the water in the lines for the ato and awc would be more problematic to keep thawed than the containers

That is definitely an issue that will need to be addressed. Either insulate/heat or make sure they are running often enough to not freeze. Im planning to get the tanks as close as possible to where they will enter the house.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

We used heated rv hoses they have electric

basically Look on the diy rv winterizing site you will get lots of cheap ideas for how to build what you need inexpensively

 

[wpapaslow]

We used heated rv hoses they have electric

basically Look on the diy rv winterizing site you will get lots of cheap ideas for how to build what you need inexpensively

That's a really good idea.

I wonder though if I could just pass the two ATO/AWC 1/4" lines through the hose without actually filling the hose. I suspect the lack of water in the heated hose may result in failure of the hose though. That and passing 1/2" of hose through 5/8" hose might be a difficult process.

I'm thinking that just a regular old heat cable with an insulator around it and the AWC/ATO hoses could work very well. Just hook it and the tank heaters up to a thermostat set to kick on when garage temps get below freezing.

Might still leave my transfer pump a little too exposed to the elements. But it could stay warm enough if in an insulated enclosure was used with the heated tanks.