I have a small fridge that I dont use - sort of like one you would see in a hotel room and want to know if I used a SLOW pump with a lot of tubing if I could use it as a chiller. I only need about 5 degrees cooling and it has a small freezer in the top so while it will work to keep it cold in there does anyone thing this is feasable?

I Heard Of Lots Of People Doing This And Im Gonna Try It Myself. They Have Diy Plan On The Internet Just Google Them

Thats an awesome idea! I like it a lot! haha- very innovative!!

I had the same idea a while ago but everyone shot it down saying it wouldnt work but let me know how it turns out!

when i was doing research on a DIY chiller, your idea was shot down, i forget the reason but it made sense.

when i was doing research on a DIY chiller, your idea was shot down, i forget the reason but it made sense.


Reason: too hard to keep the fish from drinking all your beer.

[sorry, but someone was going to say it sooner or later]

hahahaha yes i can see how that would be a problem- crazy fish...

I too saw some why-nots but also some success stories. Due to it's simplicity, I think I am going to do the project and see what the results are and what I learn by trying. I will report results either way. My reasoning is that it has a small freezer compartment at the top and I am going to add the gel packs to let them sit in there.If it can keep things frozen, I am betting it can get me my 3-4 degrees. I will adjust the flow, consider a timer and keep 2 heaters in the loop as a just in case until I can set up a temp control.

the main reason ive seen for this idea not working was there is no way to regulate it, possibly lots of fiddling would work out the kinks, but at what expense? if there was some way you run a thermostat, and have it switch the feed pump on and off, it should be fine, but other than that, you could drop the temp of a tank very quick with that, and it could cause some problems.

I Dont See A Problem As Long As You Have Enough Heaters To Balance Every Thing.

I Dont See A Problem As Long As You Have Enough Heaters To Balance Every Thing.

it really depends on how efficient this set up would be, try putting a heater in your fridge, run it wide open and tell me it keeps the inside nice and warm, if the fridge cools water enough, heaters might not be enough, you have to be able to shut it down too.

It isn't the prettiest thing at the moment but I have seen a .5 degree drop over last 1.5 hrs. There is a thermostat in the fridge so I have it in the middle at the moment and will watch it over time to see where it levels out. I will dial it in to just cool to the threshold of the heaters coming on. I have one set up at 78 deg. and a backup set for .77 deg. I coiled up 100' of clear plastic hard tubing (3/8") and it really is coming out a lot cooler. I will monitor it tonight and see how it does but so far am very impressed at how easy it was. I have close to 200 gal in refuges so it will take some time but probably good to not have fast changes.

P.S. Here is the link for the directions that I used in case anyone wants to experiment.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/dyiprojects/l/bldiydonchiller.htm

Could do the same thing to cool a CPU.....hmmmmmmmmmmm

very cool steve, hope it works well for ya, another thing you might not have thought of, if you need to adjust it more than the thermostat in the fridge will let you, you can add/remove more line from the fridge itself, less hang time inside should keep the water from cooling as much.

Great idea!!!! My reef tank needs a chiller bad. I'm going to try with a freezer.

i saw it at reefbuilders and it worked but he needed 10degrees off and he only get 5.

Couldnt you hook the pump up to a temp controller that would cut it off once you got to the temp you wanted? Say a Reef Keeper II and then you wouldnt have a problem with it cooling to much just if you had enough pull down.

Also, you can improve efficiency by placing a large bowl of water in the fridge, then submerge your coil of tubing in the water... Better heat transfer...

I am lucky that I don't need to drop mine quite that much. If he really needs 10 degrees, something tells me may not be trying easier methods first like evaporative. Only a guess, but evap seems to be the first solution I would try.


i saw it at reefbuilders and it worked but he needed 10degrees off and he only get 5.

I've tried it b4 but doesn't work that good... I'd just buy a chiller.....

You might want to check the BTU rating of the little fridge and take a look at the BTU rating for a chiller that suits your tank.

A 1/10 hp chiller outs more power than any fridge I have seen for a comparable price. And there is the effiency problem, fridge cools a space of 4-8 cubic feet depending on the size you get, you only need it to cool water. So for it to work at all you will need about 40ft of tubing inside the fridge.

Save yourself some headache and spend a few pennies more for a chiller.
Some things can DIY to save money, IMO chiller isn't one of them.

also if it doesnt work out then it will be more expensive than just getting a chiller but if u do a diy get metal coils inside the refriderator so it cools better.

I just thought I would bring this up because it has been posted a couple of times, You do not want to shut off the feed pump to control the temp, the water in the line would freeze and then when the pump kicks back on the water will not flow. I guess you could tie in 2 pumps, both low flow and if the temp dropped to much you could turn on the 2nd pump to lower the hang tim in the fridge. Of coarse this would require a check valve on the 2nd pump.
Just a thought.
Jerry

also where ever u put the fridge it will heat that place up so u will want to keep it away from the tank. also u can put a temp control on the fridge and not the pump so the water wont frezze.

also if it doesnt work out then it will be more expensive than just getting a chiller but if u do a diy get metal coils inside the refriderator so it cools better.

????????

what kind of metal i hope you wern't thinking of copper

????????

what kind of metal i hope you wern't thinking of copper

no a steel coil but inside that u need to have soft tubing but the metal will keep it the tubeing cold so that it will be more efficent.

Also, you can improve efficiency by placing a large bowl of water in the fridge, then submerge your coil of tubing in the water... Better heat transfer...


Great idea Chicago man. Here are some tweaks that have actually caused the heater to come on (at 79 deg).

Submerged the coils in a tall, long tray filled with water.

Wrapped the coils around the freezer element on top and laid a gel-cool bag on it to keep constant contact with the cold element.

This is working like a champ. I am surprised that a DIY project of mine is actually working. I have not started to dial the fridge thermostat back now a little to see where the heater will turn off. I suspect this will take a few days to get right.

Told the mortgage company to buzz off this month - ordered an aquacontroller for tomorrow and will set up the control to turn off the fridge - not the pump if the temp gets below 77. Thanks to everyone for their input.

all u had to do was have a little faith in urself.

good job, now if you can work out a way to keep a kep on tap in the same setup, with the tap hangin out the front of your canopy!