Cheap Effective Water Chiller

crazy but cool.i love it when ppl using their minds.

Yo Mike I was having the same pob with res temps and I saw your cooler thread....Im making one right now! You said you were going to do a fridge and i was wondering how. Simple and effective..and cheap

Thanks for finishing my thought

Originally Posted by greenlyfe

Yo Mike I was having the same pob with res temps and I saw your cooler thread....Im making one right now! You said you were going to do a fridge and i was wondering how. Simple and effective..and cheap

Thanks for finishing my thought

Glad I could help ya brother. The igloo setup worked great but this is less maintence. A guy recommended using dry ice in place of the ice packs, I haven't tried it yet but I would imagine you could get cooler temps if need be. You would just have to have dry ice on hand at all times.

i....LIKE...it... nice thought line!!!! i may have to try this... thx..

i would cut the tubing and have the water go through a copper coil, or some other kind of metal. then it goes back to the rubber hose and outside. that rubber provides insulation and you probably have to keep the fridge a little cooler to get through that rubber. although the metal coil could make it too cold, forcing you to turn the fridge temp up, and possibly not letting you use it for food. youd have to do some testing

Originally Posted by Luger187

i would cut the tubing and have the water go through a copper coil, or some other kind of metal. then it goes back to the rubber hose and outside. that rubber provides insulation and you probably have to keep the fridge a little cooler to get through that rubber. although the metal coil could make it too cold, forcing you to turn the fridge temp up, and possibly not letting you use it for food. youd have to do some testing

Copper is toxic to your plants, you'll want to use stainless or titanium. The mineral salts in the nutrient solution will react with the copper.

Same thing can be said about the plastics that lots of peeps use......these cheap home Depot buckets and what not are not the right grade plastic and will leech all sorts of nasty stuff into your water. Then there is the offgassing also.....its important to do the research and get the RIGHT stuff!

The reason a small plastic flood tray from Botanicare for example cost like 200 dollars.....and its just a plastic tray.....ever wonder why? Its because the correct grade plastics used in these systems is expensive (then there is the markup of course for profit)! But it is a MUST have thing if you do not want toxins in your water and more importantly in YOU!

Awesome DIY for a cheap chiller BTW.....provided you happen to have a mini fridge at your disposal.....a 1/10 HP chiller can be purchased for less than 300 dollars shipped. Something to keep in mind in case you do not happen to have a mini fridge at your disposal. Though I guess you could prolly find a mini fridge cheap at a pawn shop or craiglist maybe.......

Originally Posted by budleydoright

Copper is toxic to your plants, you'll want to use stainless or titanium. The mineral salts in the nutrient solution will react with the copper.

good call! didnt even think about that

Originally Posted by Bullethead21

Same thing can be said about the plastics that lots of peeps use......these cheap home Depot buckets and what not are not the right grade plastic and will leech all sorts of nasty stuff into your water. Then there is the offgassing also.....its important to do the research and get the RIGHT stuff!

The reason a small plastic flood tray from Botanicare for example cost like 200 dollars.....and its just a plastic tray.....ever wonder why? Its because the correct grade plastics used in these systems is expensive (then there is the markup of course for profit)! But it is a MUST have thing if you do not want toxins in your water and more importantly in YOU!

Awesome DIY for a cheap chiller BTW.....provided you happen to have a mini fridge at your disposal.....a 1/10 HP chiller can be purchased for less than 300 dollars shipped. Something to keep in mind in case you do not happen to have a mini fridge at your disposal. Though I guess you could prolly find a mini fridge cheap at a pawn shop or craiglist maybe.......

got any info on that plastic leeching? ive been using lowes buckets and it doesnt seem to affect the plant