cheap and EFFECTIVE DIY water chiller

Thought I would share this as I finally got around to giving it a try and man of man, it is the fucking bomb! Similar units have been described so I didn't invent it but thought I would post it up as it really does work well and only cost me around $150.

You basically use a dehumidifier and a cooling coil for making beer (wort chiller).
A dehumidifier works like an air con, using the phase change of liquid to gas and back again to get rid of heat. A dehumidifier works by passing air through a very cold radiator. The water in the air condenses and drips into a bucket.

So what do is take the shell of your dehumidifier. There are two radiators in there, one for cooling and one that gets hot to dissipate the collected heat.

I had a 40 pint dehu that I used but I'm sure you could use a smaller unit as it was soo effective. So what I did was take the shell of the dehumidifier off and GENTLY bend the cold radiator into a medium sized cooler. Then I filled the cooler with water and placed a stainless steel wort chilller coil in the cooler. You can find them on e-bay. You could probably use plastic pipe instead of the wort chiller but it won't be near as effective. This is what I'm talking about..http://www.amazon.com/Super-Efficient-Stainless-Steel-Chiller/dp/B004D4QPQW

Then I have a SMALL pump and plastic tubing that pumps water from my rez, through the wort chiller, and back again.

So my 50 gallon rez was at 73 degrees. The water in the cooler was at 67. I turned the dehu on and crossed my fingers. I came back an hour and half later and my rez was at 61!!! There was actually a block of ice around the radiator in the cooler. That is a 12 degree drop in one hour!! The ice stayed around for several hours, I actually had to shut the pump off as the cooler water was in the 50's and I didn't want my rez and colder. About 7 hours later my rez was up to 70 so I turned the dehu on for 30 minutes and the rez dropped down to 65 within the hour. SO at this point I'm going to put the dehu on a timer to turn on for about 30 minutes every 3-4 hours and call it good. That is not a whole lot of power to cool 50 gallons. I'm pretty fucking stoked as chillers are very expensive and typically have to be run all the time.

In order to avoid posting pictures I did a web search and found a cool website that explains exactly what I did.

http://www.jonolavsakvarium.com/eng_diy/chiller/chiller.html

Cheers!

That is a great design. Not many people here would build something like that, although I would, if I had the need for one. Nice find my friend.

If people spent $400 on an ecoplus chiller that was a power hog and didn't work as well they would.

can you still use the dehumidifier in the room?

The dehu works by sucking air across ice cold coils. The air temp drops and water condenses and falls into the bucket.

Since that ice cold coil is now sitting in a bucket of water...no.

i picked up a deep freeze freezer and tried to make a chiller out of it and the problem i had was that the copper coil i put in the freezer would melt the block if ice faster then it could freeze back up. i think the wort chiller coil might work better but not sure. i think for the amount of time i have spent trying to get it to work i could have just bought a chiller.but thats just what i think

The fridge idea is no good because the compresses are not designed to run non stop, they are expensive to run, will not have as effective of heat transfer without water immersion plus, who the hell has space for an extra fridge?

My whole dehu set up sits under my nutrient shelves. I forbit the other day and left it on for 1.5 hours. There was 1" of ice on the coil. Oopsie.

legallyflying said:

The fridge idea is no good because the compresses are not designed to run non stop, they are expensive to run, will not have as effective of heat transfer without water immersion plus, who the hell has space for an extra fridge?

My whole dehu set up sits under my nutrient shelves. I forbit the other day and left it on for 1.5 hours. There was 1" of ice on the coil. Oopsie.

Click to expand...

I have to disagree with ya there and lots of people have room for a few fridges in there grow rooms if not more, and the fridge wouldnt be blasting none stop it would probabley cool down the inside a little more that normal, and if you where to use a lower powered water pump and tons of hose pipe by the time the slightly warmish water worked its way through all the nice cold hose pipe(60s atleast) and back into the tank it would take a few degrees of it!(im thinking a good 10-15 degrees)


I mean its not like im running boiling water through the things ffs, its only 70-80 degrees and water at that temp running through a fridge most defffinatly would not have the thing turning on 24/7 and burning itself out, at most it would turn on several times extra per day depending on how cold you set it to be!


If that was'nt the case then there would'nt be no fridges in desert countrys because the compresser would over heat when the fridge turns on because the air surrounding it and the fridge is much much warmer than what the water passing through an already cool hose pipe would be, which means in a desert country the fridge would turn on alot more due to the intense heat and burn out(but thats not the case), and I live in a temperate area so the outside air will easy cool it before it turns on again!


Or just like my air pump that heats to the point it near burns the hand of ya, just get a small fan and keep it blowing on the compressor thing on back of fridge and it will help cool it just like it does my air pump, to the point were its actuall cold in most places to touch and at its warmest its luke warm!


And when ya never open a fridge door it rarely turns on to cool down, so there straight of, is a load of times less than it would normaly turn on!


Dehumidifers arent exactly cheap why would you butcher 1 to make a cooler if ya have that sort of money to do that what can i say.......... go and buy a real cooler you cheap bastards llf

Dude your wrong. Not going to sit here and try and convince you about it. Ask yourself this..is food in your fridge a constant source of heat? No it's not. Once your fridge and food is at a given temp, the only thing the fridge is fighting against is outside air temp.

What transfers heat better? Water or air?

I bought a used dehu on CL for $30, threw it in the back of my car and when i got home, made another cooler for my veg rez in
about 20 minutes.

Go ahead, buy a fridge. Borrow your friends truck, haul it into your basement and then put 100 feet of hose in it. You'll soon discover that it doesn't work for shit. That is, if you don't rupture the cooling coils when driinh into the side of it. People have tried it and documented that it doesn't work.

It's not about being cheap, it's about being smart. Your logic is fairly sound but they lack an understanding of physics, mechanics, and practicality. I would love to see you buy and fuck with an old fridge though.

before this thread does die....

i came across these by accident while looking for ways to chill water:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEC1-12705-Thermoelectric-Cooler-Peltier-12V-50W-77Wmax-/280404808193?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41496dd201#ht_500wt_1156 and
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Temperature-Controller-Thermoelectric-Cooler-Peltier-/300556512826?pt=UK_AudioElectronicsVideo_Video_TelevisionSetTopBoxes&hash=item45fa906e3a#ht_3703wt_905

any thoughts on if anyone thinks these could be put to good use :/

only because you have a sweet avatar.

I have no idea what the hell that is, or how it would actually get cold just using electricity. I mean, there is no endothermic reaction to absorb heat.. maybe there is, I dunno, but that looks like some kind of weird heat sink. At any rate, assuming that it did get cold, water has a very large thermal capacity..meaning that it requires a pretty fair amount of energy to cool it. That unit only looks to run on 70 summ watts. So if
i ahd to guess, I would say it wouldn't work but that is just an educated guess.

never seen one of those before but they are pretty small, not much bigger then a pack of matches. here is what i found.




This thermoelectric cooler (TEC), otherwise known as a Peltier plate freezes to icy cold in just a matter of minutes, or alternatively, reverse the polarity and heat it to boiling point.


What Can I Use It In?

• CPU’s
• Picnic cooler/ice boxes
• Drinks coolers/ice boxes
• Laser diodes
• CCD cameras

How Does It Work?

Utilizing electricity, a TEC has an electrified metal plate that generates a heat pump which works when it is slid in between the CPU (for example) and the heat sink to keep the CPU side cool while the heat sink side stays warm.



Benefits:

• Capable of generating electricity when one side is kept cool and heat is applied to the other
• No moving internal parts to damage when in transit
• Makes absolutely no noise and does not vibrate
• Long life
• Slim and compact
• Excellent quality
• Brand new and unused

Specifications:

• Type: TEC1-12726
• 400W
• 12V
• Couples: 127
• Imax (A): 26/li>
• Vmax (V): 15.4
• QCmax (W) 177.8
• Tmax ˚C: 68
• Dimensions: 50 x 50 x 3.65mm (2 x 2 x 0.15")
• Wire length: 101mm (4")
• Fully sealed for protection against moisture

V1.3

i was thinking a few of these and some sort of ceramic heat sink?

Just to clarify, the peltier plate does not just get cold. It functions on a heat gradient. So yes, one side will get nice and cold while the other side will get hot and some sort of heat sink is needed to get rid of that heat.

In theory it could work if you could keep one side in the water an the other side in the open air. Again, your battling against allot of thermal mass. Could be sweet if you had them attached to the side of a bucket or something but seems like you would be taking heat out of the water and into the room...which then will transfer to the water.

Yeah hellraiser, I have my own personal troll. Sounds like a reciepe for a grow off.

hellraizer30 said:

Wtf mrfoot whys it I always see you trolling on legal thread or anything he posts? You sir are a true dip shit!
Could be the biggest RIU troll to date, wait REP fuck rep somebody get this guy a merit badge for troller of
The year! Dude do us all a favor and cancel your account

Click to expand...

i posted here because i am needing a chiller, just like i need airstones, obviously both threads are in my interest. i have posted in exactly 2 threads of the op. one was the airstone test where you were ridding my jock and this one. go click like on every thread you read and get lost! i spend most time helping people in the plant problems section. im such a troll for helping people, and calling bs when i see it!

poster: hey will this work? a "tec"?.............. my reply: i never heard of one before but here is what i found out(list)....... im such a troll for actually helping people. legals reply: I have no idea what the hell that is, or how it would actually get cold just using electricity. what a great contributor to this forum he is. such valuable input.

poster: i have an idea for a chiller, a bunch of hose in a fridge.... my reply: they have those already and here is a link and picture of a riu members working unit....... im such a troll for actually helping people. legals reply same question: that wont work you dumb brit, it physics. you are a dumbass.... what a great contributor to this forum he is. such valuable input.

legal then had to jump down my throat telling me it wouldnt work, when it does work and i proved it working with his own info and i also showed another working model with link. who is the troll here?

dont post false info and you wont get called on it.....

hey legally flying im tryin to figure this out. I dont have a recirculating system (i could make one but rather not) and im trying to apply your idea. N E ideas? have a pump in rez that activates a sprinkler system, netted pots above.

Does the nute water run through the coils or is there water specifically for cooling purposes? How many gallons would i need (minimum) to stay on the safe side and away from a freezing resevoir? Thanks.. and +rep for erbody who stops bitchin

Yo Ghan, this setup will work great. I initially pumped nute water through but it caused build up in the coils. Now the coils just sit in the Rez, the cooler (or any container) just has water, the cooling element and a small pump. You only need 5-10 gallons of water in the container. This system is extremely effective and will quickly make your Rez too cold!!! I can drop 50 gallons at 75 to 65 in about 45 minutes. Try that with an eco-shit cooler.

Any dehu off craigslist will work. One that automatically turns on when it receives power will work best and allow you to put the coil pump and dehu on a timer. The it just turns on once or twice a day and runs for 30 min a time. Bam! Fully auto, cost effective chilling with minimal BS and hoses.

A couple notes: stainless coils only! Copper will leach and kill plants. If you only have one Rez it's not an issue but I move this from Rez to Rez and found that securely strapping the dehu to the water filled cooler will prevent the copper lines from getting kinked. Be careful when bending the copper into the cooler! Grab the long parts tO make the bends, the pre-bent lines are fragile!
Lastly, the smaller the pump the better.

Please post your results. I think you will be amazed, the water comIng back from the coils in your Rez will feel like bath water compared to the icy cooler water. It just sucks the heat right out of the rez!!

Disclaimer: all this info is false and this is by now means the cheapest and fastest way to cool your Rez. Please feel free to be a dick for the sake of just being a dick cause that just proves to me that your meds are schwag.

instead of the wort chiller i think im gonna try and use this clear vinyl tubing i got laying around. C N E problems with that?

It won't be as effective as plastic doesn't transfer as much heat as metal does. It should still work, how well it will
Work... I guess you will find out.