Cheap Effective Water Chiller

greasymike666

greasymike666

Member
Here's a setup i put together quickly thats working very well for me. Ive used it on my 6 site system with 5gal buckets and also on my single site system, temps are easily adjusted with the thermostat in the fridge. I just drilled an input hole and an output hole on the side of a mini fridge and wrapped 3 feet of vinyl tube around the cooling element which separates the little freezer shelf from the rest of the fridge. i put a eco264 inline pump attached to the drain on my buckets to circulate the water/nutes and adjusted the thermostat as needed for the first 24 hrs and thats it! I have steady 66 degree res temps 24/7. I can now keep my grow box temps a lot higher (80-85+) and my ladies are loving it. It still keeps beer and edibles fresh at the same time! Hope this helps someone out ;-)IMAG0569.jpgIMAG0570.jpg
 
greenlyfe

greenlyfe

Member
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
 
greasymike666

greasymike666

Member
greenlyfe said:
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
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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.
 
Luger187

Luger187

Well-Known Member
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
 
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budleydoright

Well-Known Member
Luger187 said:
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
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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.
 
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Bullethead21

Well-Known Member
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.......
 
Luger187

Luger187

Well-Known Member
budleydoright said:
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.
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good call! didnt even think about that

Bullethead21 said:
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.......
Click to expand...
got any info on that plastic leeching? ive been using lowes buckets and it doesnt seem to affect the plant
 
greasymike666

greasymike666

Member
I was going to use a copper coil but was concerned about it reacting with my nutes and possibly poisoning my plants. I've been using this setup on my recent grow and its still working great! Res temps stay at 65 room temp is 83. The tubing is from a hydro shop and the buckets I'm using are too. you can get these mini fridges on Craigslist for 20 bucks all day out here. I got this one for 10! Just make sure there is an adjustment for temps inside so you don't get your res too cold
 
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greenmonster15

Member
Man...great idea. Was looking at a 1/4hp or 1/2hp EcoPlus. I can get a fullsize fridge for $100 and have cold drinks handy while I'm sweating my ass off during long cleanings, cutting, etc.....
 
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