DIY Chiller Experiment

GreenThumbSucker said:

I just went down and checked the temperature and it is at 71.5 degrees. Quite an improvement, but I was hoping for better than that. Hmmmmm.....

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heat transfer-plastic doesnt do it.

I think alum tubing will get you that extra couple degrees your looking for. Also add salt to the freezer bucket, then you can run it under freezing temperatures.

do not use aluminum or copper, only stainless steel should ever be used or u will introducing unwanted elements into your plants

Be very carefull with antifreeze and pets, it has a sweet smell witch attratcs them, but is highly lethal when ingested.

ANC said:

Be very carefull with antifreeze and pets, it has a sweet smell witch attratcs them, but is highly lethal when ingested.

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The second day I had it running, something in the freezer broke and it stopped working.

Update: I bought a 1/10 hp chiller. My system has been running at 65 degrees for about 2 weeks now, all of my root issues have cleared up and the brownish roots I had from the heat are now being swallowed up by fresh, healthy white new roots!

I bought some of that metallic silver bubble wrap insulation and insulated the tough-boxes and my reservoir. This was a good move because the solution temperature is now an even 65 degrees throughout the whole system.

Now I need to figure out how to use it to cool both my systems.

Unfortunately, you are going to have the same problems transferring energy between the chiller and the second system. I have read of running a closed loop through the chiller with a res and some 3/8-1/2 inch ss Wert chiller coils. Basically back to the initial problem. With 1coil and a pump you could leech some chill off the main system but it will never be as cold.

I have the same problems. I am about to buy another 1/4hp chiller for my second system that is currently under construction. I have posted some pics of it around here if you want to see it. I

Best of luck

I am thinking that I may just have one common reservoir between the rooms.

GreenThumbSucker said:

Update: I bought a 1/10 hp chiller. My system has been running at 65 degrees for about 2 weeks now, all of my root issues have cleared up and the brownish roots I had from the heat are now being swallowed up by fresh, healthy white new roots!

I bought some of that metallic silver bubble wrap insulation and insulated the tough-boxes and my reservoir. This was a good move because the solution temperature is now an even 65 degrees throughout the whole system.

Now I need to figure out how to use it to cool both my systems.

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Superstoner already told you what to do.

WORT CHILLERS STAINLESS STEEL.

RUN chiller to cool. in cool have pump for pvc manifold with pushes the coled water to the wort chiller in each REZ...

Listen to SS. He is class

oceangreen said:

Superstoner already told you what to do.

WORT CHILLERS STAINLESS STEEL.

RUN chiller to cool. in cool have pump for pvc manifold with pushes the coled water to the wort chiller in each REZ...

Listen to SS. He is class

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You must have not read the thread. The freezer I was using for a chiller died less than 24 hours after I set it up. I bought a chiller. It is chilling my 100 gallon system to 65 degrees. I have another room with the same set up that isn't quite as problematic as the one that needs the chilling. I will be consolidating both rooms into one reservoir with a 55 gallon auto-top off system. As soon as my other room finishes (I start trimming tonight) I will insulate the totes in that room, and re-pipe the whole system so both rooms use the same reservoir, which will be hooked up to my chiller.

Problem solved.

Has anyone tried a used watercooler (the bottle type) and used it to recirc water through the chilling res. in the cooler back to system res.? you could even make it an indirect system by using a closed loop to system res. using copper coil running the chilled water through it. The issue I have is the heat from the cooler would still be in room!!!

i dont really understand your idea but youndo not want to use copper. stainless steel only.

polyarcturus said:

wahh ithought we where doing some real DIy work over here....... i would dismantle assembly build exhaust box for the evap coils and heat pump and bend the cooling/condensing coils in into a large insulate cooler or waterproof box. add pump and pipe(personally i would try to pressurize around 10-25 psi) and hook up a wort chiller, a transmission radiator in a ducting setup, all types of things lol. i have yet to get my hands on afre freezer, bu when i do....

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Wort chillers are usually copper which is epically bad for corroding and making ur nutrients toxic... use stainless steel or aluminum ONLY or ur plants will die ... (hint brass has copper in it too )

stainless only, not aluminum. the nutes will corrode it.

Am I missing something, or are you really using a 27 gallon tote for each plant?

Nope, you haven't missed anything, the mention of single plants in 27gal tough totes is in the first sentence of the post and there are even pictures a couple posts later.

Malevolence said:

Am I missing something, or are you really using a 27 gallon tote for each plant?

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Yep, one plant per tote. I veg them under T5 lights in five gallon buckets with netpot lids, then transfer them to 27 gallon totes my perpetual flowering rooms.

Why not leave them in 5 gallon buckets? It seems like it would be easier to cool that way.

larger res is easier to cool, maintain ph stability and ppm levels stay consistant without having to add back constantly. in hydro the bigger the better on res size and a lot less work.