this is my idea for an ULTRA cheap rez cooler, u guys think it would work?

diowk

diowk

Active Member
Im trying to figure out a cheap method of cooling my rez since its not over the limit but its at 75% which is the very max. I was wondering about getting some flexible airline hose with enough elasticity to not crack when it freezes, take a length of hose, submerge it in water and plug both ends, bend into a U shape and hold the two ends together with string then throw it in the freezer overnight. Then just throw that in the rez once its frozen.. repeat as necessary.. do you guys think that would work ok to bring temps down a couple notches when it gets out of control or am I way out to lunch? thanks for your opinions, suggestions are welcome but they cant cost ANYTHING. :)
 
halftime

halftime

Well-Known Member
anybody ever used or even considered using a water cooler like those sparkletts deals for a rez cooler. I got one laying around. seems like a good DYI. any ideas shared are motivation.:clap:
 
ColoradoLove

ColoradoLove

Well-Known Member
Only issue with your technique is the frozen tubes aren't gonna stay frozen long cause they aren't very thick and you'd have to be keeping frozen tubes on hand.

I do however have 2 suggestions for you!

1 - even simpler! just make ice cubes out of pH balanced water and dump a tray in. Basically the same idea, only simpler with no tubes.
2 - get some of those blue ice pucks that people put in lunch boxes. They're like 5" long x 3" thick and 3" deep. They stay frozen for at least 8-10 hours. You could pick up a couple of those and just rotate em through each day
 
researchkitty

researchkitty

Well-Known Member
diowk said:
Im trying to figure out a cheap method of cooling my rez since its not over the limit but its at 75% which is the very max. I was wondering about getting some flexible airline hose with enough elasticity to not crack when it freezes, take a length of hose, submerge it in water and plug both ends, bend into a U shape and hold the two ends together with string then throw it in the freezer overnight. Then just throw that in the rez once its frozen.. repeat as necessary.. do you guys think that would work ok to bring temps down a couple notches when it gets out of control or am I way out to lunch? thanks for your opinions, suggestions are welcome but they cant cost ANYTHING. :)
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Two issues with your idea, but props for thinking out of the box a bit.

1.) By introducing FROZEN material to the growing environment, you'll expect to see CONDENSATION around the hose lines and anywhere that water cools while its flowing.

2.) You'll melt that thing in about 20 minutes anyway, so I guess 1 doesnt matter so much. :)

Sheer curiosity -- do you have a pond or a stream close by? I have a million gallon pond in my back yard, and if summer gets too hot I'll just run a large pump to use the pond and its water as my chiller. Let nature cool it! :)
 
researchkitty

researchkitty

Well-Known Member
Oh, by the way, if you have a small system just use mineral oil instead of water. You could also consider doing a PC cooling setup, they have water cooling cheap. A peltier (thermoelectric module) will provide cooling too if you have a small space. This requires some wiring and electronic knowhow, but not too hard.
 
diowk

diowk

Active Member
ColoradoLove said:
Only issue with your technique is the frozen tubes aren't gonna stay frozen long cause they aren't very thick and you'd have to be keeping frozen tubes on hand.

I do however have 2 suggestions for you!

1 - even simpler! just make ice cubes out of pH balanced water and dump a tray in. Basically the same idea, only simpler with no tubes.
2 - get some of those blue ice pucks that people put in lunch boxes. They're like 5" long x 3" thick and 3" deep. They stay frozen for at least 8-10 hours. You could pick up a couple of those and just rotate em through each day
Click to expand...
oh yeah! those blue lunchpox ice packs! Thats fucking briliant! Thanks man
 
diowk

diowk

Active Member
[QUOTE researchkitty] Oh, by the way, if you have a small system just use mineral oil instead of water. QUOTE]

What? Mineral oil as rez water?? Never heard that one before...:roll:

researchkitty said:
You could also consider doing a PC cooling setup, they have water cooling cheap. QUOTE]

Again, what? "pc cooling setup"? You wanna give a link or a model name, brand name.. anything in order to look it up. You cant just google "pc cooling" and hope to get hydroponic water chillers. :)

researchkitty said:
A peltier (thermoelectric module) will provide cooling too if you have a small space. This requires some wiring and electronic knowhow, but not too hard.QUOTE]

I thought you werent supposed to put electrical devices in water... As far as I can tell thats a method of water-cooling a pc, not for cooling rez water or even to be placed in water at all. I don't mean to sound rude but where do you do your research kitty?
[/
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IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
it will be terribly inefficient... (a TEC device..aka peltier device)
it would be more cost effective to run supply/return lines from your rez going to a simple automotive radiator with a 5$ fan blowing on it.
just my .02
 
diowk

diowk

Active Member
researchkitty said:
1.) By introducing FROZEN material to the growing environment, you'll expect to see CONDENSATION around the hose lines and anywhere that water cools while its flowing.

There is no water flow and no hoses, it's straight DWC

Sheer curiosity -- do you have a pond or a stream close by? I have a million gallon pond in my back yard, and if summer gets too hot I'll just run a large pump to use the pond and its water as my chiller. Let nature cool it! :)
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Seems like a good way to get caught since I live in the city. ;)
 
diowk

diowk

Active Member
IAm5toned said:
it will be terribly inefficient... (a TEC device..aka peltier device)
it would be more cost effective to run supply/return lines from your rez going to a simple automotive radiator with a 5$ fan blowing on it.
just my .02
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The rad would cost a lot new and you certainly couldn't cycle your nutes through a junker.. Have you seen this done? Also, its just a 7 gallons of nute solution that needs to come down 3-5 degrees remember. So far ice cubes are most practical but I just love things I can plug a thermostat into; just cant find anything on a small scale.
 
PurfectStorm

PurfectStorm

Well-Known Member
IAm5toned said:
it will be terribly inefficient... (a TEC device..aka peltier device)
it would be more cost effective to run supply/return lines from your rez going to a simple automotive radiator with a 5$ fan blowing on it.
just my .02
Click to expand...
I wish somebody had told me that before i plopped down 650 bucks a 65w one expecting it to cool my cab. It didnt make a dent in temperature even with lights off. USELESS. Oh well, i made do with air conditioning instead, although it did cost me my sealed environment and co2 :(
 
P

Prot3us1`

Active Member
I think the lines just got crossed here, the OP wants a way to cool his res. Hes referring to using the frozen water in the tube as an "ice pack" not to pump it.

The suggestion regarding oil was if you had a SEPARATE res, attached to say a heatsink on the side of your reservoir, which you would pump oil past..the oil draws heat from the heatsink and res back through a small PC liquid cooled type radiator and fan which cools it..the cool oil then flows back past the warm res and heatsink, taking the heat and so on and so forth. If you HAD a TEC I would mount it somehow AFTER the radiator to add that last little bit of chill.
Obviously this option is out for you as it would require buying a pc thermal cooling setup plus heatsink.

Maybe try putting light colored cotton sheets around your res outside (dry)...they will stop the plastic absorbing as much heat. if you dont need to drop MUCH heat you might be able to achieve your goal by thinking how you could reduce the heat building in the res itself, rather than spend money to fix the symptom, cure the problem..put small blocks under the edge of your res to raise it SLIGHTLY off the floor..the air moving along the floor is cold..if it can flow under it it should cool slightly too..small changes but all together i think you can achieve your goal of temp drops without spending cash on anything you didnt have in your house.
prot
 
DivinePower

DivinePower

Well-Known Member
I still dont understand using the mineral oil.

Water - though not always useable - is still THE best coolant on earth. And in this case is still useable. So I'm not sure why you would want to use mineral oil.
 
burnonedown21

burnonedown21

Member
what are your guys thoughts on doing a diy with a mini fridge and using the cooling unit out of there. I just dont know how i would set up a thermostat to trigger it on and off when needed
 
diowk

diowk

Active Member
burnonedown21 said:
what are your guys thoughts on doing a diy with a mini fridge and using the cooling unit out of there. I just dont know how i would set up a thermostat to trigger it on and off when needed
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then start a thread. please dont hijack this one.
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
diowk said:
The rad would cost a lot new and you certainly couldn't cycle your nutes through a junker.. Have you seen this done? Also, its just a 7 gallons of nute solution that needs to come down 3-5 degrees remember. So far ice cubes are most practical but I just love things I can plug a thermostat into; just cant find anything on a small scale.
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I have seen it done, which is why I suggested it. If you really know your stuff, you can do it without a pump... its called convection current cooling.. its a concept used to cool nuclear reactors. you would just be using it on a much smaller scale.
by cost effective I was referring to the power it would take to run the TEC... the laws of thermodynamics say you would use an equal or greater amount of power to cool the rez as it took for the rez to heat up. and theres material to build it. (the TEC)
If Thermal Electric Cooling was even remotely efficient, all your fridges and air conditioners would utilize it.

PurfectStorm said:
I wish somebody had told me that before i plopped down 650 bucks a 65w one expecting it to cool my cab. It didnt make a dent in temperature even with lights off. USELESS. Oh well, i made do with air conditioning instead, although it did cost me my sealed environment and co2 :(
Click to expand...
case in point...
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
DivinePower said:
I still dont understand using the mineral oil.

Water - though not always useable - is still THE best coolant on earth. And in this case is still useable. So I'm not sure why you would want to use mineral oil.
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he meant to use the mineral oil in one stage of a 2 stage isolated heat exchange unit... get it?
the oil circulates on a closed loop, its what transfers the heat.... you dont put oil in your damned rez :roll:
 
DivinePower

DivinePower

Well-Known Member
I realize your stoned and all but that is why I termed it to be COOLANT. I realize what he is trying to do... water would still be the best vehicle to transport that heat out of the res! Because.... oh yeah... read my previous post.

Sorry to be a smart ass... but yeah.
 
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