Small fridge, aka diy chiller

So I just lost a budding female, probably due to water temps (dropping plant) so I'm thinking about making a chiller out of a mini fridge. I figured I could make 2- half inch holes on the top, then run copper tubing in a coil inside the fridge. Then just connect the tubing to a small pump. The just put some spray foam around the in and out lines. Anyone ever seen this done successfully? Or am I having pipe dreams? Cause it would only cost me around $100 to do it.

i suppose I could always try it using an ice chest before I go drilling holes in a $100 fridge.

Dont do it that way. Copper is a big no no, stainless steel is the only metal you ever want in contact with your nutes. I put as small tote with water and a pump in the cooler and a stainless wort chiller in nute res, worked perfect.

superstoner1 said:

Dont do it that way. Copper is a big no no, stainless steel is the only metal you ever want in contact with your nutes. I put as small tote with water and a pump in the cooler and a stainless wort chiller in nute res, worked perfect.

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Okay thanks, so it's not a bad idea right? I can't imagine why it wouldn't work, but I appreciate the heads up on the copper.

It could possibly work but its probably not worth the trouble. I live in the south now (unfortunately) so in the summer my res temps can reach 80. Although i never had a problem with my res at 80, throwing a frozen half gallon milk just or large frozen water bottle always seemed to work perfect!!! Store a few in your fridge and change them out every few hours or so. Cost effective, easy to do, and its almost impossible to kill the plants this way, unlike your idea with mixing copper tubing with your nutes.

I actually made a drip system one time and used copper elbows to connect 1/2in PVC pipping and by the end of the grow, the copper was covered in blue and green mold. Trust me, you do not want a bunch of copper tubbing going anywhere near your water, especially right in the res of a DWC system. Just my opinion but i would do some more research before continuing down your path.

the compressors way too small. use a dehumidifier. open it up and take the evaporator coil out and bend the copper pipes down so it sets in your res. so cheap and easy. if ya really want to get complex you could use an AC and SS Coils like me. i made a triple coil chiller to chill 3x res at once using coolcoils.

ive thought of this but instead doing it through the ground. dig say a 6 ft deep 3 foot by 6 foot long hole, bury a coiled piece of copper down there and then insulate that and make a coil in your res. this should keep the temps on your res perfect!
listen up about only having stainless touch your res~ stuff in your nutes will bond with other types of metals and cause bad things

You had better listen up and not put that copper in your res.
I would hate to hear 3 months later you are having some issues
with your grow and can't figure it out.

Best of luck to u.

Dehumidifier + pump + tubing + stainless steel worth chiller + temperature controller is the cheapest set it and forget it option.

The pump $20 or less, SS worth chiller/tubing $50, I really like Ranco ETC for temp control $46 it allows you to control what temp the water stays at but also allows a user definable deadband so your chiller runs less. I Have mine set to keep the container with cooling core at 60F. Once the water reaches 60F it shuts off and wont come back on until the water reaches 65F. My main system with the SS worth chiller stays at a constant 61-63F.

Now the hunt for a new or used dehumidifier/window ac. I suggested 6500+ btu if you can.