Does anyone have experiences with a diy chiller made from a mini refrigorator? Want to use one for a 300 gallon outdoor pond. Any comments welcomed.
Diy chiller experiences?
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What's the plan? drill a couple holes in the side of the fridge and plumb it full of piping like a radiator?
Could work but not sure how long a mini fridge would last....an old mini freezer would really work well.
Only thing you would have to watch for is cracking pipes inside the freezer, butaslong as your pump is running longer than the freezer, because once it's chilled you could pull the coldness for a while, and again, don't wanna crack any pipe/hose you put in there
You could line the whole freezer with some sort of hose, on a hot day, load the freezer full of beer and ice and turn the pump on, everyone win's
Could work but not sure how long a mini fridge would last....an old mini freezer would really work well.
Only thing you would have to watch for is cracking pipes inside the freezer, butaslong as your pump is running longer than the freezer, because once it's chilled you could pull the coldness for a while, and again, don't wanna crack any pipe/hose you put in there
You could line the whole freezer with some sort of hose, on a hot day, load the freezer full of beer and ice and turn the pump on, everyone win's
I am looking for a chiller for my new tank, so I am looking forward to seeing some good ideas here also.
People commonly use fridges as chillers.. The plumb a copper line input and output through the top of the mini fridge. The best mini fridges to use have to miniature freezer compartment. You cut the freezer compartmentout because the temp sensor is in that area thus effectively making it a freezer. I will run lower temps. Then simply route a ton copper tubing in the space inside the fridge. The more the better. The rate of flow combined with the length of tubing inside the fridge determines how cold the water is in the output. The system works well enough to raise some cold water fish in aquariums. I can't tell you much about an outdoor pond. the temp fluctuations of day and night and shade, plus the overall depth and heat of your area will greatly determine the effectiveness of the chiller. As well as the placement of the fridge itself.
what about a closed loop system? this would allow use of an antifreeze so you don't have to worry about pipes freezing and a thermostat could control a pump to regulate temperature
Thanks eveyone the average summer temps here are 105f so I was hoping that if i ever got a sturgeon I would need a chiller for the water to stay at 70f . Iam preety sure that if i made a wooden box fof the diy chiiler to be covered by it would protect it from weather extremes and I would use pvc pipes and plastic tubing to help lower costs and a 1000gph pump to keep the flow constant.
will if a mini fridge won't do it an i doubt craigslist will have a pond chiller for quite a while what do you guys think will keep a 300 gallon pond at 70 degrees farenheight and won't break the bank of a college student.
craigslist a old freezer......people practically give them away....sometimes even pay you to take them!!!!!!!! just dont get a 10 footer lol.
Also polypropylene line or some other sort of flexible line would work good, just coil it up in there run it in 1 side out the other side.
A lower GPH pump would cool the water better also, as the water would have more contact time in the refrigeration unit you choose
Also polypropylene line or some other sort of flexible line would work good, just coil it up in there run it in 1 side out the other side.
A lower GPH pump would cool the water better also, as the water would have more contact time in the refrigeration unit you choose