DIY chiller help

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I would not put the Rena inside the mini fridge. I would put a spool of tubing inside the fridge and leave the pump outside of the fridge. A long spool of tubing/hose should give enough heat transfer to act as an effective chiller.

If you are a good designer you will use one of those 4' tall fridges... wrap the tubing around the keg and then put a tap on top! This should make your cold water tank much more enjoyable! ;)
 
Oughtsix said:
I would not put the Rena inside the mini fridge. I would put a spool of tubing inside the fridge and leave the pump outside of the fridge. A long spool of tubing/hose should give enough heat transfer to act as an effective chiller.

If you are a good designer you will use one of those 4' tall fridges... wrap the tubing around the keg and then put a tap on top! This should make your cold water tank much more enjoyable! ;)
Click to expand...

first question, is there a reason you strongly say you would not put the canister inside the fridge is there something you know that im over looking?

and the other thing i like your thinking about the keg, that would be awesome it would be a chiller/filter/beer dispensing unit. Golden idea haha
 
LOL, I was actually thinking this sounded like a home made kegerator. Not quite sure how much it would affect the filter but wrapping a long enough (probably 10-20 foot worth) of hose around something like keg actually doesn't sound like a horrible idea; as far as cooling the water goes, I have no idea how much this would affect the filter. I would assume since there was a larger amount of water in the outlet hose and with it being long enough to make several loops around a mini keg that the water should be cooled down quite a bit.

If you are going to cut up a mini fridge, then think about doing something along the lines of this: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/tips/diy-draft-step-by-step-kegerator-plans
...why not make it multipurpose? :grinno:

I'm thinking you could easily set the filter behind the fridge, run an intake very close (as short as possible) then run the outlet through the fridge and around the keg before going into the tank. Maybe adding some disconnects to the hose where it penetrates the fridge via barbed connectors and having multiple "wrap around hoses" would make keg changing even easier. :)

Good luck on the build and keep us updated.
 
i like how this thread is slowly becoming more about how to encorperate a keg and less about how and if my chiller idea will work lol but yes i will definetly keep everyone posted on the build once i get started, i need to make some room to fit the bar fridge beside the tank close enough to make this work. that might take a day or two it will consist of emptying and moving a tank. got lots of work ahead of me, i just wanted to get a head start with this thread to give the chiller/filter/keg fridge some thought on how to do this properly, thanks for all the tips everyone, always welcoming more thoughts
 
PDRed302 said:
LOL, I was actually thinking this sounded like a home made kegerator. Not quite sure how much it would affect the filter but wrapping a long enough (probably 10-20 foot worth) of hose around something like keg actually doesn't sound like a horrible idea; as far as cooling the water goes, I have no idea how much this would affect the filter. I would assume since there was a larger amount of water in the outlet hose and with it being long enough to make several loops around a mini keg that the water should be cooled down quite a bit..
Click to expand...

the only down side to your suggestion is that i know in the manual of the rena it says the lines should be runing vertically and not sideways to maximize water flow, i think it would loose all filter power if my lines started dooing loops around a keg hahaha.
 
+1 the longer the hose the less water pressure and flow you will have. Keep then as short as possible. With a fridge being able to cool down to near 20 degrees it should cool fine. Even with the heat from the filter running. It's all a thought and idea who knows how long the filter will last and run for but I would agree it's a great idea and fun test.

Sent from my DROIDX using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
In all practicality a keg/tank cooler would only work if you like drinking your beer at the same temperature you want to keep the tank?

My suggestion for a long tube is based on surface area and heat exchange. The Rena filter has a small surface area with relatively non heat conductive plastic. I question how much heat the Rena casing will give up. A copper tube would be great for heat exchange but I have read that copper is not good in tanks???? Plastic tubing is a pretty decent heat insulator so you will have to make up for this with a longer run.

You will want to set the refrigerator at the temperature you want the tank water to be at. If you set it considerably lower than your desired tank water temperature you will have troubles keeping your tank at a constant temperature. With a long tube the exit temperature should be very close to the refrigerator temperature once the system reaches an equilibrium.

While the tank is initially cooling you will need to remove heat from the water plus any heat the tank collects from the atmosphere. Once the tank reaches the set temperature you will only need to remove as much heat as the tank collects from the atmosphere to maintain the tank temperature.

A large diameter smooth wall tube, say 1" or so, should provide minimal back pressure.

Having to pull the filter out from the refrigerator every time you need to maintain the filter sounds like a pain.

Hunting down a leak inside the confines of a compact refrigerator doesn't sound like it would be easy. A continuous run of tubing inside the refrigerator would have practically no potential for leaking.

I have a XP3 but I forget if it is a totally submersed pump? If it is air cooled then you are disipating the pump heat as well as the water heat inside of the refrigerator. If it is a submersed pump then it doesn't make a difference since all the pump heat is going into the water.

These were my reasons for suggesting a plastic tube... feel free to evaluating their validity for your project.
 
so does any one have suggestions how to seel off the drilled holes, i was thinking stirofoam and silicone with the hose's running through the middle of the stirofoam?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom