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Build day on Friday!
After I get home from work, the fun begins! Posts will be put up either Friday or Saturday night. The refrigeration piping is a material that Hightower researched and would like to try. He'll be able to provide more specifics as to his choice of tubing |
Titanium was obvious first choice but because it is so expensive, and not readily available and after alot of research we decided to go with stainless steel 316L.
I read a ton of posts on it, and SS wins. Hey if this stuff can go inside the human body, its good for fish too. |
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Refrigeration supplier from Karl. He's got the connections. Aroudn $4-5 /ft I think
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Well, I'm in the middle of the build right now. The system is on the vacuum pump as I type this. I've gone home for dinner and a nap.
*Note* It is VERY easy to get heatstroke in a sun room that peaks at 40 degrees C! I'll be back in an hour or so to charge the system and get the controls finished. All that is really left: 2 wire splices Placing the temperature sensor Ty-rapping the lines and wires together Charging the system with refrigerant Testing to see how cold I can get the tank :) Just kidding! Hightower has a bunch of the pics on his camera. I'll get him to send them to me or post them himself tonight. I'll take my camera when I go back as well. Before I get any questions about why the lines are run in the places they are; This house has concrete walls. I mean EVERY wall is concrete. Even the floors and attic are concrete! That kind of nixxes going through the walls or into the attic to hide the piping. This piping arrangement works for the way Hightower uses the space. I gave him a few options and he picked the setup he liked. I've got a 5000 btu/h A/C unit just sitting in my truck. Does anyone want to have one built? It can be a split or a packaged unit. Let me know via PM. If no-one wants one, I don't know what I'll do with this thing. If you want, titanium tubing could be used in the heat-x. I've got some on order from Latvia, beleive it or not! [braces]for massive inrush of PM's[/braces] ;) More later on...... |
Condensing unit with Ranco temp controller and associated plumbing. Guages were attached while I was charging the system. Don't leave it running too long while doing this!!!!
http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/14...%20process.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/15...controller.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/16...controller.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/17...re%20guage.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/18...LL%20Drier.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/19...%20bits%29.JPG Part number for Ranco controller. Not the one most people would want. This is for 24 VAC control, but it was free. The 120 VAC equivilent is the ETC111000 http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/20...t%20number.JPG Why you need to be quick when charging the system. This is after 10-15 min of running the system while charging!!! It started at 80 degrees http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/21...%20degrees.JPG |
Fans Hightower won't be needing anymore. Don't complain about the dirt. He needs to run these basically 24/7 and never really gets a chance to shut them off for cleaning
http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/22...ger%20need.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/23...%20needing.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/24...%20needing.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/25...number%204.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/26...number%205.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/27...number%206.JPG Tank shots http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/46...nk%20setup.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/47...90g%20tank.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/48...0of%20tank.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/49...0of%20tank.JPG http://www3.telus.net/kethlerhvac/51...0of%20tank.JPG |
just outta curiousity...what was the total cost in materials for all this karl?
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Looks awesome Karl! I have to say it is the first DIY chiller i have ever seen. :biggrin:
I really know almost nothing about refrigeration, but comparing to the horsepower ratings on the store bought chillers, how much power do you think that system has? |
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Karl and Hightower
that unit looks great and I'm very impressed. I can see something like that being done with my system because my sump is in the basement and its close to an exterior wall. Also I already have a compressor unit that was originally used for a cold water crab holding tank. few questions: what kind of refrigeration unit is that? what would be the HP equivalent? how much pressure is in the lines? how much water flow is going through the barrel? how did you extend the length of the temp probe? (what type of wiring) Thanks and I'm looking forward to more info on the build. |
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This is a refrigeration unit from an auto-purger off of the old Trane chiller for Sears at Lougheed Town Centre. I was doing the tear down a while back and it was just going to get tossed, so I scooped it. As was mentioned, it is a 1/4 HP unit I am running 35 PSI suction and 145 PSI discharge pressures. Not sure of the water flow through the barrel. Probably around 200-350 gph. Not really much needed. I needed to make sure that the vapor returning to the compressor was cool enough to cool the windings of the motor. The probe was extended with plain, old, run-of-the-mill 18 guage thermostat wire. For more info, just let me know what your looking for. Don't be afraid to speak up! |
This is way cool! Its sweltering hot today with high humidity and no fans are running and the temp remains between 77-78.
I actually thought something was wrong with my tank, because its so quiet. Great investment, and peace of mind wondering if your tank is running too hot. Thanks Karl! |
One thing I did notice with the chiller mounted away from the tank is how quiet your tank is now. Your overflow actually seems loud now!!
Remember when we first set up this tank? You were more concerned with heating the tank than keeping it cool! That changed pretty quick, eh? I'm sure glad it is working for you. I spent all that time working out the calculations of evap size, TXV to use, water flow avaliable, etc... It's sure nice to see it working exactly as I planned. Right down to the proper temperature of suction gas! One thing that I would like to mention is that if anyone is thinking of doing this (which I suspect everyone is), please do not just vent off the refrigerant from your donor system into the atmosphere. Get it reclaimed properly so you don't contribute to the global warming killing the reefs. I'll continue to post updates on this thread as I'm sure Hightower will as well. I am still open to questions from all the people tagging along. Now I guess I need something else to build :) I'm thinking a 1/2 horsepower packaged chiller. Who wants to see that? Maybe there is some special system that someone wants to see built. I like challenges. Anyone got one for me? |
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Sure. I can scrounge the compressor easily enough and just build the condensor and evaporator. I've got a line on titanium tubing that would work good for that size of system. It is actually ordered and on it's way. It's about 2 weeks away. What size tank is this for? |
I don't know whether or not I mentioned the flow rate here. It is close to 90gph.
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Great thread! I have really learnt alot!
one question i have is that is there a reason why the titanium coil/exchange coil is situated in the barrel instead of the sump itself? Thanks Eric |
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1: The coil would take up a lot of space in the sump that Hightower did not have. 2: If the coil was in the sump, there would be no way to control the flow rate. I wanted to be able to adjust as many variables as possible with this system as it was my first one and I wanted to be able to tweak it if need be. 3: Stainless steel will corrode if alternately exposed to saltwater and air. By putting the coil in a barrel, we ensure that it will be submerged at all times. 4: It's cooler Karl |
WOW! well thought out!
Another question i have for you is that, does it matter how long the actual cooling coil is? will it affect performance if it is longer? i would think the longer the coil, the more powerful the unit have to be... |
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You can use a shorter coil as long as your flow rate stays high. If your coil is just dropped into your sump, you have no way of controlling your load. Hightower has a valve on the line feeding the chiller barrel so that we can adjust the load on the condensing unit. I assume that it is working good. I haven't heard anything to the contrary yet. Hopefully he'll see this and give an update. |
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