DIY Chiller idea
 

I was thinking about how to cool my tank and came up with this idea. Anyone ever try it or have an opinion if it will work or not.

What I was thinking was to pick up one of those AC/DC coolers that sell for about 50 bucks and put it in line with my system with a valved pump to control flow (keep water in cooler longer or shorter to get temp). Or use it as a top off container. I think this will help keep the temp down but I am curious if the cooler would burn out under the constant load or not.

Do a search online for DIY chillers. You'll find they just don't work.

chiller
 

I heard you can use a beer fridge for a DIY chiller. I think one of the local pet stores is using one.

If you dont mind the room they take up or the noise, one of the old non frost free fridges that freeze everything up inside work great with a coil of water line inside, and you should still have room for some beer(beer wont freze as the warm water coil keeps the temp up above freezing, at least it did with the one we built a while back)

I figure the fridge idea would work very well if one could keep it fully stocked at all times.

I haven't read those bar fridge threads in ages, so my memory is suspect, but I thought that eventually the compressors fail or something like that? They're not designed for a duty cycle of a tank chiller situation. In a normal fridge, the compressor does some work, the fridge cools down, and then stays cool for a period of time (gradually but slowly warms up to the point where it has to kick in again). As a tank chiller, it never cools down so it never gets that "rest" period or something like that.

The idea I had for a chiller was run hose from your tap at the sink, into the sump, coiled 6 or 8 times in the sump, then back into the sink to drain. Run cold water at a moderate rate throught the hose to chill the tank. This method would work for the occasional hot day but is not a long-term solution.

You will need more than 6 to 8 turns of a coil. More like a hundred or so.

Considering the price of a beer fridge at London Drugs ($200) or the price of a chiller, even if the fridge only lasted a season it would still take 10 years to equal the cost of a chiller.

The idea of coiling the hose in a sink with water running over it may work depending on the size of the tank. I wonder if just filling the sink with water and having a fan blowing over the surface wouldn't help... (just a thought).

Doug