DIY Chiller

[KarlK]

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......

[KarlK]

What everyone has been waiting for!!!

Here I am reclaiming the refrigerand from the condensing unit





Brazing the tubing to the condensing unit






The refrigerant tubing next to the chiller barrel



SS is VERY hard to flare!!





Placing the coil into the barrel




TXV and the start of the water piping



More water piping






This is the best tool in the world for doing PVC piping!!



Completed chiller barrel. Well.... Functioning. I want to clean up the piping a little bit later on. It got too late, though.

[KarlK]

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!!!!

















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




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

[KarlK]

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


















Tank shots

[fishface]

just outta curiousity...what was the total cost in materials for all this karl?

[rickjames]

Looks awesome Karl! I have to say it is the first DIY chiller i have ever seen.

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?

[Chin_Lee]

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.

[KarlK]

Originally Posted by rickjames

Looks awesome Karl! I have to say it is the first DIY chiller i have ever seen.

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?

This uses a 1/4 horsepower condensing unit, so we'll call it a 1/4 hp chiller. It works wonderfully. The water leaving the chiller is 4 degrees cooler than the water entering!

[KarlK]

Originally Posted by fishface

just outta curiousity...what was the total cost in materials for all this karl?

Because of the eco-friendly use of recycled materials, the total cost comes in at a grand total of $235 for parts. (The 11 or so hours of labour not being counted What friends will do....)