DIY Chiller

[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 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.

That unit meant for a crab tank: Does it have it's own chiller barrel? If not, the lines haven't been just left open to the atmosphere have they?

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!

[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....)