The $15 Poor Mans Nano Chiller By C-BuZz

[c-buzz]

G'day,

Well I've been at it again heh heh. I really liked the thermoelectric peltier idea & I was pretty confident in it working, so I decided to give it a crack.

Parts:
Small tub: $2 from $2 shop :roflmao:
Peltier: $8 (ebay) 15v 68.5w thermoelectric
Heatsinks x 2: Free from junk pile
Screws: x 2: Free from junk pile
Thermal paste: About $1 worth
Fan: Free from junk pile
Power supply: 300w Free from junk pile

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Drilled a hole through both heatsinks so I can bolt them together

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Quick test to make sure it's wroking. The copper heatsink develops ice frost very quickly. This is in 34c ambients so I was rather impressed with this little peltier device already.

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I put an insulation layer inbetween the heatsinks to stop the hot side heating up the cold side then stick it to the copper heatsink. Then a big blob of thermal paste on top

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Cut a hole in the lid so I can bolt the heatsinks together

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Then I bolt the them together

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Did a little insulating around the heatsinks to prevent heat getting into the tub

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This is the heatsink that will be submerged in water inside the tub

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Fan cable tied on :roflmao: I accidentally spray painted some of it a while ago, but it does the job well.

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Fill the tub with water & put the lid on

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RESULTS:
I did take some pics of my thermometer before/after but I got no idea where they went...

Ambient: 34c/35c
Water temps before: 33c ish
Water temps after 1hr of running: 11c/12c

Testing on tank phase:
TBA, Have yet to test on tank...

TO DO:
Fully insulate tub. Have to run tubes from tank through cold chiller water, then back into tank.

From this little experiment I'm fairly confident that this little chiller can pull at least 5c of my 12L tank temps in a few hours, possibly less.

If anyone has some more idea's or tips I'm keen to hear!!

Thanks


C-BuZz

 

[photongreen]

looks like what some people use to watercool thier pc's although with out the pump and tubing. GJ!

 

[purplegorilla]

Thats nice. So now how do you prevent copper from interacting with saltwater?

 

[stickx911]

I would swap the copper Heat sink for another aluminum one. It'll rust after time I'd assume, but the copper will kill your inverts.

 

[stickx911]

you could also pickup a stainless radiator like you would find in a chiller and place it in the tub (and pump water through the radiator) so that the water from the tank would get maximum exposure to the colder water as well as avoid the copper, but that is a little less cost effective.

 

[enderg60]

if this actually drops your tank temps 5°C i will be utterly amazed...even on only a 12L tank.

 

[stickx911]

EnderG60;437773 wrote: if this actually drops your tank temps 5°C i will be utterly amazed...even on only a 12L tank.

dont under estimate the power of the dar...I mean a good peltier.

I've seen a good setup keep a well overclocked cpu near or below freezing. so I cannot immagine him not being able to get a few degrees

May even consider adding a second set on the other side and have all the hoses run through the middle in case you have need to push more volume.

One thing to consider, do you have a way for it to regulate temps? like kick on when too hot and turn off when too cold?

 

[enderg60]

the amount of heat off a CPU is ALOT less then that of a mass of water. I have a peltier chiller on of my old overclocked rigs, works great there.

I built a 300w peltier chiller(just like a ice probe) for my old 15g nano. very similar to that, but I used a custom titanium heat sink rather then the doing indirect water like he is planning.

It did dropped my temps 1°F, total waste of money.

I also tried a 1/10 hp chiller, that was based on a peltier(i forget the brand) basically the same wattage as what he is using. It heat soaked and heated the tank up 3 degrees.

As I said, Im waiting to see results.

 

[c-buzz]

photongreen;437748 wrote: looks like what some people use to watercool thier pc's although with out the pump and tubing. GJ!

LoL, funny you say that. I used this very method to cool my cpu many years ago & it worked great.

EnderG60;437773 wrote: if this actually drops your tank temps 5°C i will be utterly amazed...even on only a 12L tank.

Prepare to be amazed, because if it can drop a 1L tub 24c below ambient temps in around 1hr, it "SHOULD" be able to drop a 12L tank by 5c in 2hrs :up: Not that I've actually done any mathmatical calculations. All my calculations are based on experience.

purpleGORILLA;437753 wrote: Thats nice. So now how do you prevent copper from interacting with saltwater?

Thanks, none of the tank water is pumped into the tub. The tank water stays in the tubes & is coiled up inside the tub to act as a heat exchanger :up:

stickx911;437780 wrote: dont under estimate the power of the dar...I mean a good peltier.

I've seen a good setup keep a well overclocked cpu near or below freezing. so I cannot immagine him not being able to get a few degrees

May even consider adding a second set on the other side and have all the hoses run through the middle in case you have need to push more volume.

One thing to consider, do you have a way for it to regulate temps? like kick on when too hot and turn off when too cold?

Yeah I also come from a hardcore overclocking background so I know what peltiers are capable of

Are you reading my mind? I was actually thinking that exact thing of adding a second peltier to the tub if this one isn't enough. That would probably take the water subzero & turn it into an ice block.

I was going to rip/hack/mod a thermometer off an old refrigerator he he, should put that on my TODO list as well.

Cheers

C-BuZz

 

[c-buzz]

EnderG60;437795 wrote: the amount of heat off a CPU is ALOT less then that of a mass of water. I have a peltier chiller on of my old overclocked rigs, works great there.

That's just 1 massive LOL EnderG60! You telling me that 12Litres of water produces more heat than my 4GHZ/1.45v Phenom2 550 unlocked 200W Quad core? If you say yes I'm going to laugh you out of town...


C-BuZz

 

[weaglereefer]

So is there a better liquid you could fill the container with other than water to transfer the heat from the water pipes to the cooler? Radiator fluid maybe? What kind of hose and pump are you going to use for the tank water? Keep in mind the pump will produce some heat as well.

 

[c-buzz]

au01st;438070 wrote: So is there a better liquid you could fill the container with other than water to transfer the heat from the water pipes to the cooler? Radiator fluid maybe? What kind of hose and pump are you going to use for the tank water? Keep in mind the pump will produce some heat as well.

Yes, Oil is better than water. Might try that later on if I need some improvement. Pump im using is 2w mini pump. So not really generating much heat at all

Update already :cheers:

4M of 6mm tubing.

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Drilled a couple of holes for inlet/outlet

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Looking good so far

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At home at the back of my nano

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I'm using a 200L adjustable speed small 2w mini pump & seems to be producing perfect flow. Just put it in the tank for testing purposes

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Ambient is around 26c at the moment & tank temps are 24.8c, however it's fast heating up here in Melbourne & due for a top of 35c today so these results are not going to be very accurate. No livestock in my tank at the moment as it's still in testing phase

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C-BuZz

 

[stickx911]

def a prior computer geek loil

 

[cr500_af]

au01st;438070 wrote: So is there a better liquid you could fill the container with other than water to transfer the heat from the water pipes to the cooler? Radiator fluid maybe? What kind of hose and pump are you going to use for the tank water? Keep in mind the pump will produce some heat as well.

There is a product sold in the automotive/motorcycle biz by Redline called "Water Wetter". Supposedly increases heat conductivity of straight water through altering the surface tension. I don't know how it works, but I do know that it does. Motorcycle roadracers run it in their cooling systems with straight water to increase the cooling performance. Race sanctioning bodies will not allow antifreeze/coolant in the systems because of the hazard in case of a leak on the track. Coolant is very slippery; Water Wetter is no slicker than plain water. It is the only additive you can run in the cooling system, which must be filled with plain water.
It made its way into the mainstream automotive side by its cooling benefits, not necessity.

 

[c-buzz]

stickx911;438376 wrote: def a prior computer geek loil

Ha ha, yeah you could say that.

Ok i've got a little data in on the chiller. Unit has been running for approximately 2hrs & this is what I've got so far.

My ambient temps have increased to 35c :furious: & it's really starting to get hot in here so it's a good test for the chiller.
Ambients:

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Start temps: 24.8c (water) with 26c ambients increasing fast
After a 2hr run temps: 23.9c (tank water) with 35c ambients

I put the thermometer in to verify that my digital was reading correctly & they were exactly the same.

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The water temps are still dropping but very slowly. I'll leave it on for the rest of the day & see what happens.

C-BuZz

 

[johnr2604]

I love it. I have seen the peltier coolers used before with titanium and plastic water blocks. I could actually see where this might have better exposure time and transfer better. Who knows? Keep us posted.

 

[c-buzz]

johnr2604;438403 wrote: I love it. I have seen the peltier coolers used before with titanium and plastic water blocks. I could actually see where this might have better exposure time and transfer better. Who knows? Keep us posted.

Yeah there is definitely room for improvement/tweaks, but it held my tank at 23.9c all day long (well for the last 5hrs anyway) in 35c ambients. It's just hit 38c outside here in Melb @ 7.30pm :confused2:

C-BuZz

 

[enderg60]

since nothing is in there, turn it off and see what the temps go to please.

 

[enderg60]

C-BuZz;438038 wrote: That's just 1 massive LOL EnderG60! You telling me that 12Litres of water produces more heat than my 4GHZ/1.45v Phenom2 550 unlocked 200W Quad core? If you say yes I'm going to laugh you out of town...


C-BuZz

Produces more heat, no. Harder to remove the heat...YES. Heat stored in water, and heat produced by a hot electrical device are alot different. Add in the losses of going through a second heat sink, then water, then plastic tubing, then water again.

Granted that stuff(heat sinks and peltiers) has gotten ALOT cheaper since gave a crap about overclocking. For a 4gal tank a 3°C drop for $20 aint bad.

But as I said I still want to see some actual usable numbers.

 

[stickx911]

water wetter cut my water cooling rig's temps by 5 degrees. I was surprised, and I didn't expect it to work that way, but I took it