DIY chiller

St3ve · Oct 11, 2010

it seems to me that running this little freezer:

full of coiled hose would be far cheaper than a regular chiller. $24 per year operating costs (per website)

Even if you spent alot of money on the very best coil or even something like this:

it seems like you're still way cheaper on start up costs as well as operating.

Any one have any experience with such a system?

St3ve · Oct 11, 2010

or a fridge in case the pump fails so the it doesn't freeze and break stuff

aSilvrHaze · Oct 11, 2010

freezers aren't meant to handle a constant heat load, so they don't work very well for this sort of thing. Have you looked into window A/C converted chillers?

CelticEBE · Oct 11, 2010

I tried to make a DIY Chiller and failed miserably. Wound up finding what I needed on Craigslist for 50 bucks more than my DIY attempt. Spend the money on a chiller.....you will be happy you did.

aSilvrHaze · Oct 11, 2010

which method did you try? I've been thinking heavily about chillers and making a DIY one.

CelticEBE · Oct 11, 2010

I did the same thing he was planning on doing. I know you can do it with an AC and have it work out alright. I just lucked up and got a 1/2hp for 350.

CANNABASE · Oct 12, 2010

A real homemade chiller

St3ve said:
it seems to me that running this little freezer:

full of coiled hose would be far cheaper than a regular chiller. $24 per year operating costs (per website)

Even if you spent alot of money on the very best coil or even something like this:

it seems like you're still way cheaper on start up costs as well as operating.

Any one have any experience with such a system?[/QUOTE HEY GUYS I USED AN OLD FOUNTAIN SODA MACHINE IT IS A CHILLER IT KEEPS WATER AT 32 DEGREES AND HAS A MIXER IN IT THEN JUST HOOK UP A PUMP AND BAM YOU HAVE A BAD ASS CHILLER I COOLED ALL 4 1000 WATT HPS AND COULD STILL COOL THE ROOM WITH ONE HOMEADE ICEBOX THE UNIT LOOKS PRO I TOOK OFF ALL THE FOUNTAINS AND MY 1/2 HP PUMP FROM HFT MOUNTED PERFECTLY WERE THE SODA DRAIN WAS ILL POST PICS LATER

CANNABASE · Oct 12, 2010

I built my chiller out of a old fountain pop machine it is a chiller and is made to run long periods time they chill the water to 32 degrees and have a mixer that keeps the water from freezing

St3ve · Oct 12, 2010

So Celtic, you actually tried doing something similar and it failed? How so?

The two reasons I'm asking about it is that I already have a fridge/freezer so I wouldn't have to buy one, and it looked to use far less power on a monthly/yearly.

Thanks for the info

caveman4.20 · Apr 16, 2014

Anyone make a chiller out of a window unit ac?

aSilvrHaze · Apr 16, 2014

Yes, mine is running right now. I just disassembled the unit and bent the cold coil down into a brute 20gal trash can. Then hooked up a danner mag pump to some lines running to my stainless steel coil inside of my rdwc head bucket.

aSilvrHaze · Apr 17, 2014

8000 btu unit, with a 25' stainless steel coil cooling a 4 site rdwc and 6" Ice Box cooling my non air cooled 1000w in a 5x12x8 space to 80 degrees with 60ish water temp and at 70 it still keeps the room around 84-85. I have the a/c's temp probe submersed in the water but hopefully soon I'll have a Ranco unit hooked up to it.

DapperDon · Apr 17, 2014

What cracks me up and I see this on every forum that exists is when people keep attempting the chiller diy. You will spend thousands in equipment, lights, seeds, nutes, clones, ect. But spend that last $250-450 on a chiller that you NEED? Fuck that son. I am going to spend good money after bad and hour after hour trying to Frankenstein this busted ass air conditioner into a chiller. And on the rare instance when it will run, it is never effective. It never lasts long, and nobody realizes the toxic shit you are plumbing through those coils that are not meant for that purpose. Fire hazard? Maybe. Electrocution? Probably. It just makes zero sense to me. You have to figure, once you get your air conditioner or what ever appliance that is around $100 or so, then the other parts needed to hobble this thing together, say another $50-75 and then top it off with say 3-6 hours start to finish (now remember kids, your time has value as well) at whatever hourly rate that you feel your time is worth or even to just round it out to what those of you who work make per hour and add all of that up. And what do you have for your efforts? An over priced POS that doesn't really work that good, and if it does it won't work for long and when it goes out or poisons your rez then you are dumping more time + money trying to keep Frankenchiller working. Meanwhile your temps are climbing like hell and now your beautiful crop has root rot. Why? All because you thought you would save some money on a device that ended up costing you WAY more than what a cheap brand new chiller would cost. Can someone explain this to me? Can someone please help me understand this mindset that I see on every forum? I just don't get it.

caveman4.20 · Apr 17, 2014

DapperDon said:
What cracks me up and I see this on every forum that exists is when people keep attempting the chiller diy. You will spend thousands in equipment, lights, seeds, nutes, clones, ect. But spend that last $250-450 on a chiller that you NEED? Fuck that son. I am going to spend good money after bad and hour after hour trying to Frankenstein this busted ass air conditioner into a chiller. And on the rare instance when it will run, it is never effective. It never lasts long, and nobody realizes the toxic shit you are plumbing through those coils that are not meant for that purpose. Fire hazard? Maybe. Electrocution? Probably. It just makes zero sense to me. You have to figure, once you get your air conditioner or what ever appliance that is around $100 or so, then the other parts needed to hobble this thing together, say another $50-75 and then top it off with say 3-6 hours start to finish (now remember kids, your time has value as well) at whatever hourly rate that you feel your time is worth or even to just round it out to what those of you who work make per hour and add all of that up. And what do you have for your efforts? An over priced POS that doesn't really work that good, and if it does it won't work for long and when it goes out or poisons your rez then you are dumping more time + money trying to keep Frankenchiller working. Meanwhile your temps are climbing like hell and now your beautiful crop has root rot. Why? All because you thought you would save some money on a device that ended up costing you WAY more than what a cheap brand new chiller would cost. Can someone explain this to me? Can someone please help me understand this mindset that I see on every forum? I just don't get it.

Most mj growers are clever, witty , resourcefull and broke or speak for myself I am broke and plus this whole growing industry has evolved and still borrows technology, there's so much equipment being sold that isn't manufactured specifically for growing bud and those things get marked up crazy, no one is stopping you from paying that price
And you bring up good points about mistakes made with dyi chillers, those considerations should be applied

stickyfing3rs · Apr 17, 2014

The nicest chiller I've come across is a home built chiller from a window AC. I have bought several eco plus chillers and they just shit out on me after a couple years. Its not a diy like your thinking... Its made by replacing the original coil with a reservoir and coils inside Then recharged. Made the same way an eco plus chiller is. Just not Mickey mouse bullshit parts. Runs way less then any of my old chillers and cools water way faster. I'll see if there's one on Ebay and throw up a link

stickyfing3rs · Apr 17, 2014

Ok maybe not home built, but kinda ghetto looking. But damn does it work.

DapperDon · Apr 17, 2014

I look at things like warranty, replacement options when it breaks down, but mostly value for the money as well as my time. I would rather spend more for reliability than save a buck by taking a gamble. But that's me.

DapperDon · Apr 17, 2014

stickyfing3rs said:
Ok maybe not home built, but kinda ghetto looking. But damn does it work.

It looks cool, but that is definitely home made. You can see the paint sag on the PVC containment tank in the photo. (My degree is in industrial engineering so I notice things like that). But I get your point.

stickyfing3rs · Apr 17, 2014

Oh yea I agree, a FACTORY isn't making these but not a diy deal either. They work great never the less. Just thought I'd throw it out there for you guys. Actually the day I hooked mine up I was testing it and my 70 gal res went from around 70 ° to 38° in 2 hours. Obviously I was just testing it at that temp. Nothing ever freezes up like my old chillers either

DapperDon · Apr 17, 2014

That sounds really powerful. How long did you test it for to check for freeze/thaw out limits?

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