Quote:
Originally Posted by Magnus A
Great looking setup! I have had similar thoughts but using a freezer and glycol as cooling medium. I have had my doubt that an ordinary waterpump would work with glycol but your experiment shows that water and a refridgerator should work just well enough. IF the water volume cooled down in the refridgerator is large enough.
As we do not have that extreme temperatures in Sweden for to long periods I think it will work.
Back to the drawing board!
Thanks for the idées
Magnus
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Hi Magnus
Check out Martin's set up on the link listed. He used a freezer and was discussing using a hybrid method with an aquarium water chiller in an attempt to get greater and constant cooling. I think he said the freezer struggled and had to work harder than it was meant too. He keeps highland Nepenthes. Not sure if he still uses the fridge.
http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index...howtopic=28146
I also kept fish. For the last 7 years I have kept marine fish and learnt a lot about using water chillers. Stupid me, I still trusted the manufacturers specifications on this experiment. I advise, whatever a maker says the product can do, cut if by half.
My dad is was a mechanic too.. So radiators/water/air/cooling gel for me. To simplify the process; the cold water chills the radiator and the warmer air blowing over the radiator is cooled, but the warmer air then gradually raises the water temperature and the chiller has to cut in again and cool the water back down. My chiller works for 4 minutes or so to cool water from 18c to 14c/13c, then turns off. The water then gradually rises again to 18c over about 4 minutes as the air warms it.
All chillers are rated by horse power and how many litres of water an hour they can chill. My 1/10 h/p does 400 Ltr of water off the top of my head. Tank is 600 litres of air. I recommend you get something to do four times or more litres of water for air if you want serious cooling. What the issue is, how cold can you make the water and hold it at that temperature, and by that cool volume of air in case against ambient air. It is better to have too strong a chiller than too weak as you can always set it warmer.. But if the chiller is too weak for what you want to cool, well, too bad, you are stuck with it.
I hear too that some people modify chiller thermostats so to cool to 0c for computers, which perks my interest. Hailea Chillers can lower water to 4c at the lowest depending on ambient temps. Other brands such as Resun can only go to 14c - so check it before you buy one.
With my 1/10 H/P chiller setting 13c for water I can cool the air in the wardian case by 10c below ambient air temperature in the room for my 600ltr air. So when the room air is 33c, I get 22c to 23c in the wardian case. I doubt for such a small chiller I can go much cooler.
However, what I have done on this tank is by and large a learning experience. I am no expert. So please dont take what I have learn as gospel.
Brett
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