# DIY Nano Chiller



## drknight (May 25, 2009)

With the lights on, my BC14's water temp can get quite warm, so I'll need a way to cool down the water. Buying a chiller is out of the question considering the price. So, I'm thinking of building my own mini chiller. I'm thinking about making a USB powered fridge, and then cutting off the top of a pop can and fill it w/ water to help w/ the cooling. Then i would have plastic tubing from may tank going into the USB fridge and coiled up inside the water filled pop can and then back out into the tank. Supposedly the temp inside the USB fridge can get down to about 8 degrees..

Do you guys think this will work?


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

I would think the flow rate of your SW would have to be very slow unless you had a very lengthy hose within that USB fridge. The difference between 8 degree and whatever temp you keep your tank at may not be enough to cool the water quick enough.


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## drknight (May 25, 2009)

Big Ray said:


> I watched this the other night in national geographic and it was amazing, but not sure how it can be implemented in smaller scales. kinda like what you have in mind.
> 
> they basically had a tube inside another thinner tube, the inner tube carried SW and the bigger carried cold freshwater the opposite way. waters never mixed up but just travelling besides each other coclled it off well,.
> 
> ...


don't think that'll happen.. hahaha but the double tube idea is pretty cool.



UnderTheSea said:


> I would think the flow rate of your SW would have to be very slow unless you had a very lengthy hose within that USB fridge. The difference between 8 degree and whatever temp you keep your tank at may not be enough to cool the water quick enough.


I think i saw a tiny Zoo med pump w/ an adjustable header that may work.
http://www.aquariumsupplies.ca/micro-pump-p-3030.html
and if that's still too strong i should be able to add a value to help control the flow rate
http://www.aquariumsupplies.ca/12quot-ball-valve-p-296.html


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

You could probably put together an water cooling device similar to car's radiator for engine, or water cooling system in computers, but make sure any of these components are safe with reef water.

Whatever you do, do consider adding a submerged pump also adds heat, unless the pump is external.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

If the USB powered fridge uses a Peltier element (thermoelectric element), then you could probably get away with it, but you'd need a good non-reactive metallic conductor to carry away the heat from the water to the element, plus not a huge temp dif it has to work against.

I don't know if profilux still makes them, but they have thermoelectric chillers too - I think they were like a grand a unit.

Using a computer fan might also be an option for you - but you'd have to keep on top of your top ups really well.


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## drknight (May 25, 2009)

I have scraped the idea of using a USB Fridge and went w/ a water cooler. I'm also using an external vacuum pump that uses airline tubing w/ a rating of 3 gph. I've got about 15ft of tubing wrapped up inside the water cooler. So far it's working pretty good. It took awhile but it slowly dropped my tank's water temp down to about 24.5 - 25 degrees. I even had to adjust the temp on the water cooler to the lowest setting. Now I just need to build a cabinet to house the water cooler.


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