[quote name='"MIDLIFE"'] ok jj, i'll ask how ???? middy[/quote] A cooler,a inline pump.....fill the cooler with ice water and use the pump to pump the cool water threw piping in your res There are several threads about this...pretty low tech
its not in my house. and i was thinking if there was a way to use a mini fridge that would be cool.. cuz i have one at my disposal.
Other way around.... Six 2L soda bottles filled 3/4 full and frozen, a 5gal bucket, 25' of stainless steel tubing, and a pump... The tubing, 3 of the frozen soda bottles, and some water in the bucket.. Then pump the nutrient through the tube when you need to chill.... When the soda bottles melt, you replace with the other 3 that are in the freezer... Simple and works WONDERFUL ...
Yes you can.... They are also built inside the same as an A/C... But if you did not want to tare it apart, the fridge should get into the mid to upper 50s, just put a bucket of water in it, with the coils in the bucket, and pump the nutrient through it all the time.... Because you will cool the nutrient down a little, but you're not going to chill it quickly.. Such as with this DIY.....
ill have too see what i can come up with. it all is just a big headache. blissfully thought my room would just magically be the ideal temp and humidity
Ya, that's why I made this thread... There are SO many which have heat issues and just do not know how easy they can do something about it... Usually they see the $500 cost on a chiller and know it WAY out of reach... But with a $25 garage sale A/C unit, really they can easily make one for like $120 on the cheap...
not to high jack anyones thread. but i have an idea. you know that dryer duct stuff? the metal kind.. what if a submerged a 10 ft piece into freezing cold water and ran air through it from one end( outside box) to another end(inside box. Think the air would be cooled enough?
half correct. its a 2x2x4 1/2 foot closet which is in a work shed. it is my grow area. it gets in the 90s and there are no windows for an ac
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh.... I say no chance of lowering the temp at all.... Google: Hydro Innovations You can DIY that with a chiller and a car heater coil, but you would need at least a 50gal res too...
thank TS & jj for your help, We are going through a heat wave at the moment +42 now, so at the moment i'm lobbing in 2 frozen soda bottles every 3 hours while lights are on. as soon as my car gets back from the garage(engine out job ) i'll be hunting an old a/c down . middy
Yep, it surely will work for you... It's working out GREAT!!! WAY better than I expected too and it's no longer under "watch"... Now I just check the max and min recorded temps of both the chiller and nutrient res as part of my daily routine... Here is the CAP Tmp DNe I'm currently controlling the Chiller and pump's on and off time... Again the sensor tip of these are stainless steel, so I just hang that in my nutrient res, and it's spot on too.... I do want to get a "Hot Water Heater" insulation wrap for my 50gal res, so it too will better hold its temp for longer... I use the DNe, but it's just because it was a spare laying around.. If you want to pick up a cheap controller, the standard CAP TMP is just as good...
I was going to suggest this at the start, but i thought it would be stupid... Im completely blown away that its working... that is excellent news... now i cant wait to give it a go with my own version of this...
yeah, you save money... but unless your really handy this is a gamble... and as you can see jake is pretty handy, when hes not cutting fingers off, but..... there is alot of dialing in to get this up and runnning I actually have a chiller... I just want to do this because I bought things specifically to make my own chiller which according to the net and to jake works about 1/3 better than a purchased 1/3 HP chiller... but like i said, lots of dialing in.... you have to really love the tinker I think your fine purchasing... those machines require enough tinkering with the inline pump sizing.... why those machines don't come with one is just super dumb
Well but that's what this DIY thread is about.... It's ALREADY DIALED IN.... All and all if you wanted to even get the CAP TMP controller and do the exact same setup, you're still only looking @ $250.00, and then with the nice 350gph MAG Drive pump I got for it too, still only $300.00.... And STILL a couple hundred bucks under a chiller of equal size... A 1/2hp chiller can remove 6,000 BTU of heat.. This DIY chiller can do 5,000 BTU... The advantage with a DIY chiller, I can chill more than one nutrient mix.... You can't do that with a standard chiller without adding another res, pump, and coils... Shit if I have to do that, WHY NOT DO THIS DIY, save money, and get exactly what I need.... Next task, the MAG Drive pump is going to supply a manifold, which will supply my multiple chiller lines/coils... Again so I can chill more than one res, and more than one nutrient with One DIY Chiller.... I saved money and got a better setup that has more of a practical functionality for what I personally need... Personally I do not know too many experienced growers only running one strain/res/nutrient/system.... I run multiple systems/res/nutrients/systems at a time, and just could not see spending the money for an inferior chiller.. I promised this DIY last year, that in the summer I was going to do a DIY Chiller.... BOOP, there it is.......... Next summer I promise I'm going to do a 2hp DIY Chiller that is going to run a DIY Hydro Innovations system.... And do another DIY step by step, but more detailed, because this one I was under the gun to just get it working... HardDrive, You have the idea I was going to go after with the DIY, I'm just going to approach it on a much larger scale...
Here is both MAX and MIN recorded temps in the last 48hrs... Yesterday the outside temp was in the high 90s and basement temp was in the low to mid 80s... I have the CAP TMP DNe set to 3, it can be set to 5 and 7 as well..... Personally, I could not be happier with the results..... And I did not even cut myself ONCE Tihspeed.... LOL Of course you see me wearing gloves too....