DIY Chiller - Radiator and Fan.

[.S1]

Yo Bros & Sis,

After trying all possible means to cool the tank, currently proven method is still fan. Chiller is not possible as the heat generated from the exhaust is too high in my cabinet.

I am having a thought where I plan to use a Motorbike Radiator and connect an AC fan blowing on it. The fish tank water will be pump directly into the Radiator through a powerhead or from the outlet of the external canister. My check tells me that Motorbike radiator are fully aluminium and should not rust. Being aluminium the heat dissipation should be good too.

What do you think? Will this work? Other concern is that will it affect the water quality as it pass through the aluminium radiator?

It should not react, since aluminium is fairly unreactive with it's oxide layer. Why don't you experiement? If you succeed, you'll probably get a Nobel prize or something from us

[.S1]

Originally Posted by |squee|

It should not react, since aluminium is fairly unreactive with it's oxide layer. Why don't you experiement? If you succeed, you'll probably get a Nobel prize or something from us

If the manufacturer is honest and fully aluminiun, I agree with you too.

I am trying to find time to experiment, but decided to check with Bros/Sis here who loves Bikes too, to shed some light to this possibility leh. Any particular brand of motorbike radiator to recommend.

Car radiator too big liao, but I think should work too..hahaha...

I did thought of that before, but I don't know how effective it will be because the cooling is still fan dependant.

Pls keep us updated, I'm very keen on this project.

[.S1]

Originally Posted by dOlBy

I did thought of that before, but I don't know how effective it will be because the cooling is still fan dependant.

Pls keep us updated, I'm very keen on this project.

Yo Bro dOlBy, totally agree. If this works, I look forward to the day of much lesser top-up due to evaporation...hehehe...

First task is to get the right type of radiator, I do not ride bike so no knowledge, go to workshop scared kanna con. Hope Bike lovers here can recommend brand and estimated price to start with lor.

This sounds interesting enough

Im a motorbike idiot. Maybe you can provide some pictures of how the
whole thing should look like?

Im too, jaded of topping up water every night. Looking for some alternative
ways to bring down the temperature of the water other then using chillers

in principle, the water will only be cooled down when the temperature of air is lower than that of water inside your radiator. but i wonder it would be the case for planted tank. for motor the water temperature is around 80-90C and air is 28-30C so the water can be cooled down easily. but your planted tank water temperature is just a few degrees higher than ambient air temperature...

fan is effective because it makes the water evaporated and the evaporated water brings away heat. so you can cool down your tank water to the temperature which is even lower than ambient air. without evaporation it's like you use your fan to blow the tank glass wall. of course the radiator has better heat transition than glass but it wont cause any evaporation.

hmm...i am not sure but i highly doubt the effectness.

Originally Posted by liuhao

in principle, the water will only be cooled down when the temperature of air is lower than that of water inside your radiator. but i wonder it would be the case for planted tank. for motor the water temperature is around 80-90C and air is 28-30C so the water can be cooled down easily. but your planted tank water temperature is just a few degrees higher than ambient air temperature...

fan is effective because it makes the water evaporated and the evaporated water brings away heat. so you can cool down your tank water to the temperature which is even lower than ambient air. without evaporation it's like you use your fan to blow the tank glass wall. of course the radiator has better heat transition than glass but it wont cause any evaporation.

hmm...i am not sure but i highly doubt the effectness.

I second this.

Bro .S1, are u into cpu cooling? I am currently using 1.

Seems that radiator cooling will not be very effective if the water temp is not much of a different to ambient temp unless u can "freeze" the radiator like soaking in cold water/media, put in the fridge or likes.

Some Bros here tried peltier, ice probe...but not sure of their success thou.....experience Bros, any sucess stories?

P.S. commercial radiator very dirty yucks! Please wash thorougly before testing....don't want to hear casualty.

[.S1]

Originally Posted by schema

I second this.

Bro .S1, are u into cpu cooling? I am currently using 1.

Seems that radiator cooling will not be very effective if the water temp is not much of a different to ambient temp unless u can "freeze" the radiator like soaking in cold water/media, put in the fridge or likes.

Some Bros here tried peltier, ice probe...but not sure of their success thou.....experience Bros, any sucess stories?

P.S. commercial radiator very dirty yucks! Please wash thorougly before testing....don't want to hear casualty.

Yo Bro LiuHao and Schema,

I understand the logical explanation you have given which is true.

I have been into CPU cooling since 2000 and I have actually bought the CPU cooling device like the one that uses a ehiem pump to pump the coolant to the heat sink device, cost me $300. However, this is not very effective. The idea of having to put the heat sink into the main tank is not good as the fishes can get hurt should they fight and hurt themselves hitting on such heat sink. I also tried mounting the heat sink onto aluminium plate and have a section of the plate mounted internally within one side of the tank, not as effective as fan. Now it is driving my CPU.

One of the workaround I have thought of is having the Radiator (which has the main tank water running within it), soak it in the water of another say 2 feet tank and mount it in such a way where the fan is both blowing the radiator and evaporating the water in the 2 feet tank. The evaporation of the water in the 2 feet tank will help to cool down the water which in turn cool the radiator. At least this way, I only need to top up water in the 2 feet tank and not the main tank. What do you bros think?

Why I am trying to do this is to minimise the heat generated when trying to cool the tank and to have less frequent water top-up, yet maintain temp at around 26-27 degrees max.

Indeed, has any brother tried ice probe before, very tempted to purchase it via the internet.

The cost of it seems high after scouring through sites selling it.There may
be a additional need to get a regulator too which will bring up the price
even higher

Maybe its still feasible to get a chiller as mentioned in another thread.
The price is very tempting indeed
http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/sh...8&page=1&pp=10

.S1,
Yours seem like an innovative idea.Will like to hear further updates on it.