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Another cooling system

  • #162
I wonder if all that tweaking and improvising is just a waste of time. Perhaps I should just take the evaporator coils from both water cooler and refrigerator and stick them into a Styrofoam box with water like robthered did with his AC unit :)

...I have too much free time..

P.S. Funny I was just thinking that I left the car at our family mechanic's shop today and that I should ask him about spare small radiators/heat exchangers/heater cores when I'll pick it up :) and then saw your last post!
 
  • #163
Common sense indicates if it was an easy to do, efficient method.... people would be doing it on a larger scale....

dunno what to tell ya.... youre in awfully deep at this point mate
 
  • #164
So besides using the heat exchanger instead of copper coils what would you have done differently, or what would you recommend for the current setup?

Actually, I was wondering, if you were designing a cooling system for a large terrarium from scratch how would you have done it (just rough outline)?

Thank you!
 
  • #166
LOL, i edited out the flattening of coils comment LOL.....

Gill, dont know for sure mate..... but a few copper coils are very ineffiicent

Either way would be an improvement IMHO....

surface area for exchange greater with the all the fins in the radiator. More surface area more area for release of heat. Trying to maximize surface area of the thingy for releasing the heat per unit of area. Sort of the deal we see with plants growing in light limited areas making leaves to optimize for surface area of light capture.... Dunno how things work out for radiators or ACs.....
 
  • #167
Yep, going to stick one radiator into the water cooler assuming it fits. And will try to find another larger radiator for the refrigerator section. In addition I'll get some insulation for the aquarium sometime late this week.
 
  • #168
im thinking of just buying a high rating energy efficient window A/C and hooking it up to a thermostat with a probe in the tank. have a simple insulated duct pipe to direct the air into the tank. The portable A/Cs are more money and mu tank will be next to a window anyway.
 
  • #169
im thinking of just buying a high rating energy efficient window A/C and hooking it up to a thermostat with a probe in the tank. have a simple insulated duct pipe to direct the air into the tank. The portable A/Cs are more money and mu tank will be next to a window anyway.

If you're going to go that route I'd suggest modding the AC like i did. You'll get a hell of a lot better energy consumption using this method rather than just blowing the air from the AC into the Tank. Currently my AC only runs about once an hour for a 2 minute interval compared to running every 15 minutes when i just placed the AC rad directly in the tank last summer. The mod is really easy, especially if you get an analog AC (one with knobs, not digital).
 
  • #170
can you take pics of the inside of your cooler for me?
 
  • #172
i dont know if i want to screw with the A/C too much as I may use it for more typical applications later on.
 
  • #173
Check Kijiji. I got my AC for 20 bucks. Just troll it everyday and you'll get lucky. then modd it up :)
 
  • #174
so rob, all you did was take the evaporator out, put it in the cooler of water and extend the piping from it to where it was originally hooked up?
 
  • #175
and an additional question, how do fountain pumps perform at such cold temps, any issues, stalls?

Also it would be very helpful if a picture of circuit-board on which you have installed the switch and a fuse could be posted!

Thank you very much!

P.S. found this:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/822/img2772av.jpg/

robthered, so you attached the 0.75hp switch between the two black wires, and added a fuse somewhere before the switch. An you also disconnected the red cable from the board to keep the fan at LOW.

Did you add the SCR fan speed controller to high speed wire later?

Thank you!
 
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  • #176
got the top popped off my A/C. help whenever you have th etime robthered :)

IMG_5795.jpg


IMG_5796.jpg
 
  • #177
so rob, all you did was take the evaporator out, put it in the cooler of water and extend the piping from it to where it was originally hooked up?

Yup, you can find a complete walkthrough of what i did here: http://pages.videotron.com/beast/index.htm click the link for Modified AC for Highland Nepenthes Terrarium

It includes everything like wiring diagrams and whatnot.

and an additional question, how do fountain pumps perform at such cold temps, any issues, stalls?

Also it would be very helpful if a picture of circuit-board on which you have installed the switch and a fuse could be posted!

Thank you very much!

P.S. found this:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/822/img2772av.jpg/

robthered, so you attached the 0.75hp switch between the two black wires, and added a fuse somewhere before the switch. An you also disconnected the red cable from the board to keep the fan at LOW.

Did you add the SCR fan speed controller to high speed wire later?

Thank you!

No issues with the fountain pump, as the water temps are coldest @ 4-5c. I'm using pure distilled water currently. No need for lower temps as the reservoir is large enough to deal with the heat load.

Check the link above for the circuit board modification. I just pretty much did a straight connection with the power and the compressor, with a switch in between. Didnt have to add a fuse as there is already on built into the AC's plug.

I left it connected to the low setting. No need for high setting with the current load.
 
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  • #178
robthered,

Did you bypass the thermostat that was on the AC or there was none? Myles seems to have it. His unit is analog right?

NVM, i just read, you moved it away from rad. Got it.
 
  • #179
rob, the pipe connecting the rad to the unit isnt long enough to reach into a water cooler in front. This is where I am confused. I cannot cut into the line and add pipe as it is pressurized with coolant right?

ill take more pics to try n show it
 
  • #180
Ya I think it's analog, but the picture is kinda blurry. If it's not knobs then it's analog and you wont have to rewire it. You'll just need an external thermostat to control it.

Myles, you just gotta remove that hamster wheel. Then VERY CAREFULLY bend out the rad. Make sure you support both ends when you make bends, you dont want it to kink or you might fubar it. the pipe bends easy and you can do it with you hands. Once you've bent it out put the frame and stuff back on it. check my website
 
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