What should I look for in an A/C unit to be turned into a chiller?

[Inquizator]

I'm considering attempting to mod an A/C unit into a water chiller and was wondering what I should look for in an A/C unit for this application? I know a lot of people just use whatever they can get ahold of, but I haven't been able to just get ahold of one so I'll prolly have to buy one, and if I buy one I wanna get as close as possible to exactly what I need, hehe. Thanks in advance for the help!

- BTU is mostly for load, not lowest temp, right? So, for a p4 3.0, nb, and radeon 9800 pro, with everything OCed as much as I can get it, would a 5,000 BTU compressor be enough or would I need more?

- If i'm looking at it in person I could check evap size to see if it would fit in the cooler i'm planning to use as my res, if it's online I could just make sure the width of the entire unit isn't too long.

- Is compressor HP part of what determines temp ability? Or is that just heat load too?

- Can I find out what refrigerant it is charged with? Does this matter much or are all the refrigerants i'd find in these units be similar enough not to matter?

- Anything else I should check out?


Thanks for all the help

[chilly1]

Most ac's in the US have R22 as a refrigerant and If you use R507/404 in it you either need to change the oil or add a little propane to get the oil returning. A 5000 btu AC will work fine so as compact a design as posiable. GOTO the home store in your area Home Base, Lows ect. The AC's this time of the year are on sale... A 5000btu is around 100.00

[Inquizator]

Is r22 a fine refrigerant to use? As in, is it still worth it and I wouldn't be missing out on a WHOLE lot if I didn't plan on changeing it? Maybe later once I learn more, but right now this will be my very first project, just to learn on.

So, just find the most compact 5,000 BTU or so unit that I can that is reasonably priced? At this level that's pretty much all I need to be concerned with?

[gouda96]

My 5200 btu unit was $100 at homedepot, and came with r22. It drops down to -35c.

The 5000 btu units were $80, but were all sold out, and I am pretty sure it was exactly the same thing inside, but without a remote.

These were maytag units btw.

[gkiing]

How much a month does it cost to run your chiller gouda? I'm just wondering because I dont want to pay 50$ a month extra.

[gouda96]

I just got mine running last week. If you run 24/7 I think it should cost about $50, but you don't need to run 24/7. Even if you are using your machine you could go like 1/2 hour on, 1 hour off. If you insulate realy well you might be able to go longer. If you have to run 24/7 full out you might not want to go for an ac conversion, but you shouldn't have to.

also, even after I run it for 1 month I wouldn't be able to tell. We use enough electircity in my house to power a city for a year, so the $50 wouldn't even be noticeable :D