$15 Water Chiller

[[XC] MarioMaster]

So during some routine Ebay trolling I came across this little gem http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=190285090402

I wasn't expecting much, given it was being sold by a general item/surplus dealer with an unknown working condition, but hell for $15 I went for it. When it arrived I was greatly surprised

The unit is absolutely spotless.... brand new. No residue or anything inside the reservoir or piping, just a tad bit of dust on the top of the unit probably from sitting around for a while. The unit contains a Danfoss 101G compressor (134a) with a Speck LNY-2841 water pump. The system is controlled by a digital temperature controller on the side panel. All around excellent build quality and components.

Although the compressor is tiny compared to what is seen for some water chillers here at XS the unit works flawlessly and only takes maybe a half hour to pull the 3-4 gallon reservoir down to 5c (the current preset minimum on the controller)

So yeah, it's not gonna cool a quad core or anything, but it's a cute little unit and a hell of a steal at $15 (plus $17.93 shipping )

Anyway, onto the pics:

big box


safely packed


side view


compressor/condenser


reservoir


testing the pump with some water


pump label


other side


frosty (high rez)
Click Image to Enlarge


I figured some XS members would enjoy seeing this, hope you enjoyed

[systemviper]

Nice Find, you got to love finding a gem in the boneyard

[WhiteFireDragon]

wow you're one lucky guy for finding this great deal. any recommendations on how i should search for something this specific on ebay?

[Sam__]

wow, great find dude, cant wait to see some loaded results. and make sure you bipass that controller .

[OverDozeD]

Great finding
$15 costs only package for that IMHO

[jagass]

Nice job...You're a lucky guy...lol

[[XC] gomeler]

Woah. That's a nice chiller for $15 + shipping. I should troll ebay a bit more

[Plan.B]

that is a nice find. I'd like to know what kind of unloaded temps you can get, might be good for a dedicated gpu chiller. as per domestic order #9477, all my ebay trolling has been suspended indefinitely...

[DonNiger]

Damn you, I had to pay 25 euros for mine (10 for the unit + for parts).

[[XC] MarioMaster]

wow you're one lucky guy for finding this great deal. any recommendations on how i should search for something this specific on ebay?

Hard to say really, the main reason this didn't get any bids besides mine was the fact that they didn't even put water chiller or any common terms in the auction. The only reason I found the unit is I was checking out all the seller's items for sale and managed to see it

[Utnorris]

Great find, the only issue I see is that it is 230v vs. 110v. I guess you could build an inverter for it, but probably worth the hassle.

[CyberDruid]

GRRRRRRReat find

[[XC] MarioMaster]

Great find, the only issue I see is that it is 230v vs. 110v. I guess you could build an inverter for it, but probably worth the hassle.

Funny you should mention that - it wasn't long ago I discovered that the outlets in my dorm were not just wired with the L1 and neutral terminals. Either the connections are wired to legs of a 3phase system or some outlets are L1 and some are L2 for the hot connection. Either way I'm able to get 212vac across the hot terminals of two different outlets, so I've already had the chiller up and running

[Duh]

really enjoyed it.. very good work my friend 220v ftw .. if you could hook some solar panels it would be heaven

[Utnorris]

Funny you should mention that - it wasn't long ago I discovered that the outlets in my dorm were not just wired with the L1 and neutral terminals. Either the connections are wired to legs of a 3phase system or some outlets are L1 and some are L2 for the hot connection. Either way I'm able to get 212vac across the hot terminals of two different outlets, so I've already had the chiller up and running

Can you say "Heaven"?

[HDCHOPPER]

woooooooo man what a smoken deal !
some times the dragon wins & sometimes he dont

[[XC] MarioMaster]

Now that I've done some more testing, and had 3 voltmeters all going at once - I've found my dorm has full access to all 3 legs of 208v 3phase

each meter is connected across a hot connection from 3 different outlets in a delta configuration
Click Image to Enlarge

[biglipzit]

Wow I am never that lucky. Be careful, I am from the Caribbean where we don't have 110V power generation and everything is 240V's... I can assure you a 220V shock is nothing nice....

[Tekdemon]

Funny you should mention that - it wasn't long ago I discovered that the outlets in my dorm were not just wired with the L1 and neutral terminals. Either the connections are wired to legs of a 3phase system or some outlets are L1 and some are L2 for the hot connection. Either way I'm able to get 212vac across the hot terminals of two different outlets, so I've already had the chiller up and running

Hey, can you explain this a little more? So you're saying if the outlets are wired differently for the hot connection you can combine them for 220V??

Can I just rewire my outlets to combine them then?
Like, basically you rigged this thing yourself?
http://refreshyourhome.com/new-steam...CONVERTER.html

I wish I had a clue how to wire such a device since it seems heavily marked up at $200. You just run the hot to the hot of an outlet that's wired opposite? That doesn't sound too undoable, but how do you check whether it's wired opposite or not?

Oh I kinda get it...if you have a circuit breaker/fuse box the outlets should be on different circuits/fuses, because the 220v is split at the box into two 110v's? I think all my sockets are from one fuse, but my light bulbs are all on the 2nd fuse so I'd have to tap the light bulb power, lol.

[[XC] MarioMaster]

Hey, can you explain this a little more? So you're saying if the outlets are wired differently for the hot connection you can combine them for 220V??

Can I just rewire my outlets to combine them then?
Like, basically you rigged this thing yourself?
http://refreshyourhome.com/new-steam...CONVERTER.html

I wish I had a clue how to wire such a device since it seems heavily marked up at $200. You just run the hot to the hot of an outlet that's wired opposite? That doesn't sound too undoable, but how do you check whether it's wired opposite or not?

Oh I kinda get it...if you have a circuit breaker/fuse box the outlets should be on different circuits/fuses, because the 220v is split at the box into two 110v's? I think all my sockets are from one fuse, but my light bulbs are all on the 2nd fuse so I'd have to tap the light bulb power, lol.

Not sure if that thing has any additional stuff in it or not, but it looks like it works the same way. For home outlets you'd need one outlet wired with L1 and Neutral, the second outlet wired with L2 and Neutral. Then across L1 and L2 you have 220v. I get 208v here because the hots are actually legs of 3phase power.

[skycrane]

Wow I am never that lucky. Be careful, I am from the Caribbean where we don't have 110V power generation and everything is 240V's... I can assure you a 220V shock is nothing nice....

you should try 250Amps of 480V while the motor is running

one of the Technicians did that to me a few years ago, i said we need to turn the power off, but he replied that he needs the power on and the motor running to figure out whats wrong..... lucky for him, he had his saftey harness on, so it only blew him about 5feet back... we were only up 240' at the time