Ok, I'm Chilled. I'm Chilled. Relax....56K Warning!

[Naja002]

Well, I've had a lot of fun with my other projects, but I realized a while back that a chiller would probably be my best bet all the way around. So, after doing the car rad(s)--indoor/outdoor, geothermal, bongs and HVC....I finally decided to do the chiller-thing. Of course, the chiller scraps everything else...except the indoor rad--I can still use that for winter heat.

I started surfing around checking out this years A/Cs, rechecking on coolers, etc. I wanted one of the Coleman 150qt. 5-day coolers....but I ended up going with an Igloo Polar 120qt., because of price and availability. Still a good cooler, but the Coleman 5-day's (Extreme/Marine) reviews are outstanding!

Anyway, I ran into a snag with the window that I had always intended to mount the A/C in (yeah, I've been thinking about this for a long time)--most/many of the smaller A/Cs require a minimum 14" window opening (height), but there are a few that don't. In the end though it didn't matter, because I said screw the window, I'll pull the rads and reverse the fans and blow some of the heat out the window.

So, while still trying to talk myself out of this for at least a while longer ( )--I started surfing craiglist. I found a small Frigidaire 5KBTU locally for $50. Said: "Screw it". Picked up the cooler. Picked up the A/C. So, this was done....just a little assembly required...

So, this is what I've come up with:






Plumbing coming out of the chiller headed toward the PCs:





Return to the chiller:




I really wanted electronic thermostat/controls and "Energy Saver", but I would have had to buy a new A/C, so that would have about doubled the cost.



I cut a small opening in the lid for the wires, etc to pass through:



Filled it with weather stripping foam just to help prevent the transfer of air:




Marked my spot for when I close the lid:




Pix of the guts:







I added a small 11w 200gph pump to help circulation inside the cooler. It definitely helps even out temps:



2 temp probes side-by-side:




These are the low end temps that I have it set for--the compressor kicks on:





And then kicks off at:





I set this up in the morning and it ran fine all day. No problems whatsoever. About 20 hrs later--I had alarms going off. I checked the coolant temp=116F/46C. I'm not 100% sure what the cause of it was, but I think and guessed that it was the temp probe. I'm assuming that the part exposed to the outside of the cooler was effected by the low ambient temps--so the compressor didn't kick on. So, I put some tubing over the probe length to help it read the temp inside the cooler only. Seems to have worked:


I haven't had any problems since....


When the compressor is off the unit uses 47-48w for the fan motor. When the compressor is running it uses right at:




I took some on/off cycle times. The off cycle averaged 11min 55sec and the on cycle averaged 12min 12secs. So, for me that's close enough to say that it's going to run ~50% of the time. Problem is: that's ~5 cycles every 2 hours or 60 cycles/day. Seems like a bit much. So, I added 6 more gals of water. Hopefully that will help it cycle just a bit less. I encountered a small leak toward the top of the return bulkhead fitting. So, before I can add anymore (water or anti-freeze) I am going to have to remove a bit of the fluid and tighten that sucker up a bit more. Once it's sealed properly I can add quite a bit more fluid. Physics says that there isn't much I can do about the 50% run time. But it also says that more fluid mass should reduce the number of cycles/day.


Here's a 38sec video showing the circulation and return flow:




No, I'm not interested in sub-zero, etc. I'm sub-ambient now....just above the dewpoint<--worst case. Hoping I stay just above the dewpoint.



Cost:

A/C--$50
Cooler--$57
Anti-freeze--$77
I had everything else.



Other then a few very minor issues....I really didn't have any problems setting this up. My estimate is that it should cost ~$20.29/month to run this, so:

Looks like I'm ready for summer!


ApogeeGT water blocks:










Goes from the chiller/pvc to this manifold and then to the PCs:



Crunchin' Boinc: WCG + GpuGrid:






Index of prior Projects:

Yes, Another Car Radiator Thread....Major 56K Warning!

Bong! Bong! Bong! --56K Warning!

Horizontal Volenti Cooler.....56K Warning!

The Hole…Geothermal Loop…56K Warning!