DIY Chiller

[pontiac2002gtp]

Does anyone have any ideas for a diy chiller?  I have an 4 cu.ft. mini fridge im not using i thought maybe i could put a tub of water in it and then coil a bunch of small tubing inside of it and connect a small powerhead to push the water through the tubing the power head would be controlled by a medusa controller and only run when the tank was hot what do you think?

[Bwlr]

I've thought the same thing before... except, what's the tub for?

I thought about just getting a small pump for the sump, hooking the hose up to it, and then coiling a bunch inside the fridge, then have it dump right back into the sump. Kinda the same?

[slandis3]

the problem is fridges are not 100% cycle dutie. They are not desighned to run all the time. If you were going to use it for a small tank, say 30g or less it might work. The compressor in an a/c unit or a chiller will run all day and not have a problem.It might work for a while but you will quickly burn up the compressor in it.

[pontiac2002gtp]

I should have looked into this more before I wrote the post but like you guys said it just wont have the cooling capacity needed for my tank.  I was thinking the tub so it cold cool that water overnight and would then take a while to warm it back up during the day also thought maybe you would get better heat transfer I only need something to offset the heat from my lights.  I'm just going to keep an eye out for a used chiller.

[rmstevensiii]

There is some info in this TOTM thread which speaks about using a water storage container as a DIY chiller.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-01/totm/index.php