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DIY Glycol Chiller build


Titan

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Hey all, well I've had this old portable air conditioner sitting in the garage waiting till i had some time to try and build a glycol chiller. I set about it today and stripped everthing down disgarding the part i dont need. Here are some photos of todays progress. Its an old Electrolux.

Tomorrow i will add some water and hook up the electrics and see if it starts to cool before moving any further and cutting slots on the esky for the pipe work.

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Is that the evap in the blue tub filled with glycol? Was it an old portable type?

Wouldn't you have more joy with the water coolers in the background? Ready made glycol tanks in them & hook up with a recirc pump in series?

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11 minutes ago, JoeB7 said:

Is that the evap in the blue tub filled with glycol? Was it an old portable type?

Wouldn't you have more joy with the water coolers in the background? Ready made glycol tanks in them & hook up with a recirc pump in series?

Good spot. Yes its a water cooler in the background (swmbo) dont like cold water. If this build fails then i will try that unit.

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Mate I'm an old fridgy so wish I was nearer to you so I could trash your workshop (missus says I keep bringing junk home) 're-purposing' old A/C units 😜😁

<edit>Oh I get it now... I have a SWMBO too 😆

 

Edited by JoeB7
missed something
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6 minutes ago, JoeB7 said:

Mate I'm an old fridgy so wish I was nearer to you so I could trash your workshop (missus says I keep bringing junk home) 're-purposing' old A/C units 😜😁

Should have seen my place as a roof carpenter ha ha ha

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This is done and tested to Cold Crash temperature, hit 2c no problem at all. Last night i switched it off and this morning temperature was still 3.3c so the esky is also doing a fine job. I have one of those power consumption meters (somewhere) if i find it i will see just how much power this is using to keep a temperature at 2c. I ended up putting the lower fan back on to disapate the heat from the compressor. The unit also had an aquairium pump which i used to circulate the water in the esky.

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1 hour ago, JoeB7 said:

So no flood back pushing the temp so low @Titan? What refrigerant does the unit use?

For now it seems to to be working fine however if i didnt put the fan back in place i dont think it would have lasted long. No idea what the refrigerant is though. 

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1 hour ago, MitchBastard said:

Ey @Titan or should I say Magyver. Excuse my ignorance but what will you be primarily chilling?

an SS conical type fermentor ? 

grainfather conical coming Thursday. Second hand and has the cooling pump kit. All i need now is clycol. Didnt realise how expensive it is. Think it will cost me $100 for the qty i need.

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Just ordered the glycol $162 for 20l, still a cheap glycol chiller. Just moved it into a permanent position in the garage. Anyone know the longevity of the glycol solution?

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hermetically sealed years, open to atmosphere ?? Keep the lid on & tape it up. You probably should look into a recirc pump with some grunt as I'm guessing the pump with the unit is just a condensate pump with maybe 1mtr head 

What does the material safety data sheet tell you?

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6 hours ago, JoeB7 said:

hermetically sealed years, open to atmosphere ?? Keep the lid on & tape it up. You probably should look into a recirc pump with some grunt as I'm guessing the pump with the unit is just a condensate pump with maybe 1mtr head 

What does the material safety data sheet tell you?

Not seen it yet, comes with the order.

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