Could I use these coils for a DIY Chiller?

[ca1ore]

I was looking at a chiller but I am a little sticker shocked as I have a 150 and would need at least a 1/2HP or larger per specs. I already have the freezer so purchasing this coil at around $60 doesnt seem that bad. I was going to hook the freezer up to my Apex and turn it on when it went above temp and off at a desired temperature. I was going to come off one of my manifolds for flow.

Sounds like a good idea if these coils will not corrode. IDK. What do you think?

How many degrees of cooling do you need? My system is almost 700 gallons, I have to get about 5-6 degrees of pull down and 1/2 HP does the trick. I’d have thought for 150 plus sump you’d be in the 1/4 HP range.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

If you already purchased the coils and you're only going to use a pump and circulate water through it returning back to the tank then you should be fine I would put it in a 5-gallon bucket if it fits the coils and add water let it freeze and that'll help much more.

 

[P-Dub]

I was thinking I could put the whole coil in a 5 gallon bucket and fill with water. Put that in the freezer to turn into a block of ice around the coils. Do you think that would work to help insulate and keep temperature or would the ice just melt or crack the tubing?

Sure might work. I would make certain the rest o the freezer is filled with frozen jugs as well just to keep the temp in the freezer down. Keep us posted.

 

[JCOLE]

What do you think is too hot? My tank peaks at 80.5-81 during the days. I only have about a month left where it should hit these temps. Do you think it would be worth doing this?

 

[P-Dub]

My Apex settings for my chiller:
Fallback OFF
If Tmp > 81.1 Then ON
If Tmp < 80.5 Then OFF
If Tmp > 85.0 Then OFF
Defer 005:00 Then ON
If Output Return_3_5 = OFF Then OFF
If Power EB8_3 Off 000 Then OFF
If Leak CLOSED Then OFF

My Apex settings for my heater:
Fallback OFF
If Tmp < 79.5 Then ON
If Tmp > 80.0 Then OFF
Defer 005:00 Then ON
If Output Chiller_8_1 = ON Then OFF
If Output Return_3_5 = OFF Then OFF

My Tank running on those settings for a year:

I"ll put an updated picture up today after the lights come on.

 

[P-Dub]

And today, just now.

 

[MikeyG]

Again, a lot will depend on the pull-down temperature needed. The issue setting it up as you plan is the time it will take to cool the freezer to lower the temp. I tried to do it on a 55 gallon in the tropics years ago and it failed miserably. I would hook up a dedicated pump and have that be controlled by the Apex and keep the freezer on all the time instead. I would also load up the freezer with jugs of water and keep those frozen. This way the freezer is at temperature and will likely not run all the time due to the vast amount of frozen water in the freezer already. The water in the coil & lines should not freeze when the pump is off due to it being saltwater. That is the way I would set it up if I were you.

I am glad I ran into this thread. I have a small upright freezer which I'm also thinking of using as a chiller. But my approach is going to be a little bit different. I plan on using 5/8 in tubing and coil them around and sit it on each shelf. The freezer has 4 shelves.
I'm thinking of using a Neptune CRO-20 plump to pump the water and have the Apex control the pump.
Thinking of drilling a 1inc hole in the top of the freezer and attach a bulkhead.
This way the water flows down and exit at the bottom in order to reduce head pressure on the pump.
Total setup could use about 75ft of tubing.
I'll use my Apex to control the pump. Whenever the temperature goes above 77 the pump would kick on and stay on until it drops below 74°. I'm also thinking of using a check valve with the hose so when there is no pressure in the line the valve with close; thus preventing all that water in the hose from flowing back into my sump which would certainly cause it to overflow. Don't know if anybody tried using hoses coiled up in the freezer with the dedicated pump control has a means of a chiller.
But it certainly worth trying considering the price of a decent chiller.