Chillers

Deebs

The Sentient Naturewalker
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Didnt know if this would be better here to discuss merch, or in the hydro section....

Looking at chillers ... a 1/10 will be needed. I used to buy a lot of hydrofarm equipment, but what wondering what type of chillers you guys using now a days, titanium? Tossing up between the hydrofarm, and the JBJ....

Hydrofarm?

JBJ?

Iceprobe?

EcoPlus?

Hamilton Technology?

Or are you an i dont use shit besides icepacks..?
 
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spyralout

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Didnt know if this would be better here to discuss merch, or in the hydro section....

Looking at chillers ... a 1/10 will be needed. I used to buy a lot of hydrofarm equipment, but what wondering what type of chillers you guys using now a days, titanium? Tossing up between the hydrofarm, and the JBJ....

Hydrofarm?

JBJ?

Iceprobe?

EcoPlus?

Hamilton Technology?

Or are you an i dont use shit besides icepacks..?
The top link for Hydrofarm is the one I use and is the older model. It also seems to be the most common on the used markets along with Eco Plus. I got mine in very good condition at a really good price used along with a 6 stage RO. It does a pretty good job. The temp setting reads higher than what is measured by a couple of degrees higher, but this may be because the temp probe for the chiller is inside the unit and is also catching the heat generated by the unit.

I think that some people can get away without a chiller if they're in a mild climate where heat is not as much of a factor. They would at least need to use a bennie tea or h2o2. Some have also said they haven't had issues after installing UV. I plan to drop a couple of UV lights in each of my RO collection cans, but I will also continue to run the chiller due to my climate.
 

Deebs

The Sentient Naturewalker
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When you say UV, are you talking about the tank storage sanitizers?

643563071c05b3e1dd0a4339f553.jpg
 

spyralout

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When you say UV, are you talking about the tank storage sanitizers?

643563071c05b3e1dd0a4339f553.jpg
I've seen something similar used, they're $200+. They get hooked inline to your water source I believe. I'm just going to use some cheap aquarium ones for the RO but not the system itself. I haven't run into a pyhtium problem but would like to hedge my bets with the UV. I've seen people post reviews of cheap UV lights clearing up 50 gal aquariums that were totally green to clear.
 

dstroy0

Zeroes and Ones
I have the active aqua chiller, it's been in continuous service since 2017. My cooling solution is closed loop. I run insulated cooling lines from the chiller to a coleman cooler filled with sterilized water and few drops of surfactant (dawn dish soap). Then other pumps move that chilled water through other insulated coolant lines to immersion coils.

No nutrient gets pumped through it, only coolant. It never needs to be cleaned, the coolant needs changed every 6 months. The extra money you spend on cooler/extra coolant lines/insulation/pumps/immersion coils will be saved in your time and the chiller should last much longer.

The chiller's heat exchanger is sealed and unless you have a steam cleaner there is no way to get the gunk out.
 

Deebs

The Sentient Naturewalker
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Thanks @dstroy0 , great info. Where do you have your sensors placed in the loop? At each point? Where you getting your coils, I see some cylinder worm looking ones which would be best fit it res I would think, but there are radiator rectangle ones also. I may want to try this..
 

dstroy0

Zeroes and Ones
Thanks @dstroy0 , great info. Where do you have your sensors placed in the loop? At each point? Where you getting your coils, I see some cylinder worm looking ones which would be best fit it res I would think, but there are radiator rectangle ones also. I may want to try this..

Mine are wort chillers, just a spiral stainless steel tube, they come in several different sizes. Your local brew shop should have a good selection, if it's open. I got mine off of amazon and ebay

I put a powerhead inside of the spiral which circulates the nutrient over the coil.

I put the sensors in the reservoir and inside of my cloner. Any member of the secondary loop.
 

Caddis

Zinger
Didnt know if this would be better here to discuss merch, or in the hydro section....

Looking at chillers ... a 1/10 will be needed. I used to buy a lot of hydrofarm equipment, but what wondering what type of chillers you guys using now a days, titanium? Tossing up between the hydrofarm, and the JBJ....

Hydrofarm?

JBJ?

Iceprobe?

EcoPlus?

Hamilton Technology?

Or are you an i dont use shit besides icepacks..?

Curious what you ended up doing?
 

Indiva710

Rooted
I don't use a chiller anymore complete power whore!!! Now not everyone can do this as I have my grow room in my basement so it's always 68-70 so instead of a chiller I have my res outside the tent.
So I have 2 ac infinity fans a whopping $18 and uses 3watts per fan..cut the 2 holes on opposite side for exhaust and done deal can even hook it up to a temp meter like a inkbird or something
 

Caddis

Zinger
Ended up going with the active aqua chiller. Going to see how this goes, and add UV if needed. I love projects, and the @dstroy0 closed loop cooling system above is on the list....
That guy is so far over my head, even his name is too complicated for me.
I have that one and an old Hydrofarm.

As far as power consumption, not really a consideration for me, it takes power to play the way I want to.
That's great you run without one.
I could, but its part of a system I built.
To me, the tool and equipment are just as much a part of this as the goal, but I’m new.
Goal being, a killer hobby that nobody knows about and help maintain sanity. Well, it not perfect! ?
 

Dynab0000

Vegging
I have the active aqua chiller, it's been in continuous service since 2017. My cooling solution is closed loop. I run insulated cooling lines from the chiller to a coleman cooler filled with sterilized water and few drops of surfactant (dawn dish soap). Then other pumps move that chilled water through other insulated coolant lines to immersion coils.

No nutrient gets pumped through it, only coolant. It never needs to be cleaned, the coolant needs changed every 6 months. The extra money you spend on cooler/extra coolant lines/insulation/pumps/immersion coils will be saved in your time and the chiller should last much longer.

The chiller's heat exchanger is sealed and unless you have a steam cleaner there is no way to get the gunk out.
I run Greenleaf mega crop, it’s pretty clean reckon it would ok running through a chiller. I’m looking at options too
 

dstroy0

Zeroes and Ones
I run Greenleaf mega crop, it’s pretty clean reckon it would ok running through a chiller. I’m looking at options too

I use megacrop as well, I wouldn't run it through a chiller, because you can't clean the chiller out even if you take it all the way apart. All that I have to clean is the outside of my immersion coils, and I can add as many of those as I want. If I need something else chilled I just run plumbing to my chilled water reservoir and pump it through an immersion coil.
 

SCJedi

In Bloom
Ended up going with the active aqua chiller. Going to see how this goes, and add UV if needed. I love projects, and the @dstroy0 closed loop cooling system above is on the list....

I have a Hydrologic stainless UV that looks like the one that you posted above. I think that it is 1" in/out like the Big Boy filter it came with. I think that I used it once and it was because we lived deep in the woods of the Santa Cruz mountains and would often get red tags on our front door warning us of water quality issues. (Boil your water) Now it just sits on a shelf in the garage lying in wait.
 
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