anyone go from not using chiller to using one?

Budley Doright said:
I use tube in tube heat exchangers ( get them out of used geothermal units) my cooling loop is a closed system, the cooling side which goes outdoors, and is 200' of copper tubing, is filled with glycol. My well water is 55 and goes up to 59 in the summer months.
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I'd like to see a pic of such a heat exchanger.

Glycol doesn't transfer heat very well, it's just there as antifreeze. The best ratio of glycol is in the neighborhood of 20% to 80% water.
 
ttystikk said:
I'd like to see a pic of such a heat exchanger.

Glycol doesn't transfer heat very well, it's just there as antifreeze. The best ratio of glycol is in the neighborhood of 20% to 80% water.
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It is 35% actually in my loop. I needed it to be a bit lower than that actually but then my flow rates suffered. That's another thing I need to ponder because I run an indirect system if I keep the glycol pumps off then I'm not freeze protected to what I should be and if I keep the pumps running then I risk and do freeze the water pumps so I may have to figure out something else. 20% only gets me to -10 C and it gets a tad cooler here some days :o. I use about 400 liters a year filling loops :). My coil is not that impressive, a slinky of copper, 4-50' rolls welded together and laid on the ground behind the shed and covered with junk so it's hidden from view lol. I was kind of pressed for time last year :). Also that's not really enough for what I have in mind and it should be 600' per ton of cooling :o
 
Budley Doright said:
It is 35% actually in my loop. I needed it to be a bit lower than that actually but then my flow rates suffered. That's another thing I need to ponder because I run an indirect system if I keep the glycol pumps off then I'm not freeze protected to what I should be and if I keep the pumps running then I risk and do freeze the water pumps so I may have to figure out something else. 20% only gets me to -10 C and it gets a tad cooler here some days :o. I use about 400 liters a year filling loops :). My coil is not that impressive, a slinky of copper, 4-50' rolls welded together and laid on the ground behind the shed and covered with junk so it's hidden from view lol. I was kind of pressed for time last year :). Also that's not really enough for what I have in mind and it should be 600' per ton of cooling :o
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Fascinating stuff! If my cooling system uses the same fluid everywhere then it's a direct system, correct? Currently I have no glycol in it at all. I have one chiller outside and the other inside in my office. There is a risk of freezing but only in case of prolonged power failure and even then I can drain my lines.

I used a junkyard radiator from a Mitsubishi Lancer and a box fan to create an ambient cooler. During freezing weather it's good for as much as two Tons of cooling!
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If you run glycol through out yup it's basically a closed system. I actually had both system freeze the water side in the heat exchangers this winter so I need to tweak some things and probably make it a closed system
 
Budley Doright said:
If you run glycol through out yup it's basically a closed system. I actually had both system freeze the water side in the heat exchangers this winter so I need to tweak some things and probably make it a closed system
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I have enough heat load that's not gonna happen here without a long outage, lol Strangely to me, the only times I've had freezing problems were in summer with badly designed chilling equipment.

I do not currently run glycol but I could and likely will when the new unit is installed. I'm also really looking forward to having a hot side water circuit, which opens up a whole new world of options!

So I'm on the horns of a design dilemma; I want to maintain one temperature in my cooling system, but differing devices and systems need different temperatures. What to do?
 
It depends on what your talking but if on the heating side you can use mixing valves to limit temps and thermostatic controlled pumps. On the cooling side then it typically is just the cycling of pumps for each circuit with thermostats. My system as it stands right now has the glycol circulating only as required and the water side is on 24/7 to help with DO (waterfall), but as I said I have some kinks to work out lol. My indoor season is almost done and it's getting close to clone producing time so I can devote some thought to what I need to do for next year and take this to a little larger scale :).
 
Budley Doright said:
It depends on what your talking but if on the heating side you can use mixing valves to limit temps and thermostatic controlled pumps. On the cooling side then it typically is just the cycling of pumps for each circuit with thermostats. My system as it stands right now has the glycol circulating only as required and the water side is on 24/7 to help with DO (waterfall), but as I said I have some kinks to work out lol. My indoor season is almost done and it's getting close to clone producing time so I can devote some thought to what I need to do for next year and take this to a little larger scale :).
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Cold side. I'd rather find a way to manage temperatures dynamically, so a given rate of heat transfer can be calculated.

Coldest for the water cooled air handlers, so they can dehuey most effectively.

Slightly warmer for RDWC heat exchange coils, because that water needs to be kept in the mid to upper 60s.

Finally, somewhat warmer water even than that for items that need cooling but should not be making condensation, I'm thinking upper sixties to low seventies, for ballast boxes and things like that. I want to be able to handle everything with my water cooling system.
 
Yep love my water chiller. 65deg. and roots love it. Roots go to crap in warm temps. Using CES nutes n roots look great. Still damn near white and they feel like roots. Not slimy crappy roots from hi temp water. 75 gallons keep at 65 in a 75 deg room no problems after runnin chiller for 3 years
 
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Well proof is always in puddin'
Who likes puddin?
U Puddin heads lol
Today is Bloom day 42
Todays chilled puddin roots
image.jpeg My tidy whities

OMG its a bearded root lol
 
I'll be pissed off if i get a lb.
I got 8 plants in a 6X12
The scrog went great until I hit this Holy Grail Kush with bloom nutes.
I got tired of trimming to keep my screen under control. One guy here laughed at one of my pics. Called it a major haircut. Then it exploded. Now its scrog lst supercrop gone mad. Kept crushin branches for more nodes now its bud sites top to bottom. So many times i thought i killed em but they kept roarin back. I think there's a Lemon OG Kush n a Reseva Privada Kosher Kush hangin out in there too.
 

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ttystikk said:
Cold side. I'd rather find a way to manage temperatures dynamically, so a given rate of heat transfer can be calculated.

Coldest for the water cooled air handlers, so they can dehuey most effectively.

Slightly warmer for RDWC heat exchange coils, because that water needs to be kept in the mid to upper 60s.

Finally, somewhat warmer water even than that for items that need cooling but should not be making condensation, I'm thinking upper sixties to low seventies, for ballast boxes and things like that. I want to be able to handle everything with my water cooling system.
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I'll pm you later but you still thinking Surna?
 
Well things seem to be going well, will be a few more weeks before I can say if I'm really noticing a difference in buds though.

Anyone else wanna jump in? Anyone with a chiller and experiences welcome!

Also don't hate but right now I have all 4 chillers in the grow room... The minisplit handles it just fine, I'll know if it's much worse on the electric bill soon... They don't seem to put out too much heat though
 
how many hp chiller to go from 75-80 water temps down to 65-68 range? Baby 6-7 gallon res. Buddy is using frozen bottles to keep it down for now.
 
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