Summer = hot res, NOT

[hydrorascal]

Summer is about here and with it.. 80 degree plus res's and lots of dead plants if precautions are not taken.

Buy a chiller most frequently used in the aquarium industry, normally about $600.

Start saving 1 or 2 liter bottles with the caps. 12 to 16 applied in rotating sets of 6 to 8 morning and evening will keep a 15 gallon res under 80 in a non AC'ed house in SoCal.

[The Cannarchist]

I've been having these visions....

A chiller system using

1 Apt sized chest freezer
40 Gallons anti-freeze
2 fan Swamp cooler

Recirculate the A-F through the Freezer,if you can get the temp low enough to start it holds for hours.It's a cheap A/c really,but you can pick up all the pieces for free if you know where to look.

I think I'm getting cheap in my old age.

[The Cannarchist]

Just looking for a pump that can handle temps of minus 20 or so

[hydrorascal]

-20 ?? you must be 'visioning' a move to a very hot desert.....

[LordOvertoke]

celsius man, not fahrenheit. ;)

LO

[The Cannarchist]

It's a dual purpose idea...

Fill the chest freezer with a mix of 50%Ethylene glycol/50% water
Drill 4 sets of 3/4" holes in the top of the freezer lid.2 input/ 2 output.
On one set of In/out you connect an old truck radiator with 2 x 10" radial fans and circulate the chilled liquid to act as an A/c unit.
The other set of in/out is used as a nutrient cooler system,with nutes being pumped through some sort of metal tubing inside the freezer unit to chill the recirculating nutrient.
I'd use thermostats to turn the pumps on and off ,temp sensitive.

Second hand chest freezer = $50
Used Radiator =$50
2 x 10" radial fans = $120
3/4 " tubing = approx $30
Fashioned copper coil = $30
2 Thermostats = $80

So for under 400 bucks you can get your own A/C and nute chiller in one.

What you need to do is let the freezer run 24/7 for 3 days to bring the temp of the freezer liquid down.Then start the unit in the garden.The 12 hrs of night time should be enough to bring the temp back down after 12 hrs of day use.

Seemed like a good idea to me......as I'm king of the ghetto style grow!

Anyone tried something like this?

[Glass Man]

Sounds like a lot of work, to me. Temp's not an issue where I live, but if it were I don't think I'd go to all that trouble to deal with it. The ebb & flo guys say res temp isn't an issue for them, I'd probably go that route.

[c-ray]

howabout an electric waterpump from a car

[country boy]

....

[hydrorascal]

The even .. cheeeper ... way to go is with a dorm sized fridge.

VERY VERY carefully poke two holes in the top that allows 1/2" id tubing to thru snuggly. Pick up ~50 feet of 1/2" tubing and put the roll inside the fridge.

Add connectors or a pair of barbed fittings to each end and run those to a series of loops along the wall or sides of your res... connect one end to a powerhead ..and tie the other one down...

turn the fridge on.. and play a bit with setting of how cold...

[hydrorascal]

cheeeeper yet.... get a 20 gallon Igloo.. used works great... poke them same 2 holes in it... fill it full of ice with just enough water to keep a powerhead running... add a timer and adjust timer setting to keep the res in a proper temp range.....