Water Chiller
I do a lot of Black & White developing and tempering the water for processing has always been vexing, especially during the summer when the water comes out above 80F...
A commercial chiller to provide a continuous flow of tempered water was not an option, as they are stinkin' expensive! As I only need a quart or so something simple was in order.
I found this Inexpensive aquarium chiller/heater on Amazon:
Here are a couple of shots of the chiller, right side shows the almost completed system. The unit will be mounted on the wall when completed.
I started out with a Coleman 2 gallon cooler with spout. The lid was not conducive to adding plumbing connections while still providing easy access.
A disk of 3/16 acrylic was used as the new lid. Cleats were added to the bottom side to help keep it in position. An Inlet/outlet fitting was added as well as a filling port with cap. All the white parts are 3D printed from PETG and solvent welded into place. A stand was constructed to get the spout high enough to conveniently fill beakers and other containers.
Chiller unit was mounted on a wall bracket. Underneath the cooler, was a nice location for the heated magnetic stirrer. Connections between the chiller and the cooler were soft 8mm silicone hose. From an ambient temp of 80-85F it takes about an hour to cool to 68F. Once this point is reached the chiller will cycle the the Peltier unit and fans. The unit is set to heat the water if the temperature goes too low. Accuracy is +/- 0.5 to 1 degree F. Once the water temperature stabilizes the unit cycles once every 10-15 minutes.
Only downside so far is the unit needs to be turned off when handling any film as the display is quite bright.
8/21/2024