Water Chiller & Distiller
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
Water Distiller
With the amount of distilled water I have been purchasing at the grocery store I decided to investigate a home water distiller. I found what appears to be a well rated unit on Amazon that was priced nicely and it has tested well. It's the Vevor YMK40101.
It will distill right at one gallon of water in 4 hours. Instructions here
In testing the device I have discovered a way to reduce the amount of cleaning needed. The unit will drip slowly at first as it passed the 3/4 mark it will start to drip faster. When it is dripping 4+ drops per second and the jug is about to the 1 gallon park, shut it down. Don't let it auto shut down as that will bake the residue to the interior of the boiling chamber.
You should shut down before it is totally dry, wipe the wet residue with a rag or paper towels before storing it. Removing as much residue as possible will prevent buildup on the side walls and bottom of the chamber. What little residue is left can be cleaned with Citric Acid, a small quantity of which is included. You can purchase more here...
Distiller Safeway Kroger
The next step was to test the results against the existing distilled water I have, all grocery store stuff. Uklork 16 in Testing Strips were used to test both my home distilled and a couple of store bought distilled water.
From L-R are Distiller Machine, Safeway Brand and Kroger Brand. The only real difference noted was in the Hardness reading. Note, we do not have any type of water treatment in our house, the water is City of Tempe supplied. I ran multiple tests and they all came out as you see them here.