Mini Fridge as Chiller....

[!v@n]

yeah you're right. Murphy's an A-hole when it comes to messing things up. I've encountered it many times in school projects and stuff

[Techknowledgy]

Indeed! Sometimes he comes over and just won't leave!

[!v@n]

yeah he alternates between school and work for me.

[!v@n]

It looks like I have just about all the things I need. I just need some tubing to do it. If I do ending up making it I will take pictures and write up a how to. I seems to work well for the guy in the video on youtube, and he's in AZ. It's a lot hotter over there.

[Techknowledgy]

Just noticed you are drilled and plumbed to the garage. Mine is drilled and plumbed to the basement. Coincidence? Hmmmmmmmmm. My basement is 15 degrees cooler than the house so I don't need a chiller. Tanks fluctuates 3 degrees in the summer.

[!v@n]

my tank is 85 right now. good thing here isnt anything but live rock in it. You have a basement in san diego? thats cool, i've never seen a house in SD with a basement. We have a 3' crawl space under our house but it would be a pain to work on the sump in 3' of space.

[Techknowledgy]

Lots and lots of loops in the tube seems to be the key, and a pump that will push water through it pretty well. I would think not fast, but fast enough to add cold water to the sump/fuge that is substantially colder than the water coming in to the fridge. Just make sure it pulls right from the display or sump at the warmest and dumps out right before the return when the water is at its coldest. Be so cool if it worked. (No pun intended.)

[!v@n]

yeah i want to pull the water from the drain side of the sump and put it back in on the return side, right in front of the inlet for the return pump

[dukenukem]

Like I said before, I'm not flaming you whatsoever. I had a mini fridge a while back, and I came to the conclusion of when the time came, I'd just rather buy a chiller. More power to you... Richard Simmons says go for it!

[Phischy]

To make the fridge more efficient, fill up any dead space with water bottles. The fridge will work hard to chill everything down, but the water will keep it more constant thus causing the motor to work less.

[!v@n]

I'll keep beer in it, why waste the space with water?

[Live Water Aquariums]

It's always fun to try a diy, especially if it will save money, but take a look at the link about why this is a myth a few posts back. I've seen this done before on a 60 gallon tank that was only running at 82 degrees and it DID NOT WORK. Back when I worked retail he came in to buy all the fittings and tubing because he saw it in a book somewhere(before the internets). He came back three times to try different size tubings different size pumps. Then he filled the holes in the fridge and bought a chiller. It works and is much more efficient even if you could make it work. I don't mean to be a bummer, just keep the fridge full of beer and try a different type of diy because especially if this is for your 125- it will not work.

[!v@n]

Thanks for the input Kevin. I think I may just go out and get chiller, especially since I just picked up some metal hallides this afternoon

[Live Water Aquariums]

I hope I didn't sound like a **** but I've actually seen a few people try it and be really bummed to ruin a fridge. If it's a big enough one it would make a good kegerator though. (Almost the same project but you only have to drill one hole and mmmm the taste of success.)

[!v@n]

No you didn't sound like an a******, it's not big enough to hold a keg its a pretty small mini fridge.