Innovation Labs

Aquarium Chiller

10/23/2014

Here is a build I did to keep my reef aquarium cool in the summer months. The result was a 10 degree improvement which was somewhat disappointing but enough for my tank.
I used an old plastic toolbox as the enclosure.
1. First I cut out a section of the toolbox the size of the cooling plate on the heatsink.
2. Use some glue to attach the heatsink to the enclosure.
3. Attach the peltier chip to the heatsink inside the enclosure.
4. Attach the blue CPU water cooler block to the peltier.
5. Put the power supply in the box and drill a hole for the switch in the front of the box for the on/off switch.
6. Wire in the temperature sensor to the power supply and on/off switch.
7. Install the water pump and wire into the temperature switch.
8. Drill 2 holes in the side of the enclosure for the plumbing to come out of and attach the plumbing to the heatsink and pump.
9. Secure the plumbing in the stainless steel tube.

Here is a part list with links
Alpine 11 PLUS Heatsink
40x40x12mm Aluminum blue Water Cooling Heatsink Block
Thermoelectric Cooler Controller Cooling Plate Peltier Chip
12V 6A Power Supply Transformer
Mini DC 12V 3M 4L/MIN Mini DC Brushless Motor Submersible Water
Temperature Detect Switch + Waterproof Probe (DC 12V)

15 Comments

James

1/8/2015 05:15:12 am

Sweet little chiller!

Tom-André

2/11/2015 11:48:23 pm

Any updates?
Any rusting going on? I wouldn't think that a standard computer water cooler would handle running saltwater? :O
If it works then it is very interesting! :D

You say that you can cool your tank 10 degrees with this, how large is your tank? :)

Jason

3/19/2015 05:09:55 am

Where did you get those stainless steel tubings?

J Marcantonio

3/23/2015 12:58:47 am

The stainless steel tube came from the hardware store. It was a sink fitting that was straight and I bent it in half.

justin

5/20/2015 10:26:50 pm

I was wondering what you used to attach the peltier chip to the heat sinks

6/3/2015 01:44:58 pm

I used a thermal adhesive that came with the heat-sink.

purpdreamz

10/3/2015 09:34:01 pm

It looks like the power supply you listed is a 220v? do you have a recommendation for a power supply that will work with a 120v outlet? What are the requirements and limitations for a power supply using that temp switch and colling chip? I want to make one of these but want to make sure I have enough power. thanks

Power supply

10/6/2015 08:13:12 pm

The power supply is 120v, it puts out 12v DC at 10amps. It would preform better at 12-15amps I think.

10/8/2015 03:54:21 am

I ordered a 12v 6amp psu. will that be enough you think? I also found this thermostat that puts out temp readings:(http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/261497776051?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82).

Animé

12/3/2015 11:49:40 am

Hey, thanks for a great video! Could you maybe just provide a little bit more detailed description of the peltier/sensor wiring to the power?

Anonymous

12/12/2015 10:01:28 am

The Peltier is wired to the power supply on the negative terminal and the positive goes to the temperature switch and then to the power supply.

Melissa

4/1/2016 02:36:31 pm

Do you have anything that shows the wiring diagrams? I just want to make sure that I don't burn anything up cause I hook it up wrong. I already cause a float switch on fire.

Thanks

jeremy

9/19/2016 05:06:45 pm

Just like to 2nd the request for a wiring diagram. Would love to try this but I'm not 100% how to wire it up.

6/27/2017 03:29:34 pm

Thanks for posting this neat project
I'm Interested to found out how you connected the CPU fan.. all the info i found suggested the blk was hot and yellow Neg but it wont run when I've connected my 12v supply? I wonder if the other wires in the 4 core have to be wired in some way to override the variable speed function that operates for the CPU on the motherboard in a PC.

Innovation Labs

6/27/2017 04:30:05 pm

The CPU fan I used was a 2 wire, red and black. If your fan has more than 2 wires you need a driver for it.

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Aquarium Chiller

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