Cooling alternatives?

The fan fell in the water and stopped working so I've been fanless for a while now. I'm back on the prowl for what I can use, and then I came across this.

CoolWorks Ice Probe with Power Supply

I see it's meant to be put put into the tank via drilling, but that's out of the question for me, so I was thinking to put a PVC "T" piece on my sump return, maybe a threaded T and connect it via that. It'll have contact with the water, I won't have to drill, and would be easily removable.



* Efficient: converts electricity directly into cooling power
* Reliable: the fan is the only moving part
* Easy to Install: one hole, one nut
* Safe low voltage operation
* Environmentally Friendly: no gasses or chemicals
* 1-year manufacturer`s warranty from purchase date

The IceProbe is the ideal cooling solution for small aquariums. This quiet, reliable, and efficient chiller uses advanced thermoelectric technology to directly covert electricity into cooling power.

With its threaded probe, nylon nut, and silicon washer, the IceProbe, can be easily bulkheaded through a 1.25" hole into siphon overflows, prefilters, sumps, or even directly into acrylic aquariums.

A single IceProbe can cool 10 gallons of water 6-8F below ambient air temperature in a standard aquarium. Multiple IceProbes can be used in a single aquarium to achieve higher temperature differentials.

The IceProbe provides continuous chilling power. A separate temperature controller must be used to turn the the device on or off at predetermined temperatures.

Weighing in at only 2 pounds, the IceProbe® is powered by a separate 12 volt D.C. power supply and draws less than 50 watts.


Well, do it make sense?

 

What size tank do you have and how much do you need to cool it?

Also something to think about, I believe these do not have any kind of thermostat so I would highly advise having it on a controller to automatically shut it off if the tank gets TO cold.

 

I would guess it is not a standard pipe thread on the probe so it would not screw into a 1.25" threaded tee. It would be similar to the external threads on a bulkhead fitting that are not tapered and not usually NPT so they leak when screwed into PVC pipe threads if you can get it to go at all. They show it takes a drilled 1.25" hole to insert it into a tank so its probably slightly smaller than 1.25".

 

I've done alot of research on these because I almost bought one. But apparently the general consensus is that these things are pretty crappy. Most people get a 2 degree decrease in temp at most even in tiny tanks such as a 10 gallon.

 

wow, that seems complicated, maybe a more secure fan mount would be easier?

 

Thanks for the input guys.

Well the reason I have up on the fan was because of the massive amount of evaporation I had to deal with. It's really ridiculous!

 

This device will only work for you if have a total system volume of about 10 gallons. The advertisement makes no mention of performance with halide lights or heat producing pumps, powerheads, or other devices. My first impression is that their claims involve testing in a 10 gallon tank with no lights, pumps, or water movement.

I'd suspect you'd be better served buying a fan to replace the one that dropped into the water.

 

it sure is! i can't think of anything other than a chiller that will realistically work long term, if you can get one of those small college dorm style fridges you can make a very cheap, very effective chiller..you set it up like a coil denitrater and let gravity do the work, i can explain it in further detail if you need me to?

 

Thanks sparky,

I broke out the soldering iron and redid the wiring and put the fan back up. Im doing 79-80 for the last couple days. I raised the lights about 3-4" and saw an instant drop of .5, so that helped.

I'm really beginning to accept a chiller is the only true option. As for doing the DIY chiller, thanks for the offer, but it wont work for my space set up