bromosapien
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aquarium/hydroponic chiller
Anyone have experience repurposing such products for amateur laboratory use, like for condenser or cooling bath water? i found a good deal on a
“1/4HP, 280w” model - active aqua AACH25 specifically.
i think the lowest temperature setting is 50F but it should be easy enough to override the temp probe connection for manual control, or perhaps splice
in a PID to the compressor for custom control. it’s rated to maintain that temperature in a larger volume of water, so with a much lower volume of
water and keeping the compressor on i expect i could get lower temps.
basically i’m tired of freezing a bunch of ice ahead of time and having to go back and forth to my freezer a bunch during long distillations,
especially those which require keeping the receiving flask cold also.
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Sulaiman
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Had a quick look at a manual for your model:
2300 BTU/h, which is 674W of cooling power - plenty.
How low a temperature can be reached will mostly be determined by the refrigerant,
which I did not notice mention of.
Looks very useful - I'm jealous 
CAUTION : Hobby Chemist, not Professional or even Amateur
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Texium
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My main concern with that device is whether it’s possible to reduce the flow rate to a reasonable level for a condenser. The pump is undoubtably way
overpowered for what you want to do with it. Even at the slowest setting it may still be trying to move too much water.
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Jenks
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I thought I remembered an alternative that is designed for lab use, but this one apparently requires adding ice, and the selling point is that it
provides low vacuum:
VEVOR Circulating Water Vacuum Pump Air 60L/min Stainless 180W Lab Equipment
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185530193645
[Edited on 20-6-2024 by Jenks]
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Rainwater
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Another concern is compressor cycle time which varys by compressor type. For a completely unknown system, a minimum off period of 3-5 minutes between
starts should be used.
"You can't do that" - challenge accepted
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bromosapien
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Apparently the refrigerant used is R134a. I don’t know enough about compressors or refrigerant to calculate any temperature minimim from that
though.
Also as far as I can tell it does not have a built-in pump. I have an aquarium/foundain pump that is only slightly overpowered for a condenser, so I
think I could just splice the chiller in line.
i’ve also thought it may be more worthwhile to just pick up an AC unit - found an “8000BTU” unit for even cheaper - and disassemble it, submerge
the cold side heatsink or whatever it is into my condenser tub…
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