bromosapien - 19-6-2024 at 14:01
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.
Sulaiman - 20-6-2024 at 01:31
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 
Texium - 20-6-2024 at 05:49
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.
Jenks - 20-6-2024 at 11:30
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]
Rainwater - 20-6-2024 at 11:31
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.
bromosapien - 20-6-2024 at 14:26
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…