ICE PROBE by Cool Works....question on plumbing

L

lacybiker2000

Hi all, I've had to be away from the board for a while for family reasons... anyhow, I have a question for the great minds on here (and yes I mean you, as you most probably know more than I). I generally have a problem with heat in the summer...so am considering an ICE Probe chiller by Cool Works...as I have a 30 gal aquarium. It seems to be more in my price range than other chillers I've considered, and it seems more reasonable as I only have nanos at this time. My lighting is 130w of PC. My filtration besides LR and LS is a HOB fuge with skimmer. I'm wondering how well these ICE Probes work, and how to plumb it to my tank...I'm not very knowlegeable on plumbing aspects...that's why I use the HOB as it's pretty straight forward. Please, let me know if you have experience with these or can help in any way. Thanks in advance.
 
I take it this is the one you are referring to??

http://www.aquariumguys.com/iceprobe.html

From the details on that listing, it sounds like the whole thing (white section on top of photo) is inserted into a bulkhead hole.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~chillers_coolworks_iceprobe.html

So to install, you would need to drill a 1 1/4" hole into the tank or sump and slip it into that hole like you would any other bulkhead drain/return.

You'd also need the additional controller listed in the marine depot link to trigger it based on a temp range. Once you have that installed and the controller set, it will run on its own.
 
I have seem people cut a hole in the top of the HOB and mount the chiller that way. The only problem that i can see with the chiller is that the temp. controller that works with it is kinda weird. You use a screwdriver to set the temp....no fancy digital display. Other that that they work great from what i have read.
 
Would there be any way to have it like hang down into the water of the HOB fuge? Without drilling? Ok, I admit I'm weird, but I really don't wish to damage my HOB or take it down as it's running great....BTW, my fuge light is on when my tank lights are off to kinda balance PH.
 
Yeah, im sure that you could rig it that way, i would try to make a bracket to assure that the chiller does not fall into the fuge. the more that i think about it, i dont think that the chiller will squeeze into the HOB fuge because of the width of the chiller after the titanium probe(the part that needs to be under water).
 
@lacybiker2000 wrote:
Would there be any way to have it like hang down into the water of the HOB fuge? Without drilling? Ok said:
No idea... Think it would depend on the mechanism it uses to suck water in and if it was strong enough to get water up into the device.

You might try looking at the nano boards, since they are more likely to have build threads etc with these chillers.
Click to expand...
 
These are very similar to the drop in titanium chillers, they do not pump water in or out, they just kind of sit in the water. They do however need to be in a dedicated water chamber, the water cant fluctuate. Your best bet would be to either drill a hole in your HOB fuge, or use a HOB filter like a penguin or a aqua clear, and drill a hole in the lid of the filter and mount it that way, that way you can also just take the HOB filter and the chiller of when not in use.
 
You can get it already installed in a filter:

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~chillers_coolworks_microchiller.html


If you are willing to spend $200 on a chiller, check out the AquaEuroUSA Mighty Pro CL-150 on marinedepots site. It says it is for 24gal tanks but I bet it would work for a 30gal depending on how the temp change you are needing.

If you have the room you might want to check out the Azoo cooling fans that clip on the aqaurium. Marinedepot also carries them.
 
I have had one and used it for about 6 months. I used it on a 27-28g frag tank. And it worked very well. As far as mounting it or suspending it in the water. Yes you can do it. thats how I had mine because my tank was not drilled. I acually zip tied it to the cross beam of the tank where the probe section is submerged in the water. I would make a suggestion that be careful with the thermostat as mine was very touchy. I know on mine I thought I had mine set correctly, yet I woke up the tank being around 73-74 degrees. Compared to the 82-84 that it usually ran. And the probe will overpower a heater of which it did mine easily. In turn I set it up to come on with my metal halides to compensate for the heating of the lights. any more questions I might be able to help. hopefully this helps
 
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