On Thu, 7 Mar 2013, Lux, Jim (337C) wrote:
> Following RGB's suggestions, here is what I have implemented in my garage..
Simple proof that any good idea is already implemented by somebody,
somewhere. Especially one this good...:-)
rgb
>
> Cooled air goes into storage area for wine at roughly 12C, passing through
> to another box roughly at same temperature, but with controlled humidity, for
> curing of sausages, thence exhausts into the general vicinity of the server,
> fiber drop, network switches, and GPS disciplined time reference.
>
> This was evolved from a former, less effective system using the small 4 cubic
> foot "bar refrigerator" used to cool beer/ale/whathaveyou along with a set of
> metal tubes bonded to the "freezer" compartment of the bar refrigerator that
> carried coolant pumped around through tubing in the wine cooling area.
>
> Why change from liquid cooling to air cooling?
>
> 1) pumping losses.. the coolant pump actually puts more heat into the liquid
> than the fan puts into the air.
> 2) corrosion.. even with anti-corrosion additives (chromates and such as
> found in commercial antifreeze), the tubing on the freezer plate corroded
> away. I tried both copper and aluminum in various forms, and they ALL fail
> eventually. I do not like having antifreeze on the outside of the beer
> bottles.
> 3) design of liquid to liquid or liquid to air heat exchangers is a black art
> with which I am not skilled. In fact, even using commercially available
> exchangers (various and sundry heater cores and radiators), it is VERY
> difficult to get predictable performance from the system.
> 4) Too many failure points. For instance, if a critical amount of flow
> doesn't flow through the freezer heat exchanger, the coolant freezes and the
> pump then pumps against a blocked tube, adding heat to the system.
> (obviously, this was a time when I did not have antifreeze mixed in).
> 5) you still need a fan of some sort to transfer the cold from the chilled
> coolant to the wine bottles.
>
>
> I suppose one could go out and get a surplus lab chiller, etc. invest in a
> few dozen feet of stainless steel tubing and fiittings, etc.
>
> When one can buy a perfectly good tiny air conditioner at the end of summer
> for around $50, and cobble together some hose and cardboard with duct tape,
> it's just a lot easier. The smallest A/C is around 6000-8000 BTU/hr, which
> is an enormous amount of cooling for what is basically a large, warm
> refrigerator.
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Robert G. Brown http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/
Duke University Dept. of Physics, Box 90305
Durham, N.C. 27708-0305
Phone: 1-919-660-2567 Fax: 919-660-2525 email:r...@phy.duke.edu
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