Cabinet for my ballast, chiller &......

[Krish]

So I figured today I'd put my guys to work and do something for myself for a change, so I started building a cabinet to hold my chiller as well as my PFO ballast. I made it so that it would interlock with my existing stand (so it could look like one piece) and came out pretty nicely so far. The ballast isn't in it yet because I have to remove the cabinet to formica it (to match my stand) and was just doing a test fit, but I figured I'd post a photo of what I got done so far. Hopefully, I can get in finished up soon...


I also had a "vision" which may cause my wife to cut my $%!, but I may have my friend custom build me an acylic tank to go on top of the cabinet to use as my quarantine/frag tank for my corals when I start getting them. My wife thinks a plant is going on top! Shhhh....:lol:

 

[mmkeeper]

Be careful that you have enough air circulation for your chiller and ballast to keep them functioning properlly. It looks great thou.

 

[rudeanduncouth]

That is exactly what I want to do with me ballasts. I am having problems though since the end of the pig tail coming out of the hood allows 8 inches for each cord, which includes 3 MH, 2 VHO, and fans. So basically I can't get any ballast more than 8" away from any other ballast.

 

[DonW]

Krish,

You need to get a muffin fan or two on the back or side blowing out. Recirculaing the hot air across the condensor is going to cut the efficiency way back. It wont be able to convert from liquid to gas and back again. This is why your car has it on the front with air being drawn through.

Don

 

[Krish]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Don, there won't be a door on it at all and the back is open. It will be open just how you see it now. Do you still think I need a fan? If I do, I will trash the whole piece. No sense on having that there with the front and back open and still need a fan...I'll just leave it as it was before on the open floor.

 

[bradreef]

I have the chiller and I would really recomend plumbilg through that wall there. that will turn into a heat box. especially with the ballast and the added heat will shorten the life of the ballast.

 

[DonW]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Don, there won't be a door on it at all and the back is open. It will be open just how you see it now. Do you still think I need a fan? If I do, I will trash the whole piece. No sense on having that there with the front and back open and still need a fan...I'll just leave it as it was before on the open floor.

I personally would either go with fans or for go the cabinet. Optimum would be to put it outside but you may get away with just pulling out from the wall further. FYI you can get even better performance out of it if you put a ugly fan in front.

Don

 

[Krish]

I have the chiller and I would really recomend plumbilg through that wall there. that will turn into a heat box. especially with the ballast and the added heat will shorten the life of the ballast.

Thanks Brad, but no can do with the wall...My wife would kill me!! I could however, not put the ballast in there and just leave it on the other side or make room in my stand to the back where it is open after I re-plumb my skimmer this weekend...

 

[moortim]

You know Krish, those pictures make your tank look radioactive, are you sure you are ok over there?

Tim

By the way, I like the cabinet.

 

[Krish]

I personally would either go with fans or for go the cabinet. Optimum would be to put it outside but you may get away with just pulling out from the wall further. FYI you can get even better performance out of it if you put a ugly fan in front.

Don

Well to be honest, the chiller hardly runs at all in the day. The tank stays at 80F when the lights are off which is from 9:00 at night until 2:00pm the following day and my chiller is set to 80F. Also, when the lights come on, I have 5 fans running in my canopy which helps out in not allowing the chiller to run as much. When the chiller does run, I don't feel any real heat coming off of it in the back and I've heard that chillers make rooms hot, but it hasn't made any difference at all in the room. That's basically why I decided to put it in the cabinet. It never gets hot and hardly cuts in when lights are off. When the lights are on, I'd say now, it may cut on every 20 minutes for about 1 1/2 minutes and that's it. But with the fans...No more for me...I've got 5 running in my canopy and a 6 inch running in my stand. Too much already

 

[Krish]

You know Krish, those pictures make your tank look radioactive, are you sure you are ok over there?

Tim

By the way, I like the cabinet.

LOL...That's because I have the camera set differently than when taking tank shots Here's the tank...Not too bright and thanks for the compliments on the cabinet so far...

 

[Krish]

Just another shot to show how the back is open for the chiller. You guys have made me re-think things (even though the chiller doesn't run much) and now I'm thinking of tossing the whole cabinet...I'll see how it goes.

 

[Detri]

Nice spot for a Nano

 

[Krish]

Nice spot for a Nano

YUP! I may just complete it like you would a stand, with doors etc and just put one on there in another room...

 

[jsmkmavity]

stand looks great! i think the chiller will do ok there as long as there is room behind for air to escape. the chiller has its own fan right? the only thing i would do is raise the chiller up a couple inches or more. this is no diferent then a refrigerator or an air conditioner they need the coils to stay clean and room to move air across the condenser (which is hidden inside the louvered area)

 

[Krish]

stand looks great! i think the chiller will do ok there as long as there is room behind for air to escape. the chiller has its own fan right? the only thing i would do is raise the chiller up a couple inches or more. this is no diferent then a refrigerator or an air conditioner they need the coils to stay clean and room to move air across the condenser (which is hidden inside the louvered area)

Thanks for the reply I will decide if I will keep it there I guess in the next day or two. I'm trying to see for one, if I think it makes the place look to cluttered. If I do keep it there, I will raise it flush with the bottom piece and not put the ballast in there at all. Can't quite decide yet though...

 

[Scooterman]

How hard would it be to add one fan moving air out the back?
I like it, pay attention to how often the chiller runs with it as compared to without it, time it if necessary.

 

[Krish]

How hard would it be to add one fan moving air out the back?
I like it, pay attention to how often the chiller runs with it as compared to without it, time it if necessary.

It wouldn't be hard to add one fan to vent the back, but honestly, I'm not at all interested in running anymore fans. Infact, I'm kinda getting ready to lose a few I have running(LOL) I think it looked pretty neat before with the chiller just sitting on the floor, but felt like building something to see what I thought of it. Since I put it in the cabinet, the chiller hasn't run anymore than before from what I've noticed. Granted, I haven't sat there continuously to see for sure, but will take note of it tomorrow after work. I'll see what I think of it sitting there as well tomorrow. No time really lost or money trying it out. Took about 1 hour and the wood was only $45.

 

[jsmkmavity]

the ballast could go in the upper compartment!

 

[spongebob lover]

i really like what you did dood !!!
i think it looks neat but yeah just make sure it does'nt make you have any heat issues .... now you can make me a canopy ..... just joking.