The best Chiller for a Stocker/ Super stocker?

[sliver043]

I am thinking of buying a Chiller for my car. What are the best options, brands, types you all have ran into? Thanks

[FED 387]

for what a chiller costs you can make your own i chiller in a few hours that will do the job for hundreds of dollars less--we did probably saved near a thousand dollars-- IT WORKS!!!!

[rick lester]

I would think making your own wouldn't be that hard. Assuming the car already has an electric pump, get a big enough cooler, drill 2 holes, run 2 lines back and forth in cooler, fill with dry ice, hook up to car, turn on electric pump and BAM, got yourself a much cheaper cooler. Bolt on wheels or mount it in a custom cabinet on wheels that doubles as a toolbox/small workbench that can be rolled around in dirt, grass, on blacktop, anywhere you need it to go. Also, if you can weld aluminum, you can make your own. Possibility to use a motorhome/travel trailer fresh water tank mounted under trailer with access hole to fill with dry ice or bag ice from the track. I would run lines in it, access in trap door in trailer. When done, empty tank, no major added weight other than tank and lines, and I'm sure there is a tank built to fit under enclosed trailers to be used for that. I might be overthinking this but there are probably dozens of ways to do something yourself.

[Sean Marconette]

There are two types of chillers. One that is mechanical and one that uses ice or dry ice. Technically in my world a chiller is a mechanical device. If you are thinking of buying a refrigeration chiller make sure you have the power capacity from your generator or you have wasted your time and money.
For an ice bath style a large quality cooler, fittings, circ pump and hose and you are in business. The quick connect fittings are a small fortune, but worth the cost in the long run. As Rick pointed out having quality wheels and tires make maneuvering a chiller around is important. I made my chiller and also have a 15 gallon cooler that sits on top of the chiller. The more water capacity you have allows for quicker recovery on chilling the water back down.

Sean

[FireSale]

I saw a unit like Rick described in use at the Northwest Nationals and it just seemed so simple. A cooler full of ice with a bypass hose from the radiator running through it. You can get quick connect radiator bypasses on-line.

Dale

[Jim Kaekel]

Here's a link to a story I wrote about building your own "chiller".


http://www.laneautomotive.com/lanemo...ownEffect.html

[James Perrone]

If you are going to Indy I can build you one CHEAP..Or come by and see it James.

[Ed Wright]

Unless you want to lug a generator to the back if the staging lanes, you can use a 12 volt utility pump from Harbor Freight in your ice chest style "chiller". Comes with garden hose fittings on both sides. Comes with alligator clips on the wires, so you can just clamp onto a 12 volt battery to run it. Some guys build a sheet metal box for a small battery, and mount it to the side of the ice chest. Most use clear hose to see the water flowing. Push on hose fittings are at Lowes Home Centers and Ace Hardware. Cheap and easy to build. I found my plastic ice chest, which has wheels on one end & a raise-up handle on the other, at Dollar General.

[FED 387]

look in the garden hose connection area at the big box stores and they carry "quick disconnect" fittings that will shut off liquid flow for a few bucks each --definately not as good as Jiffy Tite but about $50-75 per set cheaper too

[Bill Edgeworth]

FYI Jiffy Tite also has an industrial line of quick disconnects. You can buy the same size (500 series) for about $12 for the female valved socket. BUT the male ends do not have valves. You could get away with running two female valves of this type on the C&R check valve and save yourself a few hundred bucks on the fittings.
I spent the money on the Jiffy Tite automotive ones even though I have hundreds of the Industrial fittings at work. If someone wants to consider the cheaper fittings I buy them from PPE.com
I built the basic ice chest deal and decided to go with a 120VAC pump rather than 12VDC didn’t want to have to deal with a battery.
One thing to be very careful of is not to put in too big of a pump. I bought a sump pump from Harbor Freight that is 1/6 hp and only has 20 feet head pressure. DO NOT use a pump capable of high pressure remember your cooling system is probably only designed for 10-15psi operation 20 feet head pressure is about 10psi any more than that and you could damage something.
One thing I can say about it is you can go through a ton of ice.
Next step I’m going to try is what a friend that runs comp told me about; He said there is no need to spend $3,000 on a real chiller (and for me it would also mean buying a much larger generator). He said some people are building their own electric chiller. They use a 3.6 cubic foot Danby freezer and the rest is basically the same as what all of us are doing with ice chests. I may try it for a few hundred bucks compared to $3k for a real chiller. So I guess what you do is just fill the freezer with water throw in your pump plug it in and you’re done. Although I’d be a little concerned about cracking the liner in the freezer if you get it too cold and the water freezes.