-86 Chiller

I want to buy a -80 chiller but its like 10k…I saw some chest freezer that go to -86 for 4k…cant I just drop my vessel in there and drill holes on the lid to run hoses out and use it as my dewax or drop a few coils and also drill holes and run it to my jacket?

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its all about cooling power, a freezer is not designed to have the same cooling power as a chiller, its insulation makes up for the lack of power.

im not saying this wouldnt work, it just wouldnt hold that -86 set point for long under any form of load.

edit: here is a good read and entrance to a rabbit hole on the subject; Has anyone ACTUALLY used a chest freezer as a glycol chiller | Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

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a freezer cannot sustain a constant load on it. even just pumping fluid through it and bringing an exchanger outside of the freezer is far moreheat load than that freezer is capable of chilling at that temp.

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what about a poly science ip-100? throw the probe in a container and find a pump capable of pumping -85c. i use mine to cool down a cooler full of denatured alcohol, kind of a makeshift freezer and also for my cold trap.

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at -80c a polyscience ip 100 has 35w of cooling power.
at -80c a DLSB-30/80 has 425w of cooling power. (edit: finding different numbers from different sources, take figure with grain of salt but its somewhere in this range)

I love my polysciences too! dont get me wrong, litterally one of my favorite tools in the lab! Its just not intended to actively cool a large load like a large chiller. If it works for you great, more power too you, its just not the most efficient thing.

i do credit my ip100 for saving my ass though i did the same as you to cool my rotovap for a few days or so while my one of my chillers was down:p so it does work!!

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-105 for half that here. I’m not sure they’re the manufacture

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Eco 633 pump. Put it in a large pot, inside a large cooler. Fill pot with alcohol and let pump fill jacket for what you need. Make slurry around the pot in the cooler. Let it get cold. Powerful enough for recovery if done right. And don’t let dry ice get in the alcohol bath with the pump

For a temporary solution, that is.

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At what temp does dry ice melt? If its -80 then the freezer should be enough to preserve it and the only thing eating it would be the load?

one thing i have heard of people doing is getting a tote of dry ice, putting a long ass coil in the box, cover it entirely in dry ice and pump through the coil. I have a buddy who is doing this for on tap cryo etoh, but he burns through hundreds of pounds of dry ice a week.

i think he has a 100ft copper coil in there

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I’m learning some companies will give you a better price if you ask. A lot of shady mark ups. People taking advantage of the industry even tho prices are falling

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of course!!! its called the green tax :stuck_out_tongue: if its associated with cannabis, you can bet there are going to slap another 40-50% markup

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i have a leakphan dfy-5-10 and a polyscience -20 for my roto but still run the coldtrap with ip-100. i havent tried recirculating anything with it but it does work great for chilling my etoh and spool for extractions.

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hahahahaha leakphan!!! good one :+1:

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You are correct, Always contact directly for quotation! You will get a better price usually!

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My local extraction shop has 100% mark up on a lot of the essentials.

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Ruthless! Everyone is trying to make their dime during the green rush!

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