DIY Micro-Chiller for Nano Tanks 30L or less

Here's some instructions for making a micro-chiller for use in tanks that are 30 Litres or less.

Here's a list of parts used:
1. Peltier, this is the heart of the chiller. The Peltier effect is the presence of heat at an electrified junction of two different metals and is named for French physicist Jean-Charles Peltier, who discovered it in 1834. When a current is made to flow through a junction composed of materials A and B, heat is generated at the upper junction at T2, and absorbed at the lower junction at T1. In brief, when a current flows through it, one side will get hot while the other side will get cold.


2. Heatsink, this will be placed on the hot side of the Peltier. Heatsink is a passive component that cools a device by dissipating heat into the surrounding air. Heat sinks are used to cool electronic components such as high-power semiconductor devices, and optoelectronic devices such as higher-power lasers and light emitting diodes (LEDs). The heatsink is used to "transfer" the heat from the Peltier to the air.


3. Fan, the small DC fan is used to help circulate the air moving through the heatsink, hence providing better heat dissipation.


4. Water block, a water block is the watercooling equivalent of a heatsink. It consists of at least two main parts, the "base", which is the part that makes contact with the device being cooled, usually made of a high conductivity metal such as aluminum or copper and in some cases silver as is found in many newer blocks. The water block will be placed on the cold side of the peltier, when water passes through the water block, the heat from the water will be "transfered" to the water block, that in turn, transfer to the Peltier, than to the heatsink, and finally to the surrounding air.


5. Power Supply Unit, this will provide a constant source of Direct Current (DC) from the Alternating Current (AC) to the Peltier and fan.


Below is a picture of how the water block, heatsink and peltier should be placed.


A picture of the finished DIY Micro-Chiller.