Water Chillers - cold water too warm for my processes

[Luis-F-S]

I got fed up with too warm water when the emulsion basically melted away from my 4x5 sheet film. I then bought an Elkay ERW32 chiller which is normally used for 3 remote drinking fountains. This chiller is water cooled and can provide 32 GPH of 50 degree water, more than enough for LF film development.

[bigdog]

1) Picnic cooler
2) A copper coil placed inside the cooler
3) Fittings at both ends of the coil

Fill the cooler with ice water. The temp of the water coming out of the coil will depend on the flow rate. Run the water slow enough and it'll come out pretty close to freezing. Run it faster for less chilling. You'll need to add ice every so often. Instead of adding ice cubes use plastic bottles full of water that you freeze. Easy to replace when they've melted and they can then go back into the freezer to refreeze.

Lots of great ideas guys, thanks a million. I like this low tech approach. I really only need to get my water down to about 65 - 70 degrees or so and I don't think that will be very difficult.

Follow up time. Did you do this Dan, and did it work?

Now, for the rest of you: would the "reverse" work? I.E.: ground water is coming out at about 50F right now, and I would prefer it up at 60F or more (for print washing). If I used the same chiller tech, but replaced the ice with say, an aquarium heater, would that add a few degrees to the water?

[Luis-F-S]

Without being cynical, why would someone want to try that instead of using a house water heater? An aquarium heater? Just how long would you want to wait for that water to heat up? The reason for doing the coil in ice chiller is because electric chillers are rare in home darkrooms. They're not even that expensive, you can get on on the Bay for less than the cost of a decent lens. House water heaters are neither.

[bigdog]

Without being cynical, why would someone want to try that instead of using a house water heater?...The reason for doing the coil in ice chiller is because electric chillers are rare in home darkrooms.

A "house water heater" is equally rare in my darkroom - there isn't one.

An aquarium heater? Just how long would you want to wait for that water to heat up?

Without being cynical, I suppose long enough ...