IceProbe Thermoelectric Aquarium Chiller - 4 in. x 4 3/4 in. x 7 1/2 in.

I live in Florida and decided during quarantine that I wanted to try growing peppers and onions in my office closet. I've spent the last 4 weeks buying every hydroponic solution I could, trying to figure out why my plants were always closer to dead than alive.I have a small setup -- a 5 gallon bucket of nutrients and a RDWC setup I got off Amazon (https://amzn.to/3acGSqG). Little did I know, with the Florida heat and my small closet space, a RDWC can actually cook your plants because of the water that sits in the hydroponic system when the pump is not running. I needed a way to cool my nutrients without investing in a 400$ water chiller meant for (much) bigger grow ops.I read all of the reviews on this product and saw the review from the control engineer saying I needed to forget about an expensive controller buy a simple 18$ one (review is here for reference https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3C88YUKT446KA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B001JSVLBO). Well that was a stupid idea -- that guy knows way more than I do. If you're reading this now and you need a controller, spend an extra 15$ and buy this (https://amzn.to/34EnDVH). However, if you like to get in over your head like me, keep reading.You'll need a few items from your local hardware store --1. A 1-1/4" hole saw (https://amzn.to/2xnu5o7). You'll need this to drill a hole in whatever tank is holding your nutrient solution.2. A generic wall outlet -- something like this (https://amzn.to/3bcOYkd)3. A 3 prong extension cord, you know, the usual kind (https://amzn.to/2K4ImbZ)4. If you have an extra computer power plug laying around, that should be fine. Otherwise you can use a lamp cord. I used something like this (https://amzn.to/2K7GLSH)5. Finally, a place to put it all, nice and neat. I used something like this, but I took my controller to the hardware store and found one that was a snug fit (https://amzn.to/3bdfw56)6. (optional) an outlet cover, 'cause we're fancy and like aesthetics.Time to put it together!1. Cut the tail off the computer power cord (or similar) mentioned in the part list -- #4. The tail being the part that does not plug into the wall (the female end, cut it off). Pull the casing back a bit and strip the black (hot wire) and white (neutral). Leave the green alone, cut it so that its just the two black and white wires exposed. Put some electrical tape over it for good measure.2. Strip the black and white wires and connect them to the controller by first unscrewing the screws in the terminals. Black (hot) goes into port 1 (closest to the left when looking at the back), the white (neutral) goes into port 2. Screw the screws tight to secure the wires.3. Connect the controller's sensor wire to ports 3 and 4 -- the order does not matter.4. Plug in the power cable connected to the controller and make sure it powers on.5. If all is well, it should startup and show you what the ambient temperature is. Disconnect the power cable afterwards.6. Take your extension cord (part #3) and cut the tail off (female part). Then cut an additional 6-8 inches from that -- we'll need a bit of copper wire for the next steps. Set it aside.7. Grab the mutilated extension cord -- the one with the male plug remaining. Strip all 3 wires -- white, green, black back a bit. Connect the white wire to the neutral screw (mine was silver). The green wire goes to the green screw. Connect the black wire (hot, power) to the temperature controller, terminal #7. At this point you should have: the power cord (section with the male end) connected to the electrical outlet via the white and green wires. The power cord's black wire should be connected to the controller port #7.8. Remember that piece we cut off in step #6? Grab that, pull the black wire out of the casing, and strip both ends. Plug one end into the controller terminal #8, and the other side of that wire goes now to the brass screw on the new outlet (the one that has the green and white wires connected). At this point you should have 3 wires connected to the outlet, green and white directly from the extension cord, and black coming from the controller.9. Make it look pretty! I'll leave this up to you. Make sure to cover any exposed wires with electrical tape.10. Finally -- you should have three plugs now -- one from the aquarium chiller, one from the extension cord, and one that power the controller. Plug the aquarium chiller plug into the new outlet. Plug the other two cables into a standard wall outlet that has power.11. Mount the chiller to your bucket, inserting the probe through the hole and tightly securing it with a wrench. Check for leaks!Congratulations, you're a boss. Go out there and grow!

The good:- Extremely quiet. Only a 3.5" computer fan turning during operation- Works on a 28 Gal aquarium to cool to 79 Deg F- Fits into the back sump of my nano tank with a little customizationThe bad (nothing too bad):- The unit might not be enough if you live in a very warm place without indoor Air Conditioning in your home.- It is quite bulky. It did work in my tank, but with some customization. My probe doesnt fully submerge, but I am not using it per the instructions. Overall I am still pleased.- There is no temperature controller included. You will need to purchase one if you dont want your heater and cooler both running and fighting each other.My install:Even though our home is air conditioned, the pumps, skimmer an lights added heat to our tank. It is only June and we were getting up to 81 Deg F. Our target temp is 79 Deg F, so we needed a solution. I took off the plastic nut from the probe, and also removed the foam insulation from the upper part of the probe. In my JBJ tank, I simply fit it as far down as I could with the bottom of the main plastic base sitting on the back of the tank. In this configuration, the probe is 1" - 1 1/2" into the water which is enough to cool the tank.This unit does not have its own temperature controller. For this, I used the InkBird ITC-308 purchased from Amazon. This unit is capable of running both a chiller and a heater. I hooked both into the InkBird and set my desired temp at 79 Deg F. I then set the offset for heating to 1 Deg F and cooling to 1 Deg F (which is the minimum on the Inkbird).When I installed this on my tank, the tank temperature was reading 80.8 Deg F. It took about 2 hours for this unit to cool the tank to 79 Deg F. While running now, I can see the temp on the Inkbird creep up to 80 Deg F. Once it hits 80, the cooler turns on and drops it back down to 79 in about 30 minutes. It has no problem keeping my tank at 79. If you live in a very warm climate and do not have air conditioning, a single unit of this size will probably not be sufficient to cool your tank. The company recommends using more than 1 unit to achieve a higher temperature drop. I would consider after needing 2 of these to just go the chiller route.

Updated UPDATE: Seller appears to be dodging responsibility. Wants me to ship device back and wait for a refund, which of course means opening a big gaping hole in the side of my tank which it just so happens to plug. I have been working on this for months and have personally invested a lot of money. I am doing privately funded research and design in an attempt to start a business and it looks like this $150 chiller is going to break me. To say that I am distraught is a serious understatement. This is so messed up. I honestly can't believe this is actually happening right now.UPDATE: After a few weeks of perfect function there is no longer any heat transfer from the fins even though the fan is still running and now not only do I have a hole in my tank, but everything will be dead in a matter of days. Completely broken hearted right now. I had such high hopes for this thing.Its definitely holding up its end of the bargain. Anyone having trouble with this product just needs to step up their insulation game a bit and make sure the fins have plenty of airflow. You ain't gonna circumvent the laws of thermodynamics, but it will do the job. Very happy. Thanks much.