Cooling nute mix 5gal DWC

[Justones]

I have my first DWC in a single 5 gal bucket. After a few days I noticed the water/nute mix seems to stay about 72/73 degrees.

Further reading suggest that's bad news for temps in the bucket. So I started trying things to lower it. Begin brainstorming lol

Tried to paint the bucket white. Didnt help really.

Tried cooling air going to air pump. No dice there.

Now I have made an external cooler. 10ft of 3/8 copper tubing inside a cooler with ice. Then a submersible pump in the bucket pumping the mix through my cooling contraption. Seems to be working well. Temp can drift from 62f when working well to about 73 when the ice all melts. Seems to last about 8hrs. I maybe able to make a better cooler container to improve a bit. Also I'm considering insulating the 5 gal bucket to see if that helps with the coolant lasting.

Anyways, just thought I'd share my recent experiences with this project. I'm curious what others have done.

My 2nd idea was going to use a small radiator with PC fans for cooling. But I'm not sure if that would be better for temps in the 60's or not.

 

[Bigjake8]

I like the cooler idea just get your pump out of the bucket that adds heat
This is what I did and I add frozen 2 liters in the bucket to keep it cool in the summer

 

[Justones]

Thanks. I was wondering about the pump making heat. I figured it might but wasn't sure if it would amount to much.

 

[Rifleman]

Use Hydroguard or Z7 and rock on. My buckets regularly run in the 76°F with no problems.

 

[Justones]

I've wondered about that stuff. I figured that helps with the warmer temps. I may end up trying that too at some point.

But I have actually enjoyed this little cooler project. Give me something to think about. Plus making things can be fun sometimes. I've already spent a few bucks buying that pump & copper tubing. So I'm just making use of what I have for now.

 

[Justones]

So I picked up some z7 & just used it as directed. Any tips I should know about this stuff?