Peltier Water Cooler questions

Ok so I am building a Peltier water cooling system rather than purchase one for $300 as I already own just about all of the parts needed. I will be Using a peltier cooler, a temperature controller that acts as a relay for the peltier cooler as well as turns on the heatsinks fans, a pretty nice CPU heatsink that I have an extra of lying around, and a pump to pump water from the reservoir to a waters block that the is mounted to the cool side of the peltier cooler.

This is the Temperature Controller 12v with a relay current of up to 10A/30V
12V Digital Temperature Controller Peltier WH7016K Thermoelectric New | eBay

The peltier cooler is a standard TEC1-12706 12V 92W
http://www.amazon.com/TEC1-12706-The...ywords=peltier

the heatsink is a nice aftermarket cpu heatsink I used before I made my own open loop cooling system for my PC. It has 2 120mm fans on each side of the heatsink one exhausting heat off the heatsink while the other blows/intakes air over the heatsink. Both run at 12v 0.16A

And the pump runs at I believe 65W nothing special here.

So the question then comes into how to power it. Ideally I want to run the pump and fans in a parallel circuit connected to the fan relay on the temperature controller and leave the peltier to its dedicated slot but then Im not exactly sure on how to power it. That is im not sure what ampage I would need for the DC transformer would 10A work? I know 10A would not be enough if I ran it all on one parallel circuit but split this way would that be sufficient?

Also last question I was talking to a family member who is in the HVAC industry and he said it would be easier to use an AC temp controller and then use a DC transformer and relays to power all of the devices so that the AC controller is really only acting as the on/off switch for the relays powering the peltier and fans rather than directly powering them.

Any and all help/advice would be very much welcomed as I am experienced with PC wiring and other wiring but have no real experience with having to power something like this and im a bit fuzzy on what type of transformer/switcher I should use or if I should go with the AC temp controller.

Also I feel the all DC option would be cheaper as I wouldn't need to purchase additional relays but first and foremost it has to work.

 

Welcome to the forums.

It looks like your DC load would be slightly over 10A. I would use a 15A 12vdc switching power supply. You could leave the supply running continuously as they draw almost no power if there is no load connected.

You could connect your temperature controller directly to the supply so that it's always powered and then switch the fans, pump and module.

In the link is a 15A supply but if you notice the 20A is only a buck or two more. Probably a good investment.

LED-Single-Output-Switching-Low-cost/dp/B004OWUP5U


After re-reading your post..... if you want to add a relay to the circuit to reduce the load on the controller would be a great idea. I would use a Bosch automotive relay. They are 12vdc 30A and are very reliable.

RELAY-BOSCH-30AMP-SPDT-12V/dp/B001JT016Y

 

Ok cool I was seeing it would draw ~13A but I wasn't sure if my math was correct or not but that leaves me with one question about what you are saying just to make sure I have this correct. Use the PSU to power the Controller and then use the controller with relays connected to the PSU to power the pump fans and peltier?

And if so could all of those be put on the same parallel circuit connected to the relay or should I try and put the peltier on its own relay?

And in response to your edit if I put the relay to say the peltier I shouldn't have any problems running the rest through the controller correct?

 

You could use the temp controller to control the fans directly and then use the relay for high current draw items like the P. module and the pump.

 

Awesome that answered the questions I had and since you didnt notice any other red flags(being my first build like this) I think Im going to go ahead then and give it a try and see how it works out.

 

If you need any help.... stop back. Low voltage controls and switching is one of my specialties.

 

Oh one quick question then where could I find an enclosure for all of this? Pref not steel so that I can easily drill the necessary holes as well as cut fan vents.

 

Allied is good place to check.
Electronic Enclosure - Enclosures, Racks & Cabinets from Allied Electronics

You can also check on Amazon and eBay for aluminum project boxes.