Hi, I know this is somewhat off topic but OC is where the DIY water cooling knowledge is.
I have a Chinese built water cooled laser engraving machine which has specs that require the water in the reservior (a 25 litre plastic container) below 26 deg C. A small submersible pond pump circulates water through a glass jacket surrounding the laser tube to cool it and back into the reservoir. After a few hours use the water temp rises close and sometimes above 30 deg C. The pump pumps about 6 liters per minute through the tubing as it is set up. Haven't really measured it, that's an estimate.
My question is, what do you think is the best system to use to keep the water 4 degrees cooler than it gets to now? It doesn't seem like much but I don't know. I am restrained as to how far I can run the tubes (about 1/4" ID) because the manufacturer says the flow rate will fall off.
Also, there is a large commercial (noisy) extractror fan unit that pulls fumes from the back of the machine through a 6" dia plastic pipe at quite a high rate. I was hoping that this airflow that exits through the exterior wall could be used for cooling too.
The problem I may have with evaporative coolers I've seen on some posts is that they raise the humidity level which is not good for the machine, although I could exit the humid air out the wall. I know they are more efficient because of the latent energy and the change of state from liquid to gas. A closed loop system seems to require less maintenance but is less efficient it seems and restricts flow more. By the way, I am required to change the water every 16 hours of machine time anyway.
I just don't want to go out and buy an expensive industrial water chilling unit that is expensive and uses huge amounts of energy if I can help it for such a small change in temp.
Any direction or suggestions are welcomed. Thanks in advance for your input and I apologize if this post has no computer content. (It does have heat and water cooling though )
David
I have a Chinese built water cooled laser engraving machine which has specs that require the water in the reservior (a 25 litre plastic container) below 26 deg C. A small submersible pond pump circulates water through a glass jacket surrounding the laser tube to cool it and back into the reservoir. After a few hours use the water temp rises close and sometimes above 30 deg C. The pump pumps about 6 liters per minute through the tubing as it is set up. Haven't really measured it, that's an estimate.
My question is, what do you think is the best system to use to keep the water 4 degrees cooler than it gets to now? It doesn't seem like much but I don't know. I am restrained as to how far I can run the tubes (about 1/4" ID) because the manufacturer says the flow rate will fall off.
Also, there is a large commercial (noisy) extractror fan unit that pulls fumes from the back of the machine through a 6" dia plastic pipe at quite a high rate. I was hoping that this airflow that exits through the exterior wall could be used for cooling too.
The problem I may have with evaporative coolers I've seen on some posts is that they raise the humidity level which is not good for the machine, although I could exit the humid air out the wall. I know they are more efficient because of the latent energy and the change of state from liquid to gas. A closed loop system seems to require less maintenance but is less efficient it seems and restricts flow more. By the way, I am required to change the water every 16 hours of machine time anyway.
I just don't want to go out and buy an expensive industrial water chilling unit that is expensive and uses huge amounts of energy if I can help it for such a small change in temp.
Any direction or suggestions are welcomed. Thanks in advance for your input and I apologize if this post has no computer content. (It does have heat and water cooling though )
David