chiller "laser water cooler"

CayeCaulker · Jan 21, 2022

I see these chinese chillers for cutting lasers on ebay really cheap. 1/2 hp for $380 shipped! "new"

I would have to buy some titanium tubing and bend it for my sump to run the coolant through "glycol" but titanium tubing is not expensive and easy to bend.
I would attach the chiller tubing to the titanium pipe outside the sump so if it leaked it would not get into my tank.

These have a 10 meter lift pump so I could easily put it in the basement.

This looks like a great low cost solution.
I like the idea of the heat exchanger being external so no crud or feather dusters can grow inside the chiller.

search eBay for:
"industrial Water Chiller CW-5000 for CNC/ Laser Engraver Engraving Machines"

Just wanted some input from the community for a reality check.
Thanks

AJsReef · Jan 22, 2022

Definitely intrigued here, would love to see what you come up with should you build one!

Only concern is the inlet/outlets on the units I see are very narrow in diameter. Getting sufficient throughout especially with 10’ head will be a challenge.

CayeCaulker · Jan 22, 2022

I sent a message to the seller to see if it's temperature settings are persistent. If not it shouldn't matter. Juist hack the thing.

1/2 horse power at that price is way cheeper than what we pay for these.

I see no reason why a solid state or other relay couldn't power the compressor on and off. The whole thing could be modified any way you want and controlled by a apex unit. The electronics are stupid simple. There would be lag time as the glycol tank would have to go down in temp first before the cooling hit the tank. Other than some lag time the unit should work. If it breaks you can pitch and replace it.

Water / glycol is fairly dense as far as thermal goes. Much more dense than refrigerant. 1/4' line at the reated flow rates would be able to transfer the entire 1/2 HP+ even with 20ft of head.

CayeCaulker · Jan 22, 2022

You could put a pex loop in a dorm fridge in a bucket of water. Use a solenoid to control the flow. Spending $1000 on a chiller unless it says "sub zero" on it seems crazy.

Hell maybe I will hydro drill some deep holes and run a loop in my yard! Then it's free. and uses no power other than the pump.