So I’m battleling with my water temp. Currently without cooling I am at 31c. After throwing some of those plastic containers for cooling into my 5gal bucket and Turing on the AC I can go down to 23C. I’m still not happy and my cuts are still far away from effective. So I’m on a quest to find a solution and though about water chiller bellow ( not my image). Anyone has some input on how would this work?
I got a cheap - 89 buck aquarium chiller on ebay - works good, pump from tank flows through the chiller then the tube - then back to tank - keeps temp at about 15 degrees C.
You live in a rather hot environment there @Ariel_Yahni_UniKpty . I have a 2 gallon tank, and two 20-oz bottles frozen solid, will bring my temp down into the teens easy. And now that it’s getting cooler for us, last night’s first run had water flowing at 9C (but then it stabilized around 13C once I started cutting.)
I would try a smaller bucket (or just less water) and see if you can cool that down. A larger tank means you might be able to keep the water temp more stable, however cooling that much water will take quite a bit. I keep several of those bottles frozen and just swap them out every so often.
Yup adding a tank (more water) in line helps. Depending what you’re planning, the CW5000/5200’s might be a no brain option.
But yeah that’s cool to convert a water fountain ! Maybe you can add a beer cooling option 
I have been wondering about this unit:
@donkjr from the reviews it seems that it does not lower from ambient that much. Then again the above solution im not sure either
this one works for me
http://www.ebay.com/itm/282033379947?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
@Ariel_Yahni_UniKpty This is the review made me wonder about our application.
“It says 10 gal can get 6-8 degree cooling. I am using it in a 5 gal that is only about 3/4 full and non insulated with a high intensity light. The normal temp of the tank is a blazing 90F. With the cooler it gets to 77F and at night with the light off it gets to 72F.”
@donkjr that a good review and in par with my temps but im looking to go bellow 68 and see if my cut get better
@greg_greene I like that one much better + I have been thinking of moving my machine to the shop (from den) and I need to heat it during winter. This unit does both. Also includes the temp controller …
I cant seem to find the shipping weight on that one. My overall cost could end up into the 200
On amazon it is more expensive but free shipping for $158.00 at least here, don’t know where you are:
Thats almost 60 more? Im in Panama central america, it costs me 5.00 a pound to bring it here
Be carefull buying this type of cooler ,going by the wattage it uses 72 watts is do not sound like it is refridigerated sounds more like cheap 12 volt car fridige only works by plizer cooling so will only drop temp by 10-15 deg .i use a second hand under sink refridigerated cooler that uses 400 watts.and will drop my 11 liter water temp even after 3hour of cutting down to 10 deg.must get around to hooking up my temp controler to it ,i have a lasef beam power meter and have tested the power of the beam at diffrent temps and can tell you going from 40 watts at 15 degress to 20deg the laser beam power drops 8 watts
Forgot to add also beware of a laser cooler called cw3000 i have seen photos of the inside and it is not a good cooler to buy as is only a water radator and a fan
I had my water running through a mini fridge and water would get down to 12c condensation was a nightmare.
Those type of coolers use a peltier effect chip and are very low btu. Not even close to keeping up with a laser over a long run. They work fine in the water dispenser because they have forever to bring down a small tank of water to drinking temp, but the small chilled volume of water won’t help your cause much.
You’ll increase the water mass a little, and draw off a little heat, slowing the rate at which the temp climbs, but climb it will.
I ran calculations on the BTU required at one point, but don’t recall exactly what is needed. I DID determine even the smallest window AC unit (5k btu) will do it with ease, and they’re about $100.
My plan (If I ever feel well again and catch up) is to take a super cheap window AC (NO digital controller, dial type) and add a water tank to the evaporator and run a second loop through that, controlling circulating pump and AC with a simple temperature controller. Total cost is about $200us, $100 for the AC, and the balance for a small pump (or re-use an old stock K40 pump) and electronics.
You can just put it in a window, or even run tubing to your basement or garage if you want it silent.
I’m hoping to offer a controller/plumbing kit (just add your own Garage Sale or Ebay AC)
Peltier Chips just can’t do the job for the size of a K40. And they’re so incredibly ineffecient that if you racked up enough to do the job, they would require several hundred amps of 12v power and need their own cooling device (they convert all that power to heat and add it to the heat transferred)
Another idea I’ve had is just bury a few hundred feet of 6-8mm PE tubing in the backyard, no heat pump required in my lattitude.
It still looks like the PE tubing loop in the freezer is the most practical.
Still looking for the easy solution on this one, as are you.
Scott
Living on the Gulf Coast of Florida, I keep my freezer stocked with several frozen gallon jugs during hurricane season. Since getting the K40 I’ve been putting them to use. I have a 5 gallon bucket with about 3.5 gallons of water in it. Each evening before I start using the laser, I put one of the frozen jugs in the bucket. This keeps the water chilled for hours. When I’m done, I put the jug back in the freezer.
@Jeff_Johnson to what temp can you get there with the water jugs?
@Scott_Marshall the one I have uses gas. I had it unplugged so today I will see how low temp the water gets