Summer & Water Temp

[ncamacho2000]

Hi

I have noticed my water temp up in the 20's with all this weather, I manage to keep it cool with a fan and ice packs. However the water pump "situated in the water" does increase the temperature quite significantly. My thought before going to the expense of a chiller is to buy a water pump that is situated outside of the tank, I think I have found one of these.

Has anyone else done this or know of any reason why it shouldn't be done? also is there a minimum watt/output/pressure etc for them, I have a 6040 with a 20 litre tank.

All advice appreciated (again)

Nigel

[PhillyDee]

No reason why not, quite a few aquarium pumps can be submersible as well as inline. You will need a bulkhead gland to go through the container as the pump should never be ran dry so should always be gravity fed.

[Spooky]

Hiya Nigel,

Grab a 105 Ltr rainwater butt from B&Q (about 20 quid) use that for a water tank and your temperature will stay stable for a lot longer. If possible even better is a 205 Ltr at around 30 quid. A 205 will cool overnight to ambient and will only rise a few degrees in a full 8 hour cutting day on a 40 watt tube.

External pumps are fine but the internal pump only adds a matter of a few watts of heat energy into the water, I doubt you will notice much temperature difference with an external pump.

It's even possible to bury the tank underground, at 1 meter depth ground temperature is 8 degrees and stays that way pretty much 100% of the time.

Chiller wise, I'll be doing a review on the CW4000 as Chris is bringing one down this week, from all the communications I'm getting they are supposed to be the real monster of a chiller and well worth the money. I've seen one in action on a 150 watt RECI last week in all this heat and it never got above 2 degrees above ambient even at 90% cutting on a 150.

best wishes

Dave

[ncamacho2000]

Cheers for info guys.

Both options sound good, Dave with the water butt option are you thinking that butt should be full of water, hence with more water it will stay at a stable temp longer. I can see 205 litres of de ionised water costing a lot. Would really like a chiller but ill be honest and say I don't use the laser enough to warrant the expense at the moment.

Cheers Guys, I wouldn't of thought of these ideas, very ingenious.

Nigel

[Spooky]

Ideally it should be quality de-ionised.That said mine is full of tap water and has been for the last 3 years

Yup, the more water you have the more available space for heat content you have before temperatures get too high.

De-ionised is a must if your using a chiller but in normal use without one it's use is desirable but not essential.

cheers

Dave

[PhillyDee]

Who said you had to buy it? I bought an RO unit with a de-ionising trap for fiulling with resin and make my own.

Best thing is, I also keep reptiles and the RO water is used for the misting system I have (not De-ionised though).

[CamG]

That's convenient, I was just popping on to ask about water as I'll be getting my first machine in a few weeks, so running with tap/de-ionised water is ok? I for some reason had it in my head that distilled was needed.
Thanks
edit. also I think I recall someone saying that they put Milton in their water to avoid any algae/biological buildup, is that correct?

[Daven]

Milton helps keep algae growing. De-ironized water is worth using especially if you are in a hard water area. For £15-£20 worth of water over crud or scale in the tube...

Cheers

Dave

[bobg]

I put Milton in my water and I think it reacted with the copper pipes in the chiller to turn the water a VERY thick orange colour. This deposited itself on the laser and I had to change it as power went down rapidly. Milton may be fine with normal pump but if you use it with HPC chiller I advise you to keep a very close eye on the colour of the water.

Bob