I haven’t had a chance to check everything but here is a picture of my laser tube taken one morning when I was getting ready to run it. These are the bubbles that I see in my tube most every morning. Sometimes there is a large bubble stuck in that narrow section that needs a little help breaking free. I do this by pinching the inlet water tube quickly a few times.
Now trying to understand a little more… do these bubbles form when the machine and chiller are stopped?
Is the chiller switched off at the same time as the laser machine or is it left running for a few more minutes?
I would say that if the formation of bubbles stops simultaneously, it could be due to the high temperature still existing in the tube and as the water does not circulate, the bubbles form and are not carried away by the water flow.
But I’m not sure if anyone can confirm…
Whether these bubbles are considered bad or not I believe @jkwilborn can enlighten us.
I don’t think these are an issue. Did you try the pinch the tube and release to see if pulsating the flow a few times will allow them to move.
Is the output of the tube UP, so most bubbles can escape?
I had pure distilled water in mine with no issues of bubbles. So they do work.
When I added an ingredient to lower it’s freezing temperatures, it created bubbles. I suspect that’s from the pump. I can’t hear any water flow.
Mine did grow algae, partly from the clear hoses and warm temperatures. I put 1 drop for fish tanks and haven’t had the problem again. I now run the OMTech laser coolant. Nothing living grows in it.
I also believe in this.
In so-called “open circuit” systems where the only pressure existing is that created by the pump, I have also struggled a lot with the same problem. I believe it is mainly due to two factors:
most antifreezes are intended almost exclusively for the automotive sector. That is why they undergo constant changes in their chemical constitution in order to comply with constantly updated climatic requirements.
As the automotive circuit is a closed circuit in which the existing pressure is due to the fact that the increase in temperature causes the expansion of the fluid, being a closed circuit, the pressure will increase and as such there are no conditions for the formation of bubbles or foam .
This started to happen about 15 years ago. I remember that I never had this type of problem before and from then on I started to have it. No one (supplier) has yet been able to fully clarify whether this is the reason or not.
I do not use antifreeze for household purposes.
When I talk about antifreezes I mean for industrial use, and to be used in customer chillers. Depending on the volume of the circuit and depending on the temperature the customer wants, the amount of glycol they would need also varies.
Yes. They form over night when there is no flow. When I have the water pump on that I added to run throughout the night during freezing temps, there was not much if any bubbles forming over night. I believe there were some but the flow is very slow compared to the chiller flow.
Yes the chiller is turned off at the same time the machine is turned off. But usually the machine is idle for quite some time before it is shut down.
Yes I do this every morning. Sometimes some of the small ones release but not often. The strange thing is that when I pinch the tubing all the tiny bubbles expand and then shrink again when I release the tube. I assume it has to do with pressure.
I have had this problem from the very beginning. Even when it was straight distilled water. The only thing I have added since then is 3 drops of Tetra algae clear. I am trying to not add any additives if possible.
Will see what I can do.
I agree that this could be part of the problem now, BUT as mentioned above, I have had this issue since the beginning when the water tubes between the chiller and the laser were unobstructed. Now I have added a flow gauge and a small water pump in-line. I am planning at some point down the road to add in a bypass for the water pump so that when the chiller is on it will run unobstructed. Either way, there has been no change in the amount of bubbles that form over night since adding the pump.
I have my chiller on a smart switch (they’re so cheap), I tell Alexa to turn it on as I head out to the workshop, and I tell her to turn it off as I walk out the door when I’m done. It works out pretty well.
Amazon has a few of them that are rated for 220V (Amazon.com), just don’t know what your plug/wiring situation is. I know there’s something out there that might work, that is if you’re interested.
That’s what was so nice about both my OMTECH’s, they had a 110V power plug on the back for turning on the aquarium pump (or chiller) when the laser power was turned on. Since I’m using Alexa to turn the chiller on, I use that outlet to energize the solenoid the feeds air from my shop compressor.
The problem is the 120V mains. The emergency switch on mine, has a wattage rating of just about what the machine draws on it’s own. Adding another 600W - 800W load is probably not a great idea.
On a 240V machine, the wattage levels are half that and the emergency switch is within limits…
Created by a 240V based country, it’s probably OK even with additional loading… at 240V.
