I have a no-frost heating solution in my workshop, but last winter the ground-leak protector had cut out without me noticing, and my tube froze despite having this set up, so yes, a backup solution is definitely a good idea… I’m going to look in to this topic a bit more, but just wanted to point out that even in areas where power outages are extremely rare, you can still have a problem!
I know a lot of people may not agree with this but it is almost a surefire way to prevent a tube from freezing. The issue is a lot of people have problems when there are bubbles in their tube and this will surely create them. I live in a high mountain town that gets snow and freezing weather in the winter. My laser is in an unheated garage and at one point it actually faced the garage door that was not insulated. After use, I would just blow the coolant out of the lines. In the 4 years my laser has been in the garage, my tube has never frozen.
Not sure what that is… 
When it comes down to it, you pays your money and takes your chances. Most of the time there is an unanticipated ‘weak’ link, like your failure, that gets exposed.
Mother nature or nature in general has never been very forgiving.
Sometimes you just have to chuck it up to ‘fate’ 
This seems like the easiest fail safe. Plus -37 is a sure thing. I only spent a half of winter last year in this house and it was negative degrees a lot at night. I’d rather get two gallons of this every year then have the electric go out at night in a snow storm and wake up with a broken tube.
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If you want 50% Ethylene Glycol, 50% De-ionized water, and Algaecide: go for it.
There’s a lot of information in this thread.
I am surprised by the summarizations in the end that contradict so many points discussed.
Probably because people do what they ‘feel’ is the right thing for them. It’s great to have these coolants that are so close to perfect, but most of us cringe at that price.
If you look at it like insurance, it’s probably a good buy at $120 for a couple of gallons, compared to the price of a tube. You probably won’t lose it to freezing.
People do what they want to do. When it comes to people, nothing should surprise you 
Ethylene Glycol material compatibility:
It isn’t THAT bad… but why put anything in your chiller that is rated as slightly corrosive to:
- Acetal (Delrin®)
- Brass
- Carbon Steel
- Hastelloy-C®
- Polycarbonate
- Polyurethane
- stainless steel - 304
- stainless steel - 316
- Tygon®
FWIW, electrical conductivity wouldn’t be my first concern. It would be corrosion. Then I would consider thermal conductivity and viscosity. I have no idea what is the right or best choice.
I use distilled water. That’s it. Hell, that’s probably rotting out the guts of my S&A 5200 as I type.
I bought it form a local Miller Dealer and they charged me about $60 per gallon including tax. I use it undiluted in my system with a CW-5200 chiller.
If its the miller stuff you’re after, make it yourself for much less:
1 Gallon of 100% E.G. $38:
1 Gallon of DI Water $16.24:
Plenty of options for Algaecide.
That’s all the miller stuff is.
I just made 2 gallons of it for $55.
If you wanted to be fancy, buy Inhibited E.G. and preserve the metal in your system and keep from having to change the solution out on a regular basis:
You can buy this 98% E.G. with 2% inhibitor for even less than above @ $25.
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Well that’s just so good that you make me wish I lived somewhere that it freezes! 
Bartender, just make mine a distilled water with a smidgen of Clorox …
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I’m just nervous I won’t make it right. I would totally do it if i knew what I was doing. It sucks cause ultimately I would just rather have a backup generator for the garage but until I recoup some of the money I put out I have to just do it this way. I just need to have something in there that’s safe for the machine and won’t let it freeze if the power were to go down.
Vodka, it is tested. To -117C. The antifreeze is poison and forbidden from the law here for home using.
Hi there,
You may want to check out this video…
It might help a few of you guys??
Cheers
Thinklaser.
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So basically the Miller stuff is just the deionized water and ethanol glycol with a few drops of algicide? Like if it’s that simple just mixing 50/50 and putting algae killer I will probably go your route for half the price. Do you know how much algae drops I would add to two gallons? Also why do people put dish soap? I could just skip that right?
That is not my route. I do not advise anyone to put ethylene glycol in their systems.
Agree, too risky to
- EG Increases chance of corrosion in chiller lines, seals, & brass on tube,
- EG Increases electrical conductivity between tube and liquid
- EG Reduces thermal transfer of cooling thru glass.
I think Jeff’s point was “IF” you decide to do that, u can save your money on their “mix”, which btw, is not designed for use in a CO2 laser.
Thanks Gavin. Russ has great videos.
Even he says do not ever use antifreeze or EG.
His solution was to use high wattage heat lamps to prevent freezing. Seems like a fire hazard to me. What I did find interesting was just having the lid closed kept some heat inside his machine.
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