Hello from St. Augustine
Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019
Hi everyone.
I am currently in the process of ordering a machine from China, been rather difficult finding a competent customs broker that is willing to deal with an individual, but I finally managed that and I am now settling on the details of the machine, after several emails with Russ. It has some problems I'll have to deal with most likely, but I'm not afraid of diving in and getting dirty with the machine and I think with all the guidance from his videos, I can improve it. Hopefully! Already have the doHICky in hand.
It's a generic LM-1390 machine, with dual 60W/150W heads (opted to replace the RECI/Yongli tubes with SPT, per Russ's advice).
I was wondering, they were going to outfit it with a CW-5200 chiller for the 150W tube and just a regular water pump for the 60W, but I'd rather have the 60W chilled as well. Asked them if there were any chillers that supported 2 tubes, and while they said there were, they said they were designed for 2 tubes of the same power because they distributed the water evenly, and if used with 2 different powered tubes, the higher power tube might not get enough cooling? Is this an accurate claim? Based on that, I'm going to upgrade the water pump to a CW-5000 chiller. I'll at least have a redundant chiller and be able to keep one of the tubes operating, should a chiller fail. But is anyone using a single chiller for 2 different powered tubes with anywhere near this much difference in power between the two, and if so, which model and how much is the price compared to a CW-5200/CW-5000 combination?
I also have the honeycomb table as an option, but after watching many of Russ's videos, I'm debating whether or not I even want it. Does it have ANY use whatsoever, that can't be accomplished some other, better way? It's only an additional $125 (includes extra 25% tariff), but if it's totally worthless or I can build something better myself, I'd rather just do that.
Auto-focus...I've been told only one head can have auto-focus so I opted to have them put it on the 60W head, don't know why. Is this even worth the $62.50...it's just the red switch type pen, and I've seen whole heads with the auto-focus on aliexpress for that price. Also, I imagined that even if the controller doesn't support two auto-focuses, they could at least somehow install an additional manual switch on the side with the rest and wire the two through that so I could manually select which one I wanted to use, but apparently not, according to the factory. If it's just a switch, I suspect it really can be done. They just don't design the machines...only build them from generic blueprints used by all the factories.
Red-dot pointer...just one of the ones that attaches to the head...worth the extra $50? Didn't mention anything about both heads having one though? Is this the same situation as the auto-focus or should both heads be able to have one?
I'm having them leave the machine at 220v, not only to save money, as they charge to rewire it, but I've also read that it's just better for the machine? I'm no electrician or engineer, so I don't know if there is any truth to that? Or would I indeed be better off getting it rewired?
Finally, as I live in St. Augustine, Florida, the humidity here is nowhere near the recommended for these machines. What's the best way to deal with this? Naturally was thinking of a dehumidifier, possibly building an enclosed room in the garage if necessary. I did read the humidifiers won't work in the same room as an 'evap cooler'? Are the CW-5000/5200 'evap coolers' or is that what the CW-3000 and such are?
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any insight any of you can provide. I've already bugged Russ enough on this subject!
I am currently in the process of ordering a machine from China, been rather difficult finding a competent customs broker that is willing to deal with an individual, but I finally managed that and I am now settling on the details of the machine, after several emails with Russ. It has some problems I'll have to deal with most likely, but I'm not afraid of diving in and getting dirty with the machine and I think with all the guidance from his videos, I can improve it. Hopefully! Already have the doHICky in hand.
It's a generic LM-1390 machine, with dual 60W/150W heads (opted to replace the RECI/Yongli tubes with SPT, per Russ's advice).
I was wondering, they were going to outfit it with a CW-5200 chiller for the 150W tube and just a regular water pump for the 60W, but I'd rather have the 60W chilled as well. Asked them if there were any chillers that supported 2 tubes, and while they said there were, they said they were designed for 2 tubes of the same power because they distributed the water evenly, and if used with 2 different powered tubes, the higher power tube might not get enough cooling? Is this an accurate claim? Based on that, I'm going to upgrade the water pump to a CW-5000 chiller. I'll at least have a redundant chiller and be able to keep one of the tubes operating, should a chiller fail. But is anyone using a single chiller for 2 different powered tubes with anywhere near this much difference in power between the two, and if so, which model and how much is the price compared to a CW-5200/CW-5000 combination?
I also have the honeycomb table as an option, but after watching many of Russ's videos, I'm debating whether or not I even want it. Does it have ANY use whatsoever, that can't be accomplished some other, better way? It's only an additional $125 (includes extra 25% tariff), but if it's totally worthless or I can build something better myself, I'd rather just do that.
Auto-focus...I've been told only one head can have auto-focus so I opted to have them put it on the 60W head, don't know why. Is this even worth the $62.50...it's just the red switch type pen, and I've seen whole heads with the auto-focus on aliexpress for that price. Also, I imagined that even if the controller doesn't support two auto-focuses, they could at least somehow install an additional manual switch on the side with the rest and wire the two through that so I could manually select which one I wanted to use, but apparently not, according to the factory. If it's just a switch, I suspect it really can be done. They just don't design the machines...only build them from generic blueprints used by all the factories.
Red-dot pointer...just one of the ones that attaches to the head...worth the extra $50? Didn't mention anything about both heads having one though? Is this the same situation as the auto-focus or should both heads be able to have one?
I'm having them leave the machine at 220v, not only to save money, as they charge to rewire it, but I've also read that it's just better for the machine? I'm no electrician or engineer, so I don't know if there is any truth to that? Or would I indeed be better off getting it rewired?
Finally, as I live in St. Augustine, Florida, the humidity here is nowhere near the recommended for these machines. What's the best way to deal with this? Naturally was thinking of a dehumidifier, possibly building an enclosed room in the garage if necessary. I did read the humidifiers won't work in the same room as an 'evap cooler'? Are the CW-5000/5200 'evap coolers' or is that what the CW-3000 and such are?
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any insight any of you can provide. I've already bugged Russ enough on this subject!