LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

Hello everyone,
I have an 80W laser cutter which came along with the cw3000 water cooler.
In fact it just circulates water through the laser tube and uses a tank and a fan to dissipate heat to the environment.
The point is that eventually water will reach ambient temperature.
This is good for winter since here in Greece we have low temperatures and during this time the water barely exceeds 26 degrees C.
But in summer where we have an inside temp of 35 and above this is not very good.
So my questions are as follows:
what is a safe temp to keep the water in the tube? What will happen if i exceed it?
Is there any mod I can do to the cw3000 to create better cooling of the machine?

the CW3000 is not a refrigerator, just an enhanced ventilator, so you can not drop temperature of the water below the average temperature of the room.

you have either to opt for the CW-5000, or rely on other solutions, like a bucket filled with water and ice and an aquarium pump, and you have to refill with ice regurlarly as the heat from the laser melts the ice. another solution is to circulate the water through a refrigerator.

i recommand the CW-5000, i have had no problem with it and a 90W laser and pretty high temperature during the summer in france.

the laser might be damaged if not cooled, i try to keep it around 20°c. it might cause no damage to go up to 30°c or even 35°c, but who knows really? i have seen no testing of this, obviously nobody will try to destroy their laser in the name of science...

Hi Sebastien!
Thanks for you reply!! I am aware of the cw5000 series but for the moment the price is a bit high for me.
Since we are thinking of installing an A/C unit in the room do you think this will help?
We will try to have the temp at around 25 degr Cent. I can also try to install a low cost heat exchanger with fans under the A/C unit and run pipes from the tank of the cw3000 with a small pump. Any experience?
Also has anyone tried those small aquarium coolers that work on peltier modules?
I was thinking of constantly circulating the water of the tank until it reaches a temp around 18 degrees and then stop.
I know that it will not keep the water as cool as it should but it may help keep the water in the tank cool a bit more time before it
reaches 27 degrees and above.