Micro air bubbles in laser tube. Need help!

Hi,

New to laser cutting and engraving. I have a Acctek machine with two laser tubes. One is a 180w CO2 and the other is a 60w CO2. Both are made by Reci. My problem is a barrage of tiny micro bubbles traveling in the water columns that cool the tubes. All large bubbles (4mm dia or so) were easy to evacuate by rotating the tubes while water was circulating, but tiny bubbles tend to travel slowly to the water outlet. These bubbles are the size of course grains of sand. They also like to form colonies and travel together. I can see these small guys being introduced at the inlet so I know it’s not trapped air in the tubes. They are entering at a high rate of speed so are hard to see in the first 1/3 of the tube, but just after that, they slow right down to a crawl all the way back to the outlet. This is happening in both tubes, worse in the 180w though. I have a CW-5200 chiller and am aware to make sure the tube outlets are higher than the inlets. Silicone tubing from chiller outs go to tube inlets and vice versa. I also traced the lines together to ensure that they were paired properly. The manufacturer has been helping me but they don’t have solutions at this point.

Could the chiller be defective?

Thanks,

Warren...

Warren,

I don't have any info that helps. I hope by now you have it all up and running well. I actually would love to know your thoughts on the machine and the buying process. I am looking at the exact same machine currently.

Thanks,

Frank

Hi Warren,
do you add anything to the water?

You want to make sure is non detergent, even better that it has a non deterget additive. We use a blue concentration of car cooling fluid diluted in destiled water and have no problems.

The important part is that you remove the big bubbles as you mention, the little ones in our experience are not a problem, and are normal to appear by the very agitation of the water on the system. They are most problably introduced in the exchange in the reservoir of the CW5200 and then dragged along.

We've put about 4 years of work into a RECI tube under those conditions and it's still working as the first day.

Could I ask you as well regarding you experience with the machine and the brand? We are looking to buy a dual head machine soon as well and appreciate to hear about your experience with that machine.

Best,
Damian

Leave those bubbles alone. This is not a problem.