replacement tubes
I have bought 5-6 tubes in the the last two years. I have had the most luck with JW Weike in China. 5-6 weeks is not uncommon if everything goes wrong. I think I have it down to a science now.
I pay with Western Union online using VISA which costs about $15 more than a wire but they have the money in hours not days or weeks which has happened. The last tube arrived 5 days after I paid for it!!! A big improvement over the last few times I ordered. The first one took 6 weeks by the time I decided I needed it, could make an apt to get a wire transfer done, it was sent then returned due to insufficient info then sent again etc..... Spend the extra $15
I have them ship using DHL. They always double pack the tube. The tube is suspended in foam in a double walled box, then the box is suspended in foam in another bigger box. The bigger box always shows wear or damage but the tubes seem to survive. I haven't had one broken yet.
Here's a weird one, I was told by JW Weike rep that the tubes have a shelf life of only two years at most before the CO2 leaks out, maybe not all gone but they definitely said a fresh tube is better. I tried ordering two at once so I'd have a spare, by the time I tried the spare it was as dead as the broken one. The odd thing is ordering tubes individually is exactly the same price with shipping as ordering two at once so it made no sense at all to buy two.
Hmmmm... ways to ruin tubes..... and all from experience.
1. Used chlorinated water to stop algae from forming. It does stop the algae BUT it reacts with and corrodes the aluminum in the tube. The cooling jacket on the beam end eventually corroded so bad that coolant would not flow. I was able to snake it clear a few times but with the reduced flow it eventually self destructed.
2. Run the tube hot, at 30C the tube efficiency is way down compared to say 15C water. I have taken alot of life out of tubes by running them hot, often it's by not immediately turning on the coolant.
3. Forget to turn on the coolant at all..... Boom! The coolant will boil and the tube WILL explode with a bang! Opps. that was costly.
4. Tubes wear out, in my experience you will get about 700-1000 hrs before you have to reduce your cutting speed so much that it's just time to get a new one. My last one took 38 minutes to finish a project and I was able to knock that down to 12 minutes with fresh tube.
Mike
www.classicplayfields.com