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IndustryArena Forum > Laser Engraving and Cutting Machines > Laser Hardware > Laser power V refrigerative chiller power (watts)?
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    119

    Laser power V refrigerative chiller power (watts)?

    Hi all,

    What is your Laser power rated (W), and what is your refrigerated chiller rated at (W)? And does your system perform well? You can perform all the calculations you like, but real world experience says more IMHO. I don't want to use a Peltier device because they are power hogs for the same cooling capacity. And they won't work well in an Oz summer with ambient temps in the mid to high 30sC anyway.

    I'm in the process of a build, and I was planning to use a bar fridge, submerging the cold plate in the coolant reservoir, but I suspect this won't be enough.

    I work with industrial lasers 2 to 5kw, and from what I can see the chillers consume around 7-8 times the watts that the laser is rated as a rough ballpark. This includes pumps, compressor, fans etc....Which suggests to me that for a 40w laser I'll need something like a 200w fridge. With a pump and some fan cooling on the condenser coil. But these industrial lasers also use the coolant for the mirrors and may pick up a greater proportion of heat than a hobby laser with no mirror cooling.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    119

    Re: Laser power V refrigerative chiller power (watts)?

    So I decided to bite the bullet and grab something that I hope will fit the bill. It's a 550w chilled display cabinet. Designed to cope with people opening and closing the door in a shop. Got it for A$50 because there's no door lol. My intention is to chop it down to 200mm or so above the cooling unit in the base, create a duct for the airflow from it's output back to it's input, and place a small radiator in the duct path to pump coolant through. Not 100% efficient but should do the trick. Once I get it home I may be able to modify it to place a copper tube or similar in direct contact with the evaporator but either way I should end up with something useful. I'll post some pics for any who may be interested. And at a rating of 550w it should be waaaaay overkill and won't have to cycle on/off very often.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    119

    Re: Laser power V refrigerative chiller power (watts)?

    The story so far. The fridge works more like an upward facing air conditioner than a traditional fridge, circulating cold air into the fridge space, rather than having an evaporator passively chilling the cavity.


    Internal workings:



    Pizza box test:


    Test with radiator assembly:


    So far, so good. To do:
    • Pump some coolant through
    • Put thermocouple in coolant flow
    • Find instructions for the controller so I can change the set point
    • Build a laser to connect it to lol

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