Low Cost Chiller Solution

[Joe Thorn 911]

I got tired of lugging buckets of ice water and ice back and forth to my Artsign Chinese Laser, so I came up with an easy solution: Use a small cube refer as your chiller!

I found a small "cube" type refrigerator at a pawn shop for $40. (It is the kind with a small freezer compartment inside. It will go way below freezing inside. Most of the small refers on the market now don't use compressors and they will only go to 37 degrees if you are lucky. If you can find the older kind that will work best)

I built a 2X4 frame to hold the laser and accommodate the small fridge underneath. If the stand or table your laser is on has room underneath, that's even better, but make sure the water source is below the laser)

I then "carefully" drilled a small inspection hole in the upper back wall of the fridge, found the area free of lines, and drilled a hole just large enough for a piece of 1/2" pvc pipe to go thru. I then fed the plug for the aquarium pump and the two cooler lines thru the hole and sealed it with silicone. (to get the plug for the pump thru the pvc pipe you have two choices: cut the plug wire and splice it later, or use a table saw to cut a slit in one side of the pvc pipe so you can spread it "open" enough to get the plug wire inside. You can use anything you want to keep the hoses and wire from being cut by the back sheet metal wall of the fridge, but this worked best for me.)

I also bought an indoor/outdoor thermometer with a wired "outside" sensor and fed the sensor wire thru the pipe and I keep the "outside" sensor in the bucket. I mounted the thermometer on the top of the laser where I can keep a close eye on the temp.

When I'm done, I disconnect the hose from the pump and put that hose and the return line hose in a small empty bucket next to the larger bucket. The lines drain into the empty bucket and it helps to keep the water in the lines from freezing. When I'm ready to use the laser I just open the fridge, plug the hose into the pump, drop the return line into the bucket (which sometimes has a thin layer of ice on top) and away I go. I can easily use the laser 4-5 times longer than just using a water and ice bucket, and the whole project cost around $50. And you can keep a few of those small imitation ice packets on the freezer shelf if you get close to finishing a project and need a few more minutes of cold. Just dump them in the bucket for a few extra degrees of cold time.

[Rob Bosworth]

That Does Sound Cheap. But keep in mind, you get what you pay for!

[Joe Thorn 911]

Well, maybe I should have said inexpensive. Instead of Mohammed going to the mountain....I just moved the refer closer to the laser. Besides, it's a full story up and down to lug the ice water. Lug...ugh...