Cloudray CW-3000 Water Chiller

So what can it do? The controller can read water temperature finely, show it on the display and sound an alarm when it runs too hot. What it cannot do is hold water below room temperature, however the modes are set. In a 30°C room, the water will be above 30°C.

Plan with the physics, not the brochure:

• Cool room: water settles a few degrees above ambient, and a K40 tube is comfortable.
• Warm room: water tracks the room upward; shorten jobs and lower current.
• Hot room: a refrigerated chiller is the real fix; the CW-3000 cannot close that gap.

None of that makes it a bad buy. For a K40 in a cool basement or a heated workshop, a CW-3000 is a big step up from a bucket: steady flow, a closed tank, a temperature readout and alarms. The OMTech CW-3000 works the same way and states it plainly. For tube heat and safe current, see the K40 tube and power supply guide.

The barbs decide your hose. Choose tubing with a bore a little under 10mm so it grips the barb, and clamp every joint. Then match the other end to your tube's glass nipples, which vary between tubes; measure them rather than guessing.

1. Empty the old bucket loop and its hoses, with the laser unplugged.
2. Set the unit down beside the machine on the floor or a low shelf, with its vents clear.
3. Connect the outlet to the tube's lower nipple, and the tube's upper nipple back to the inlet, so bubbles rise out.
4. Clamp all four joints. A slipped hose floods the tube bay.
5. Fill the 9-litre tank with distilled water or CO2 laser coolant.
6. Run the pump and bleed the tube until no bubble sits at the top of the water jacket.
7. Trigger the flow alarm by pinching the return hose for a moment.

A stainless steel body means spills and damp shop air are less of a worry for the case. The spare pump lift also lets you park the unit under the bench, lower than the tube, without starving the flow.

Keep hoses away from the tube's high-voltage lead and out of the gantry's path. In a space that freezes, fill with OMTech CO2 laser coolant rather than water. The K40 setup guide covers the water check that belongs before every job.

That low draw is useful in a home shop. The K40, its exhaust fan, an air-assist pump and this cooler can usually share one ordinary circuit without tripping a breaker. Check what else is on that circuit before assuming so.

Power them up in an order that protects the tube:

1. Cooler first. Switch it on and watch the flow start at the return hose.
2. Exhaust and air assist next. Smoke needs somewhere to go before the first burn.
3. Laser last. Only fire the tube once water is moving.
4. Shut down in reverse, leaving the cooler running for a few minutes after the last cut.

Two safety features ship with the unit:

• Water flow alarm: sounds if flow stops, as when a hose kinks or the pump fails.
• Over-temperature alarm: sounds when the water runs too hot, your cue to stop and let it cool.

The anti-blockage heat exchanger helps keep flow steady over years of use, but only with clean fluid. Change the water on a schedule, and keep the tank capped.

Both boxes are about the same size, oriented differently; pick the one whose long side fits your bench. Pick Cloudray if you want the named alarms and stated low current draw. Pick OMTech if you prefer brass ports and a tank window, or want it bundled with an OMTech K40+.

Neither one changes the basic limit. If your room runs hot, both will hand the tube warm water, and the money is better spent on a refrigerated unit. If your room runs cool, both do the job; buy whichever fittings match the hoses already on your tube.

Care is the same for either:

• vacuum dust from the radiator fins monthly, unplugged
• check level and temperature before every session
• flush and refill every few months, sooner if the water clouds

Whichever you choose, it slots into the cooling step of the K40 upgrade order, well ahead of cosmetic add-ons.