Need advice on how to drain water from laser tube and machine to prevent freezing.

[tjop92]

Hello,

So winter has hit my area and unfortunately the heat system that I had tried to use to keep water from freezing failed. I had an aquarium heater in the chiller connected to a temperature switch that turned on the pump when the water got too cold. Sadly the water still froze in the laser tube destroying it. That was a very expensive mistake I am not looking to repeat.

I have a Boss Laser LS-1420 70W CO2 laser. It is a few months old.

I figure that I have three options to solve this issue.

The first option which would be the safest would be to drain the water from the laser system completely after use so that there is no water left in the laser tube or tubes running through the machine. I am not sure what the best way to do this would be.

I know that I can't apply pressure to the laser tube because it could destroy it. So I was thinking about getting some sort of pump that I could use to create a small vacuum and hopefully pull out the water with. I was looking at handheld siphon pumps that you would use for gas transfer as a possible solution. I am hoping that I could find a way to empty all of the water from the laser tube and tubes connecting to the laser tube so that no water remains. Thus ensuring that the tube can never freeze.

I am hoping to find a solution that doesn't require me to completely drain the water chiller unit. I also worry that just draining that unit will not remove all of the water from the laser tube itself and thus risks breaking another one.

The second option would be to continue to use the aquarium heater in the water chiller and get a timing switch that turns on the water chiller pump for a minute every half hour. That way the water is circulated through the system hopefully preventing freezing. It would be circulating 70-80 F water. My main concern with this option is shortening the lifespan of the chiller pump.

The third option would be basically the same as above but I would connect an aquarium water pump inline with the inlet tube to the machine and have that pump run pretty much constantly so that warm water is always inside the machine. My main concern with this option is that if the cheap pump dies as a lot of people complain about and I don't catch it quickly it could freeze and destroy another tube.

Any help, guidance or advice would be greatly appreciated. The new laser tube is on its way but I don't want to install it until I have a good solution set up.

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[allencncrouter]

Add antifreeze in pure water .

[Bigbird48]

Add antifreeze in pure water .

Right