This is a great idea @King Red Leg, and very well executed by you, Preston. Great video!

Nice job, Preston! That's a rather efficient setup you have there now. Love that you were able to get a suggestion like that and really run with it. Best wishes, Tom Z

Really nice setup and amazing how cool it stays now! Awesome work...

I really liked this video. Found it on RouterForums.com. I have been wanting to get into CNC but not really a fan of the router noise. Glad to see there is an alternative. Really cool!

Another method for keeping things from growing in your cooling system is a flow through UV sterilizer for an aquarium. They work GREAT and no additives for the coolant. You can set it up to run on a timer too so it isn't on all the time.

I'm doing a lot of PC water cooling... We always run the pump for 12-48 hours to remove air. There are some additives you can add to your water to prevent bacteria growth...

Great idea and a great set up !

Super helpful video!

I mean for the air. I run cnc machines in a mainly wood shop, and most cnc machines (and most computers) have a negative pressure in the case, which leads to air leaks into the case, which leads to an unbelievable amount of dust in the case. your set-up doesn't have a case per se, but the fan will get full of dust in a big hurry with no filter.

love the vids

Very nice project and quite nicely performed. I have a question about, what kind of material(s) the water/liquid coolant is being in contact with, in the spindle? The reason i am asking is because, those PC radiators are most of the time made of copper and copper doesn't play well with aluminium in a water-cooling loop. Have a great weekend and stay safe during that human malware pandemic outbreak

Looks good but it is still unknown if this cooler will keep a spindle running for hours under full load cool enough. I would rather swap the cable carriers for bigger ones and run the water lines to a circulation pump. If the temperature goes up you dump some ice into the bucket without interrupting the job. Anyway, diluted glycol-based radiator fluid does a good job in preventing things to grow in closed-circuit cooling systems.

if you run the fans in pull-config it ll be less frustrating to clean off the dust accumulating on the radiator. in push-config all dust cakeas up under inbetween the fans and the rad

Where did you get your flow meter and temp gage ? Really nice set up. I am doing a 2 core as per your advice. Thanks

Very smart idea. Im thinking to do the same on my cnc. Does it overheat after eg 1hour running cnc spindle?

you should use waterless coolant evans high performance engine coolant.. they use it in radiators of race cars and it is used in airplanes,,,it wont corode like water can, it wont evaporate etc. i use it in my bmw and my cpu cooler.

I am currently building a much smaller CNC to your magnificent machine, mines a Open builds1075 with a 1.5 kw 65mm OD water spindle with VFD and I notice that you said that if you built this again you would only use a two fan radiator, can I assume your spindle is a larger 2.2 kw or larger still. I am looking at this and was not sure as the pumps that come with the spindles as part of a spindle/vfd kit have a throughput of 3000 litres an hour with 75 watt pump but the little reservoir you are using runs a much lower pump and seems to be working on your machine even under load very well......probably only pusing 500 litres or so.... I wont be working on anything other than wood or plastics so wondered about using just either a two fan unit or even a 1 fan unit, I have seen the little flow meter and temperature gauge, one other question do you have anything wired into your system in the event of pump failure that will stop the spindle or prevent it overheating. I realize the flow meter is a visual indicator but if you were to run say a 5 or 6 hour long job and left the machine and God forbid the little chinese impeller pump fails what would stop your machine from overheating and killing the spindle, VFD etc, I just wondered if you had a protection circuit in there anywhere to kick in if cooling failed? I love the idea of the closed loop mini pressurised system to avoid all the pipes , I would probably use a refrigerant in it for several reasons one it does stop freezing just in case and it does protect the system by neutralising any water issues and finally it should allow the water to act more like that in a car system and change the temperature of how the water heats, although on this we are talking about much lower temperatures. the main concern for me is the risk of overheating if the circuit fails and I cant see any protection for that in your system, I dont know whether you leave your cnc on its own ever but that to me is a major concern looking at the type of investment you have in your shop. Just something like this would add protection possibly? Or an overheat alarm? www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-20A-Digital-Thermostat-Temp-Relay-Control-Temperature-Controller-w-Sensor/132591995870?hash=item1edf194bde:g:CN8AAOSwnada2zkW Thanks for the video , its given me great ideas for my own little cnc just have to microsize it a bit down though.......still not sure on one or two fans though!! The only thing I might do is mont mine on the wall behind the cnc and have a couple of longer pipes simply as your Gantry is very large compared to my c beam and I am concerned on the additional weight along with the spindle. Im not too worried about the hoses but I like the closed loop to keep out the crud from the water etc and save changing it all the time. thanks

Maybe you could add some gold fish and turn it into an aquarium... :-) :-) :-) Nice video, thanks for showing it off. I've got nearly the same set up and have been putting off doing the mod. One actual question-- are you not worried about wood / metal dust getting up into the radiator over time? That's one of the things that's been on my mind making me hesitant to move forward.

Don't forget to re-tune the x and y motors, since they now have much more mass to accelerate...

What's the adapter from the tubing to the spindle?

Is that Radiator aluminum? What if that spindle has a copper heat sink in it! In PC cooling we try to keep those 2 apart because of eventual galvanic corrosion. But it's less trouble if that happens here I suppose. No electronics you're going to fry. yea, i hear those Chinese pumps suck big time. You also need to to have them full of water before you start running them. Even testing them in open air for a few seconds can damage things. They need water as lubricant.

Hello: Your LED Thermometer 3 Way Flow Meter FlowMeter that you are using, says it uses DC 5v. Your Cooling fans and Pump are DC 12v. What are you using for your DC 5v power? Do you have 2 separate power supplies or one with the DC 12v and 5v options? If so could you state which Brand/model? Love the video and thank you.

You're right to add silver, any concern over rust in the motor since it is water though? Shouldnt you have some glycol or anti-freeze in there to prevent corrosion?

Great proyect!! I'm still using a 20L bucket that takes a lot of space. Been looking for some radiator, but when look it up someone told me to be aware for it might get galvanic currents, is that so? Are you having problem with oxide? PLease tell me so i can update mine. Thanks!

really good and i want to do this but how did you get the 4 pin pump running with out a motherboard powering it please?

How does it handle dust from the work clogging the radiator? Do you need to clean it very often?

Hi, just come across this video and it’s exactly what I need but since it’s a few years old can you tell me if it’s still in use and also what liquid or type of water do you use? Thanks, Steve in the UK...

I want to do something similar for my CNC router. How is this system holding up for you now that 1 1/2 years have passed? Is the pump still working?

Hello, yes, i have a very important question, i was hoping to get an answer from someone here in the US, i installed a PC water cooling system on that machine, before that my previous VFD and Spindle were working fine, after i got the water lines run properly, i went ahead and started the spindle, it made an electrical short inside, i turned off, checked all the wires on the spindle plug, they were fine , i started the VFD again, and the VFD blew by an electrical short too, now is that have something to do with the water system making that short? is that water touching the internal components at some point that could be the cause of that short on both units? Please let me know because i already ordered a new set, 220v VFD and 220v 2.2KW water cooled Spindle and i don't want the new set to blow again! im building this machine myself so all the info will be appreciated thanks!!!

How's the cpu cooling holding up?

Oh so you would have a smaller Radiator?

I notice no filter?

very similar set up to me, have a look at mrpottersmith on instagram. im using a single fan radiator and it works really well. nice work man

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