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Does a stronger water pump help with air bubbles?
Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 8:21 pm
by Pixelbender
Does anyone have experience in this area? After hooking up my pump again the other day I noticed a ton of small bubbles in the top of the laser, I wonder if a stronger pump would help evacuate these. Better pumps seem pretty cheap at HF.
Re: Does a stronger water pump help with air bubbles?
Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 9:51 am
by JAV-1
I've got one of the pond pumps from HF, seems to work well. I added a bottle of "Water Wetter" to my coolant and that appears to take care of the bubbles I had.
It also adds color back to the coolant. I have straight RV winterizing coolant and the color goes away for some unexplained reason.
You should be able to find the water wetter at you local automotive parts store.
Re: Does a stronger water pump help with air bubbles?
Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 10:19 am
by Tech_Marco
It is about elevation issue. You need to settle the tube 5 degree up (output end) and the bubbles will be sucked out smoothly.
Adding coolant is good for 'viewing' as it show a little green/yellow. Also, it will prevent algae from growing and icing.
Also, you need to make sure that the water outlet on the tube is up right so bubble/water can be pumped out freely
Marco
Re: Does a stronger water pump help with air bubbles?
Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2014 6:58 am
by Raman Narayan
I would like to add to JAV-1 and Marco. The recurring air bubbles are an indication
of cavitation(too strong motor on the pump, making the dissolved air to separate).
2-3gpm flow is sufficiently enough. Also you might benefit from adding a reservoir,
that is at a higher level than the tube(preventing any bubbles in the tube making a
round trip to the tube, by allowing the bubbles to escape to the surface).