Advice on ordering a SH-G570 Shenhui laser

[Kieran Laxen]

Hi all,


I've spent a lot of time reading the forum about the Shenhui lasers, so thanks for all the info.


I'm about to place an order and was hoping to get some input from others. I have regular shippings from China to the UK so I haven't ordered to many spares with the intention that should I need the spares I can get them within a few days anyway. Also my laser will be more of a hobby laser than anything else so a few days waiting for spares is fine.


This is what I'm about to order:
SH-G570 LASER MACHINE WITH 60W TUBE. ($3160)
CHILLER CW3000 ($140)
UP AND DOWN WORKTABLE
Knife edge and honeycomb table ($30)
Spare 60W tube ($150)
Spare lens and mirror set ($124)


Because its only a hobby laser I can't really justify the extra for the CW5000 chiller (they're asking for $413 for the CW5000). Am I making a mistake not ordering the CW5000?


Does this sound like a reasonable price? I don't know how it compares with other peoples quotes.

For those interested I've had quotes for the shipping, import costs/duty etc and to get it to my workshop it will be about £650 ($950). So my total cost would be about $4550.

Thanks

[Frank barry]

Hi Kieran

I have read your post with great interest and will follow the replies you get with great interest as I am in much the same position myself

For what its worth
I would go with the CW500 as from my research the temperature of the tube is one of the most important also when you take the price of the CW300 from it is just a little extra
Also I hope to upgrade the tube to the 80reci I know it’s a cost but from what I have read it’s a better tube (in my opinion the laser tube and temperature is the one area I would not skimp on when you look at it is by far the most important part of the machine )

I have no expert on lasers but have a lot of experience buying machines and I always try to buy the best machine I can and in most cases one with a higher spec than I require ( you will always find new uses for what ever machine you buy)

Re shipping I plan to get my shipping company to pick the machine up from the factory and ship to Ireland

I am sure you will get lots of good advice in here from many people who have been there and done it and are happy to share there experience

[Khalid Nazim]

My suggestion would be to go for the 80W (main and spare). I ordered the CW3000 and based on the type of work that I do (about 3 hrs/day) and the weather in Canada (cold most of the year..) , I am ok with it.

[Jerome Stanek]

You may want to hold off on the spare tube as they are go into service the day they are made. By the time you get around to using it it may be out of warranty and not work at all. You would be out your money and have to order a new tube anyway.

[Frank barry]

Hi just looking at your post again
A table for 30$ that is very cheap I would double check it
Re your shipping /duty costs that is very low also, we pay 20% duty plus tax on imports in Ireland and I would expect the UK is much the same so I would check that also as it is much better to know your cost before you start

[Kieran Laxen]

Thanks for all the advice. I think I'm going to go for the 80W Reci tube and not order a spare.

I'll be able to order spares as and when needed.

I've checked the VAT calculations and yeah they were wrong. The order is FOB, so I've shopped around a lot and the cheapest I've found (including all the duty and VAT) comes out at £900.

I'm still unsure about the cooler. I imagine that its only going to be used for 2-3 hrs, twice a week. Given the freezing cold whether in the UK at the minute maybe the CW3000 will be fine.

Does anyone know what temperature the water is? This maybe a silly question but I have a chiller for a bar (to cool the beer) that I maybe able to use depending on what the optimum temperatures would be.

Thanks

Kieran

[Rodne Gold]

The cw3000 is not a true chiller , it will be marginal with the 80w reci. You need to maintain very close constant temp if you want consistent power output. The Cw3000 we got with our 60w shenui is basically a bucket with an aquarium pump in a metal shell with a cheap and nasty temp gauge, already cost us a tube. You need to maintain a temp of below 25 deg C , lower is better. Ambient temp has little to do with the temp of the water circulating in the tube , barring the fact it will lose temp faster when in the reservoir if its really cold. I wouldn't chance it with the more expensive tube tho. If you are going for an 80w reci and a cw5000 , you might as well increase the laser size to a 600 x 900 or a 1200 x 900..its not a lot more than a 500 x 700.

[Kieran Laxen]

Hi Rodne,

Thanks for your reply. The laser engraver is very much a hobby 'toy' so I need to try to keep the costs down to a minimum. Space in my workshop is at a premium so I think the 570 is the biggest I can justify. But thanks for the advice.

The big question is, would a beer cooler work? The water cooler is designed to keep the beer at 4-15 deg C and includes a pump for pumping the water along side the beer lines to keep them cool all the way to the tap. So I should be able to easily rig it up to work.

My only question is what is the flow rate (litres per minute) of the CW5000? Is the flow rate a big concern? Or does the water just need to be keep at a constant temp?

Thanks

Kieran

[Rodne Gold]

I'm not sure what the heat loading of the tube is and what flow rate is required , but if you do go for a cw3000 , you could probably vastly increase it's efficiency by buying a scrap car heater core or 2 and strapping on a puter fan and putting it somewhere in the cooling line. I'm sure the beer cooler would be as good. Only issue I can see is that the water mustn't be too cold so the temp drops below dew point , you don't want condensation anywhere near High voltages etc. We lost our 60w tube cos my operator put cold water into the tank of the cw3000 when the temp had risen too much and the thermal shock cracked one of the glass water tubes.

[Frank barry]

Hi
I would still go with the CW500 no messing about and if space is tight who needs a home made job lots of pipes tubes and will it work as well

what size machine do you need ?as in what do you plan to do on it ?there is a smaller machine that would be an option
just a taught

[john banks]

CW5000 is an impressive bit of kit and I would want one even with a hobby laser in Scotland. We found that consistency of water temperature was important to be able to cut consistently through a given thickness of material without having to add power unnecessarily to cover temperature related variation, this reduces the heat affected zone and improves the quality of the work.

[George M. Perzel]

No decision really-go with the CW5000 and save yourself a lot of future grief.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[Kieran Laxen]

I've gone for the CW5000. I've also gone for the 80W RECI tube.

As soon as I get photos I'll put them up.

[Walt Langhans]

I've gone for the CW5000. I've also gone for the 80W RECI tube.

You won't be disappointed, that's what I have and I've been running 6 days a week 8+ per day (I have lot to catch up on) and its going strong with no issues.

[Frank barry]

Hi
I think thats a good call (hope you had a look at the pic Walt posted having fun with his CW5000 dose look a nice bit of kit so a big thanks to Walt for giving us a look inside )

good luck with it
please let us know how you get on