K40 Water Flow Sensor Upgrade

My K40 (and various other CO2 lasers) does not have a water flow sensor switch on it.   There are folks who put a water flow meter on the outside of their lasers which gives you a visual representation that the water is indeed flowing.  That’s great.  Until you turn your back and the pump fails causing water to stop flowing and your laser tube and power supply go “POOF”.

You would have to watch that flow meter 100% of the time to be safe.

With a water flow sensor switch it kills power to the laser firing circuit if no water flow is detected thus saving your precious CO2 laser tube and power supply.

The switch in the flow sensor is in the normally open position.  That means the circuit is BROKEN until water flows through the sensor and then the switch closes which ENERGIZES the laser firing circuit.

In fact laser power supplies have a protection circuit ready to roll.

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OMTech Laser Water Flow Sensor Upgrade

CO2 lasers are water cooled.  If the cool water stops flowing the laser tube will die.  That’s all there is to it.   To prevent the laser from firing when there is no water flowing most lasers incorporate some kind of switch that chops power to the laser circuit when no water flow is detected. In this blog we’ll show how to upgrade the OMTech Laser water flow sensor.

The OMTech Laser Stock Sensor

My new 50 watt laser has such a switch but forums are FULL of reports of failures and especially the fact that the switch will begin leaking.

Crap Water Flow Sensor

While this may not be the exact switch, it is darn similar. There is no outlet port on these things.  The switch is hooked to a Y valve.  One side is inlet, the other is inlet flow and the top opening goes to the switch.

In my mind that doesn’t really measure “Flow”, rather the fact there is water pressure present on the switch.

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OMTech 50 Watt CO2 Laser

Got my new OMTech 50 Watt Laser today.

I also own 2 Ortur Laser Master 2 – 20 watt diode lasers and a K40 Laser also from OMTech. NOTE: I sold both the K40 and the Ortur LM2’s

After tons of research I have decided that your best bet on buying a Chinese laser system is to buy it from OMTech.  Your mileage may vary and in fact some people’s mileage DOES vary.   That has NOT been my experience.

The K40 I bought from them and now this 50 watt machine………JUST WORKS. Right out of the box. No damage.  Not one scratch.  Not one dent.   The machines both came aligned right out of the box.

Shipping was fast,  the price was competitive albeit you could save a few dollars by buying from other dealers.  I don’t recommend it unless you are prepared to take a machine out of the box and spend time aligning it and making it right.  If you posses those skills then by all means…….save some money.  Me. I posses those skills but it isn’t worth $50 or $100 to me to do all that quality assurance and work.

Now. let dig in a little.   Just some stuff you need to know up front.

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