Water Cooled Spindle Flow Indicator

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BladesNBarrels
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Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2019 5:41 pm

Water Cooled Spindle Flow Indicator

Post by BladesNBarrels »

While attending the Colorado CNC Users Group meeting this week, I saw that the Legacy Maverick our host uses had a flow indicator on the hose going to his water cooled spindle. It struck me that once the fluid is flowing you can't see the motion by observing the hose, and my reservoir is an all white 5 gallon bucket with a white lid.
Looking around the internet, I see that there are variations of a PC cooling flow meter on ebay.
Has anyone installed one and what did you use? Where did you install it - by the reservoir or by the spindle?
The Maverick's was located by the motor driving the Z axis.
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FlowIndicatorEbay.jpg

OCEdesigns
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Re: Water Cooled Spindle Flow Indicator

Post by OCEdesigns »

That's pretty cool. I've seen these in a larger version but didn't know they came in the 1/4" version. I think I will buy one of these. I'm sure you can put it anywhere you want. I would put it in the return line back to the bucket. At least you know you have full flow through the spindle. Although I guess it probably doesn't matter either side "Should" show the same thing.
Shark HD4 Extended Bed, Water Cooled Spindle. VCarve Pro 10.5
Maker of many chips

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WNC_Ed
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Re: Water Cooled Spindle Flow Indicator

Post by WNC_Ed »

I am about to jump on board the flow indicator train but want to make sure of the hose and connector.
will this work with the existing hose?
So, is the G14 fitting what the spindle uses?
Looking at ordering these to go with the indicator:
G1/4 External Thread Connector Fitting for 9.5X12.7mm Soft Tube PC Water Cooling

Will they work with what we have?
Shark HD4 EB
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OCEdesigns
Posts: 105
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:26 am

Re: Water Cooled Spindle Flow Indicator

Post by OCEdesigns »

WNC_Ed wrote:I am about to jump on board the flow indicator train but want to make sure of the hose and connector.
will this work with the existing hose?
So, is the G14 fitting what the spindle uses?
Looking at ordering these to go with the indicator:
G1/4 External Thread Connector Fitting for 9.5X12.7mm Soft Tube PC Water Cooling

Will they work with what we have?
I'm pretty sure they will work just fine. I'll order one to try it out.
Shark HD4 Extended Bed, Water Cooled Spindle. VCarve Pro 10.5
Maker of many chips

Gregtillotson
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Re: Water Cooled Spindle Flow Indicator

Post by Gregtillotson »

I purchased this one from Amazon. It works perfectly for about 18 months.

Bel-Art Roto-Flo Polystyrene Flow Indicator for ³/₁₆ to ¼ in. I.D. Tubing (H19937-0001) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002VBW2I4/re ... -CbJH5YZYJ

OCEdesigns
Posts: 105
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Re: Water Cooled Spindle Flow Indicator

Post by OCEdesigns »

Gregtillotson wrote:I purchased this one from Amazon. It works perfectly for about 18 months.

Bel-Art Roto-Flo Polystyrene Flow Indicator for ³/₁₆ to ¼ in. I.D. Tubing (H19937-0001) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002VBW2I4/re ... -CbJH5YZYJ
Thanks for the information!
Shark HD4 Extended Bed, Water Cooled Spindle. VCarve Pro 10.5
Maker of many chips

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BladesNBarrels
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Re: Water Cooled Spindle Flow Indicator

Post by BladesNBarrels »

Thank you for the responses.
I got sidetracked with another project and am now back to setting up the Shark.
I ordered this flow indicator from Amazon and will try to get everything up and running this week:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HQ ... UTF8&psc=1

Jim N
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Re: Water Cooled Spindle Flow Indicator

Post by Jim N »

I ordered one from China 5 months ago. Still hasn’t arrived so I made my own out of some fittings and scrap plastic
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EEE7D678-F645-45E0-9545-C6476FA2027A.jpeg


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BladesNBarrels
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Re: Water Cooled Spindle Flow Indicator

Post by BladesNBarrels »

I looked at that before I ordered just the flow meter.
Do you like having the temperature monitor?

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