cheap and ez torch cooler

[LarryL]

Over the 20 years or more during which I've been learning how to tig weld, I've experimented with various methods of getting cooling water through my water-cooled torch. On my first effort I made some connectors to run tap water from a garden hose through polyethylene tubing to my torch's water inlet. That worked well for a while until I tired of the puddles of discharged water outside of my workshop. Then a service station friend gave me an old 15 gallon oil drum. I converted that into a cold water reservoir, put a 1/5 hp submersible sump pump into it, connected the poly tubing to torch's inlet and drained the discharged water back into the oil drum. It also worked fine, but well, my setup just didn't look like a professional one! :eek. I remedied that a couple of years later by purchasing a Lincoln water cooler.

Over the years, however, my ears have gotten tired of the din caused by the whirring of two fans - the cooler's and the welder's. I long to revert to the peace and quiet of earlier days when the intermittently running, relatively quiet welder's fan and the soft murmuring of the sump pump generated a somewhat soothing noise. I've even started collecting the first component of my next quiet-running cooler: a carbonator pump purchased on eBay. Now if I could only locate an inexpensive used 15 gallon, stainless steel beer keg, I should be able to fabricate a cooler with more pleasing lines than that fashioned from my previous steel oil drum.

A 55 gallon steel drum filled with cold water will provide a sufficiently large reservoir of cooling water to permit you to weld for many minutes. If the water gets warm, let it cool down or throw some ice in it if you can't wait. Since most tig welding seems to consist of short periods of laying down beads interrupted by longer periods of layup, your tankful of water may never get too warm. Just try it. It's a cheap solution to your needs and you'll lusually learn something by experimenting. When you begin to make your living from welding, it will be time for you to buy a commercial water cooler!
LarryL

[mikecwik]

why do you think youd like to have a w.c. torch?

[SundownIII]

mike,

I think the OP will quickly find that he needs a "tig welder" a lot more than he needs a WC torch.

Putting the cart before the horse?

[monckywrench]

Now if I could only locate an inexpensive used 15 gallon, stainless steel beer keg,

Step 1 - Buy keg.
Step 2 - Drink beer.
Step 3 - Repurpose keg after sobering up.

If consuming that much beer looks intimidating, be assured that "friends" become remarkably available for such demanding missions when made aware of them.

[Marksweldingams]

If the air cooled torch gets that hot thru gloves it's time for a break

Ok...as I have CLEARLY stated several times...IM NO TIG EXPERT.

Ive been looking at tig equipment and think I'd like to have a water cooled torch if possible. So, here's a question...

Take a plastic 55 gallon drum and place a hi volume submersible water pump in it. connect 2 hoses to your tig torch.....fill with water. turn on the pump, weld...be happy?

Nothing is ever "that" simple.....but would it work? especially if the welds are just pushing the limits of an air-cooled type. Now, I know this wont work for doing 24" pipe with 2" wall....but for up to 1/4" plate and runs no more than say....36" ???

If the air cooled torch gets that hot thru gloves it's time for a break

I know Im missing something.....so fire away.....Ill listen and "learn" !!

[JohnCFord]

Seems to me that making your own cooling tank out of stainless steel is in order here instead of buying one at all. Much like people (hobbyists) ask about which welding cart to buy it was pretty much understood that you make your own as a first project (was this forum 6, or 7 years ago). So now that we determined that making a cooling tank is the best idea. Let's talk about what kind of water pump should be used with regard to gallons per minute. I know some pros out there have made their own tank. I'd be interested in some details. I'm thinking about an Ez tig 165 or the same one with the Miller paint job.

Any specs would be great!

thanks in advance!

~J~

[SidecarFlip]

I guess if I was at odds for a cooler (I'm not), I could suck water from the turlet bowl in the john in the shop and use that. If it got too warm, flush it.

Maybe I could hook the return to a Bidet seat and have a warm rinse.....

[jbmprods]

I guess if I was at odds for a cooler (I'm not), I could suck water from the turlet bowl in the john in the shop and use that. If it got too warm, flush it.

Maybe I could hook the return to a Bidet seat and have a warm rinse.....

good idea
be my luck i'd wait till it got to hot......i might have to retract my white hat theory after that

[muskt]

First off, I must say that I am not a professional welder--Heck, I am hardly an amateur welder--I am a professional pilot.

I have a Dynasty 200 DX. I decided that I wanted (not needed, wanted) a water cooled torch setup. I did not desire to mortgage my firstborn to acquire a factory unit. I figured that I had a welder, & some machine tools, & I could make my own. I did, & it works well.

Here is the story.

I live in Anchorage, Alaska, & metal is not easy to come by up here. I located a piece of Aluminum box tube approx 4 X 5 X 45. I cut it in half and located some plate to weld on as end caps. This was my first Aluminum welding, and is really not very pretty (read that as pretty awful, actually). I made adapters for threading the fittings into, & (jokingly said) welded them into place on the ends.

Next, I acquired a heater core from a pickup. I welded some Aluminum angle onto the tubing (reservoir) and attached the heater core to the angle. I located a Muffin fan (220volt), & fabbed a bracket to direct air through the heater core. So far, so good.

Next I started shopping for a pump & motor.

I forgot to say that I wanted the whole mess to be 220 volt to be able to wire it in with the Dyn.

The whole hunt for a pump was very (read that as VERY) confusing.

There were opinions all over the spectrum. So I started doing research. What I came up with is a need for 50-60 PSI and 1 quart per minute (15 gallons per hour) of flow.

OK, where/how did I arrive at those values?

TK Worldwide has a chart with the flow listed:

http://www.ckworldwide.com/tech-2.pdf

Near the bottom on the left.

I actually do not recall where I located the recommended pressure. But I do remember it being 50-60 PSI.

I located a Procon Pump and a motor with the correct couplers on EBAY (220 volt). The vendor (forgotten the name) told me he would set the pressure to whatever I desired. 50-60.

I put the whole mess together and plumbed it according to the chart on the link above. IT WORKED!

I put distilled water in it--remember that I live in Alaska. It gets cool up here. I was afraid that it might freeze in the garage/shop. So, the next quest was for a suitable antifreeze. Boy did that open several cans of worms. You may not believe some of the concoctions I found listed. Most recommended against automotive antifreeze due to the potential for plugging the passages in the torch.

Miller makes 2 varieties of coolant (over $20 per gallon up here). One is listed as not for use on systems with HF involved--that one is out for TIG.

The other is listed as not suitable for Aluminum. Now what to do.

I fired off an email to Miller tech support, & 2-3 days later I received a phone call from one of the support engineers. He told me to go ahead & use the "not for Aluminum" for 2 reasons. First, he said the warning was a "lawyer thing". Second, that the Aluminum had already corroded to the point where it would not be a problem.

I took his advice, & have had no problems, yet. I do not use the DYN nearly as much as I would like to (too much time at work, don't you know?).

I would estimate that I have well under $200 in all the fixings & argon to build the cooler. I could not have bought one for that price, & even if I had, I would not have learned a thing, & would not have had the practice of the welding.

I have attached a pic of the unit on the homemade cart (DYN sits above). Remember that the welds are my first attempt at Aluminum, and that the box is 1/4 thick, and the ends are 3/8 thick.

Jerry in Anchorage

PS Here is a link that recommends 50 PSI pressure

http://www.arc-zone.com/pdf/HowToHoo...rCooledTIG.pdf

Look on the cooler area near the pump.

[urch55]

Jerry,
Looks like you done your homework and a good job. The way you described your work I expected to see a "hack job". But it looks good.

[mikecwik]

that looks very nice jerry.

[JohnCFord]

First off, I must say that I am not a professional welder--Heck, I am hardly an amateur welder--I am a professional pilot.

I have a Dynasty 200 DX. I decided that I wanted (not needed, wanted) a water cooled torch setup. I did not desire to mortgage my firstborn to acquire a factory unit. I figured that I had a welder, & some machine tools, & I could make my own. I did, & it works well.

Here is the story.

I live in Anchorage, Alaska, & metal is not easy to come by up here. I located a piece of Aluminum box tube approx 4 X 5 X 45. I cut it in half and located some plate to weld on as end caps. This was my first Aluminum welding, and is really not very pretty (read that as pretty awful, actually). I made adapters for threading the fittings into, & (jokingly said) welded them into place on the ends.

Next, I acquired a heater core from a pickup. I welded some Aluminum angle onto the tubing (reservoir) and attached the heater core to the angle. I located a Muffin fan (220volt), & fabbed a bracket to direct air through the heater core. So far, so good.

Next I started shopping for a pump & motor.

I forgot to say that I wanted the whole mess to be 220 volt to be able to wire it in with the Dyn.

The whole hunt for a pump was very (read that as VERY) confusing.

There were opinions all over the spectrum. So I started doing research. What I came up with is a need for 50-60 PSI and 1 quart per minute (15 gallons per hour) of flow.

OK, where/how did I arrive at those values?

TK Worldwide has a chart with the flow listed:

http://www.ckworldwide.com/tech-2.pdf

Near the bottom on the left.

I actually do not recall where I located the recommended pressure. But I do remember it being 50-60 PSI.

I located a Procon Pump and a motor with the correct couplers on EBAY (220 volt). The vendor (forgotten the name) told me he would set the pressure to whatever I desired. 50-60.

I put the whole mess together and plumbed it according to the chart on the link above. IT WORKED!

I put distilled water in it--remember that I live in Alaska. It gets cool up here. I was afraid that it might freeze in the garage/shop. So, the next quest was for a suitable antifreeze. Boy did that open several cans of worms. You may not believe some of the concoctions I found listed. Most recommended against automotive antifreeze due to the potential for plugging the passages in the torch.

Miller makes 2 varieties of coolant (over $20 per gallon up here). One is listed as not for use on systems with HF involved--that one is out for TIG.

The other is listed as not suitable for Aluminum. Now what to do.

I fired off an email to Miller tech support, & 2-3 days later I received a phone call from one of the support engineers. He told me to go ahead & use the "not for Aluminum" for 2 reasons. First, he said the warning was a "lawyer thing". Second, that the Aluminum had already corroded to the point where it would not be a problem.

I took his advice, & have had no problems, yet. I do not use the DYN nearly as much as I would like to (too much time at work, don't you know?).

I would estimate that I have well under $200 in all the fixings & argon to build the cooler. I could not have bought one for that price, & even if I had, I would not have learned a thing, & would not have had the practice of the welding.

I have attached a pic of the unit on the homemade cart (DYN sits above). Remember that the welds are my first attempt at Aluminum, and that the box is 1/4 thick, and the ends are 3/8 thick.

Jerry in Anchorage

PS Here is a link that recommends 50 PSI pressure

http://www.arc-zone.com/pdf/HowToHoo...rCooledTIG.pdf

Look on the cooler area near the pump.

Very good post Muskt! With that I will weld my own. By the way, I am a student pilot. I might build a tube and rag job some time in the future...
~J~

[vicegrip]

I luV a good homebuild.
Cool! Muskt.......
vg