How is the Hobart Tigmate cooled?

i.e. how is the TIg torch cooled? I can't seem to find that spec in the literature that Hobart provides? Maybe this is a newbie question. All the Tiging I've done required either running water or a recirculating system.

Thanks Pete "There ought to be limits to Freedom"

-- George W. Bush, angrily commenting on the "GWBush.com" site parodying his campaign -- (Slater, Dallas Morning News, 5/22/99:

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"Our enemies... never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." GWBush

Reply to
Peg Leg Pete
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It uses a 150 amp air cooled torch. As in...It will get too hot to hold, so you put it down until it cools off.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

On that crazy, crazy day of Mon, 09 Aug 2004 08:53:16 GMT, Ernie Leimkuhler decided it was then ok to say :

D'oh! Well, that doesnt sound like fun. I'll keep looking around for something useable.

Thanks Pete "There ought to be limits to Freedom"

-- George W. Bush, angrily commenting on the "GWBush.com" site parodying his campaign -- (Slater, Dallas Morning News, 5/22/99:

formatting link
"Our enemies... never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." GWBush

Reply to
Peg Leg Pete

Duty cycle is determined by the machine and the amps. Do not exceed the rated duty cycle or you can damage the welder.

As far as torches go, they span the range from light-duty to heavy duty. They are rated in amp capacity: 100, 150, 200, 300, etc.

You can exceed the "duty cycle" of a light-duty torch that is connected to a heavy duty welder without exceeding the power supply's duty cycle. Like Ernie said, the torch will get uncomfortably hot, and then you have to put it down and wait for it to cool.

If you hooked up a water cooled torch to a maxstar 150, the torch would probably never get too hot too use, but you will be limited by the welder's duty cycle--i.e. you will periodically need to wait while the welder cools down.

Match the torch to the application. There may be times when you hook a light, 100 amp torch up to a aerowave because you are doing fillets on thin material all day and don't want to wrestle a torch any heavier than it needs to be.

An air-cooled torch is quite usable as you say. I've got a CK150 on my TA185 and it rarely gets uncomfortably warm. I mostly use the TA for mild and stainless steel under 1/8". If I were going to be doing a lot of aluminum, I might consider getting a water cooled torch though...

Cheers--

Jeff Dantzler

Reply to
Jeff Dantzler

Wrong conclusion. Air cooled torches work fine. Their only real limitation is doing heavy aluminum for extended periods. I have several air-cooled torches I use with my portable inverter TIG machine. I use water cooled torches onb my shop machine.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

Keith is right. Aluminum conducts heat a LOT better than steel, so, when one applies a torch to a point on it, the heat there is quickly transferred through the entire volume of aluminum. That is one of the reasons it is hard to weld...and one of the reasons why so many cooking pots have thick aluminum disks on their bottoms. As an example...take two rods, identical in size, where one is aluminum, and, one is steel. Grab an end and stick the other end into a torch flame. I suspect the one that you will drop faster will be the aluminum one, as it will get a lot hotter a lot quicker. Regards Dave Mundt

Reply to
Dave Mundt

On that crazy, crazy day of Mon, 09 Aug 2004 20:50:44 GMT, Ernie Leimkuhler decided it was then ok to say :

My plan is to weld up some truck racks using 1/8 wall aluminum box extrusions. The welds won't be over 3 inches long but may have several covering passes. Maybe a few joints connecting the 1/8 aluminum to 1/4 base plates (preheated). Weld, weld ,weld. Think about stuff, move to the next position. Weld weld weld. Etc.

This isn't really heavy duty truck/trailer frame stuff, so I'm hearing that an air cooled torch may be ok after all.

If I hook up the air cooled torch to a (I'm thinking about) Miller Syncrowave 180, would that be a reasonable combination to use ?

Once again, Pete "There ought to be limits to Freedom"

-- George W. Bush, angrily commenting on the "GWBush.com" site parodying his campaign -- (Slater, Dallas Morning News, 5/22/99:

formatting link
"Our enemies... never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." GWBush

Reply to
Peg Leg Pete

Oooooooooooh! That makes sense to me now.

Thanks. I appreciate that.

rvb

Reply to
Rick Barter

The Hobart TIGMate is the same machine as a Milelr Econotig, just grey instead of blue.

1/8" wall tube would be in it's comfort range.

Yes but it should be a large one.

The Miller Syncrowave 180SD comes with a 150 amp air cooled torch. This will work for what you want to do, but you will have to stop about every 15 minutes of so to let the torch cool. AC TIG welding puts more heat into the torch than DC.

You can make a simple torch cooler for the air cooled torch with a small muffin fan and a wire rack to hold the torch in front of it. This will cool it down quicker.

You could upgrade to a CK 210 which is a 200 amp air cooled torch. You will want to use 1/8" zirconiated tungstens for AC aluminum. You could use 1/8" Lanthanated as well. Do NOT use pure tungstens for anything but throwing at mice. Pures are useless ancient junk.

Lanthanated tungstens will work for AC or DC, but Zircioniated will take even more heat on AC.

You might want to atart off with a argon/helium mix gas . It will boost your arc heat and give cleaner welds on aluminum.

people, and neither do we." GWBush

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

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