There's a working water cooler out by the dumpster at work. I'm thinking that it could be converted into a tig water chiller without much work. Cap off the spigots, put a small submersible fountain pump in the water tank, filter on the outlet, and plumb it up.
Anyone ever do this? What kind of algecide would I want to add to the water?
It probably would work but I would put it to its original use as a water cooler and get more out of it. Those long hot summer days require a lot of nice cold water for my own cool downs. I made a cooler from a hanging type refridgeration condenser (evaporator?). It is about 18" x 12 x 12 and is totally enclosed with a shroud and grill, and complete with a nice quiet cooling fan and control panel. It has 6 passes of copper tube in aluminum fins, with the copper being
5/16" >===There's a working water cooler out by the dumpsterVisit my website:
a little anti-freeze, water cooler capacity(refer wise) is less than
12,000btu (or 1 ton of refrigeration effect). 4,000 to 10,000 Btu's most common. for extra capacity a storage tank ,or a condenser coil, even a A- coil could dissipate heat. Now the TIG guys can give you more info on what the TIG generate in heat, and what temp is ideal for the torch head.tt clueless near stlouis
You need 50 psi water pressure to get the water through the head.
You can buy just the pump and build your own water cooler with a 5 gallon water bucket.
These guys sell the pumps direct
Depco Pump Company
2145 Calumet St Clearwater FL 33765 Phone: 727.446.1656 800.446.1656 Fax: 727.446.7867Business Hours: -Monday thru Friday 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM ---Eastern Time
Tell them you are interested in the constant pressure gear pumps used for welding water coolers.
I understand they have an Italian brand that works very well called Fluido-tec.
I'm no expert, but the commercially made cooler that came with my tig welder has a modest size tank, a heat exchanger with fan and a pump. No chiller, just a water to air heat exchanger. I use a 50:50 mixture of distilled water and automotive antifreeze -- since my shop is not heated most of the time. Been working fine for half a dozen years.
Mill
Use Propylene Glycol "R. V. Water System" type antifreeze (also sold for cars as a "Safer" alternative) if you have critters at home (dogs, cats, birds, etc.) that might get into your shop and sample the leaks on the floor - Ethylene Glycol is rather toxic (and very dangerously deceptively sweet tasting), Propylene Glycol is pretty benign.
And read the mixture charts on the bottle before you go straight antifreeze, you get the best freeze resistance and heat transfer with a roughly 50/50 antifreeze to water mix.
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That was the reccomendation I got from the manufacturer of my pump when I had to rebuild it. They said that some automotive antifreeze products have additives that are very bad for bronze geared pumps. I can't verify that it's true but I did have to replace the gears in my pump within a year after putting Zerex in the cooling tank.
Richard Coke
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