Water cooled or air cooled TIG torch?

heavy stuff and/or welding for hours. I have an air cooled torch on my Thermal Dynamics upto 250 amp TIG and have never lusted after a water cooled torch with its added maintenance problems.

Ted

If you plan on doing aluminum frames, then a water cooled torch would be nice. Aluminum welding with AC makes the torch much hotter.

For most steel bike frame welds a 120 amp #2 style air cooled torch would be fine.

A CK100 would be good. I would also recommend a CK110, which is an inline TIG torch. You will find it makes fillet welds on tubing about 1/3 as hard.

--More useful would be a water cooled glove! Never seen one though..

Oh Sorry, CK Worldwide.

Had to laugh over the water cooled gloves! :-)

Yes, I am planning on Al tubing for the bicycle frames. Any recommendations on quick release fittings for the TIG setup so I can break it down after I am done using it without messing around with coolant? I saw the Miller Coolmate 3, and the Diamondback 250 water cooled setup at Miller. Any recommendations along these lines? I need to stay portable since I don't have much dedicated space for the setup. I'll search this site more too! Thanks for all the feedback!

Luds

My main shop TIG has quick releaase fittings for the torch. I have 3 main torches. A CK230, and CK230M, and a Weldcraft 350 amp water cooled.

Western enterprises makes the quick release neutral gas fittings and I used their quick release oxygen fittings for my water lines. The power connector is a #2 tweco.