my $50 TIG torch cooler

Very nice! Here's mine:

The difference between my project and yours, if I am not missing anything, is that you have a filter and I do not, and, also, I have a heat exchanger and fan (like a radiator) for cooling and you do not.

As far as safety (having the torch cooler running when welding), I simply plug mine into my welder's AC output. Said output is powered up by my microcontroller at the proper moment.

i

Sweet, Grant!

Looks like you use the same kind of laundry detergent I use, too!

Great minds smell alike, right? :)

I just got started with a little "scratch start" TIG unit, but it is air-cooled.

Scratch start just seems ridiculous! (it was a lot cheaper than a cooler versi> Check it out, guys ..

Igor, yours is a whole lot more complex than mine! The only reason I'm using a filter is that I figure crud is inevitable in a metal shop, also there's a reason all that stuff clogged up the pump in its former life (on a Bernard torch cart at Boeing).

I see how your pump is switched, but if the torch gets warm, it seems like you'd want to keep water running through it for awhile after postflow even.

I may cut a square of plywood to sit between my bucket and the pump, and put some carpet on it, that's a good idea.

Grant

Not really, I only have the extra radiator and a fan.

Maybe that is true. For myself, I decide that since the whole system is isolated, (tight lid on the bucket) there is not much crud that could get into the system. Also, crud would hopefully stay at the bottom.

I turn it on when I begin preflow, and turn it off when I turn off postflow, that seems to work out okay so far.

The "put carpet under everything that vibrates" is an idea that I learned from Gunner. It works exceedingly well.

i

try scratch starting on copper pads (copper blocks)?

I never tried it because I have HF, and I am thankful for that.

i

High-Freq is the way to go. Lift-arc and scratch starting can both stick your tungsten to the work, and can contaminate both the tungsten and the weld pool.

You'll find that your electrodes last a lot longer with high-frequency starting, too.

TL

Cool!! I hope you don't mind, but I saved the page in case I ever get that far in my home shop...

TL

Dang, dang, dang. I saw a carbonator pump the other day at a yard sale for $2, and thought, "What in the world would I EVER use one of those for?"

Just like tossing "stuff". Within three days I need EXACTLY that "stuff".

Steve

What's a carbonator pump? Or, rather "Why do you need a pump to carbonate?" I thought carbonation was just the liquid under CO2 pressure.

Bob

I think that carbonator pump pumps water into a vessel containing pressurised co2.

i

Way cool.

Whats that - blue can - dog briskets or food ? I have some white ones with 'green sand' and stuff within.

Looks like a good general purpose concept for most cooling.

Hum - mill, lathe, saw, TIG. I think I'd have one for machines and a clean one for the TIG - notice the filter...

Martin

Mart> Check it out, guys ..

The more surface area of liquid exposed to the CO2 gas, and the more stirring, the faster the CO2 dissolves. In soda fountains they use a small water tank partly full of water and partly full of CO2 gas under pressure, and the pump draws liquid out and sprays it back in to get lots of surface area and mixing. Otherwise the tank would have to be MUCH bigger to get the water carbonated fast enough for a reasonable flow rate out of the fountain and into a glass :-). I assume they draw liquid from the bottom and dump the return in the top of the tank, but I guess they could just put the liquid back in the bottom. Not sure how they regulate the water level in the tank.

-- Regards, Carl Ijames carl dott ijames aat verizon dott net (remove nospm or make the obvious changes before replying)

Great stuff, Grant. I do so little heavy tig work that an air cooled torch has been adequate for me, but if I build a cooler I think I'll emulate what you've got there.

John

Thanks, John. Ernie says that the really cool thing about a water cooled torch is they can be so much smaller and easier to work with.

Grant

Hi Grant, That looks good!

One thing to look out for on the carbonator pumps is that they need a high pressure bypass or pressure regulator before the torch. The pump I used (which looks pretty similar to yours) will pump 90+ PSI into the restriction that my torch provided. The torch (a Weldcraft WP20) is only rated at 60PSI input pressure. If nothing else, you might put a pressure gauge on the pump outlet.

Good Luck, Bob

Mine has a built regulator nut. I would suggest at least a pressure gauge. (mine has a gauge)

i

There's an actual Bernard water cooler on our local craigslist for $100, so I ran down there today to take a look. There is no regulator whatever on it. There is a dial but I think it indicated coolant temperature, not pressure.

I read the manual for my water-cooled torch, and also the CK Worldwide torch specifications. Neither specified a max pressure.

I modeled my setup after Ernie's. Ernie has used his daily for many years with many TIG torches and to my knowledge has never had any problem stemming from unregulated water pressure.

I think I'll just stay away from Weldcraft torches. :-)

Grant

And often at the worst possible moment.

Gunner