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I bought one of those TIG conversion kits from Tigdepot for my Lincoln 220.Seems to work well but of course gets really hot. So I thought about water cooling. I saw a thread here about home built water coolers, so I think I'll go that route. To start, I got a water cooled torch (Weldcraft WP20) from Weldingdepot. It arrived yesterday, and now I have more questions.1. the water lines are 5/8 unf, one lf and one rh thread. Which one is the inlet? And where can I get the mating fittings?2. The Argon connector is a 7/8 unf LH thread. I presume (hope!) this is also the power feed? Where would I get the mating fitting for that, and how does it connect to the Argon and power?3. The air cooled torch had a manual control for the argon. I'm presuming that the water cooled one needs a gas solenoid - is that correct?Thanks for any help and advice you can offer. Barry
Reply:Western Enterprises makes welding gas and TIG torch connections. You should be able to find what you need on their web site, and then purchase the fittings through a local distributer or online seller like Tig Depot or Arc Zone, http://198.170.235.20/index.html. I've gotten good technical support over the phone with Arc Zone.And you're correct about the gas solenoid, you'll need some way of turning the gas on and off, could be a manual valve or solenoid.
Reply:I have made a couple of these. I just cut and spliced the water in and out into my pump, tank, and radiator. I used a heater core out of an old Buick for the radiator along with a electrical cabinet cooling fan. People say to use a fountain pump; I had access to a different pump so I never tried a fountain pump? One thing I know for sure, make sure you have plenty of coolant capacity: that torch will make steam and blow your lines in no time if she starts sucking air. If you want to see picks if my set up let me know, it will take me a couple days but I can show you what a $20.00 water cooler looks like.Dan.Repair Specialties LLC
Reply:I don't think a fountain or condensate pump will provide enough pressure to push enough water through the small orifices and tubes of a water cooled torch. See the thread, "WeldingWeb - Professional Welding Forum > WeldingWeb Disciplines > Machines, Tools & Cutting Methods Water coolers for welders" for my suggestion of a new pump available cheaply on surplus that provides higher pressure than a fountain pump.awright
Reply:Search "Procon pump" on E-bay. These are the pumps used by the commercial coolers. One seller has reconditioned ones for $ 65. Pressure should be 40 to 60 lbs. and 100 gph flow rate.DennisThermal Arc 185-TSWMillermatic Challenger 172VictorO/AAtlas Craftsman 12 by 24 LatheEsab PCM-875Wholesalem Tool Mill-Drill
Reply:There could be more to this then just pressure, like electricity (high voltage/low amp:::low volt/high amp) you can have high pressure but low volume and vise/versa . I am far from being an expert water cooler builder, but getting the water through the orifices of the torch doesnt take all that much pressure, but maybe getting the volume does ? I run what is considered a high pressure low volume industrial pump that is normally used for pumping coolant through machine valves. The funny thing is even being a low volume pump it still is rated for 3 GPM. The real kicker on this is that it only pumps at about 15 PSI. I have a gauge on it and thats what it shows, But I have very good solid flow and dont have problems with it. My tank holds about 3 gallons and I run some anti freeze in it (just incase I ever loose the furnace over the week end).Dan.Repair Specialties LLC
Reply:I also claim no detailed knowledge of pumping systems design, but may have just enough knowledge to be dangerous.To be able to predict the actual flow and pressure in a pump and torch system you have to know the system characteristics, that is, the pressure that results for a given rate of flow of coolant flowing through the system from the pump to the sump, and the pump characteristics, that is, the flow rate that the pump will put out at a given pressure or "head." With these two graphs or tables, you can determine the pressure and flow rate for the combination of system and pump.At one extreme you have something like a backyard pool pump designed to pump a fairly large volume of water against a very small head. If this pump encounters much head, the volume will be severely reduced.At the other extreme, you have constant displacement pumps designed to push a fixed volume of fluid relatively independent of the back pressure encountered. Examples are fixed displacement hydraulic oil pumps that may just burst the system at several thousand PSI if blocked without a pressure relief valve, and water "pressure washer" piston pumps that are intended to put out a fixed volume at high pressure. The actual PRESSURE the pressure washer pumps produce is determined by the fixed displacement of the pump and the size of orifice used in the gun, that is, the hydraulic resistance the user installs in the system. If you install too small an orifice in the gun, you produce too high a pressure and the pressure relief valve in the pump dumps water back into the sump or to the pump inlet. People use the pressure relief valve as a "pressure adjustment," but they are actually just recirculating excess water around the pump, wasting energy in heating the water.As I recall, a Procon pump is close to a fixed displacement pump and it may or may not have a built in pressure relief valve. You want to select a pump matched to your torch flow characteristics so you get the desired flow WITHOUT venting coolant back around the pump continuously, as will happen if you select too large a pump for your torch and hose system. When that happens, all the energy put into the excess coolant that is vented back to the tank or the pump inlet goes into heating the coolant - not a good thing, since you want the coolant to remain as cool as possible. Pressure control by means of the pressure relief valve will also wear out the pressure relief valve prematurely by erosion.The ideal situation is to have a Procon pump well matched to your torch and hose resistance so desired flow is achieved at a pressure that the pump is intended for. Perhaps torch manufacturers standardize flow resistance so a standard Procon pump at 1740 RPM will work with all torches. I don't know, but I'd want to find out before buying any Procon pump that comes up on ebay.Another excellent method of getting the desired flow would be to get a slightly oversize Procon pump and use a variable speed motor to regulate pressure - unfortunately expensive and not very practical.Use of a non-fixed displacement pump is another alternative. In that case, the flow that results will be determined by the crossover point of the pressure/volume curves for the system and the pump.That is the basis of my suggestion of the cheap new surplus pump from C&H Sales. Based upon the pressure and flow mentioned by Tailshaft56 (which I do not dispute), the pump I suggested would definitely NOT provide enough flow for rated current and duty cycle on his torch. But I wonder if those coolant ratings are for a pretty high current torch. The cheap pump might provide enough flow for hobbiest usage at significantly lower current and duty cycle, and might be OK for many of us. I have a TIG machine rated for 400 amps but I doubt I will ever use it at that current. I have never used the rated 350 amps of my stick machine. (Of course, it is the torch rating and duty cycle that you have to be concerned with for pump sizing, not the power supply rating.)My suggestion of the cheap pump was as an alternative to the pool pumps being suggested by others, not as an ideal pump for a professional using a high current torch.awright
Reply:Wow Awright - for a guy who claims little knowledge of pumping systems that sure was an informative post! I intend only "hobbyist" welding duty cycles so if the pump is underrated shouldn't be too much of a problem. It does seem that there are enough home built cooling systems out there that I should be able to get something to work.Lots of interesting points were brought up in this thread. One thing though, my original question was - which is the gozinta and which is the gozouta for the water, as I have heard that flow direction is important. I guess I could ask Weldingdepot, but they wouldn't bring up any of these really interesting other discussions!cheersBarry
Reply:Thanks for the kind words, Barry, but take my comments with a grain of salt. I'm not a pump engineer.As so often happens, we grab a thread and run where WE want to go with it. I totally forgot what your original question was.To answer your question about hookup: I always recommend referring to the manufacturers, first. I picked Weldcraft because I have a Chinese knockoff of a Weldcraft torch. If you go to the "Weldcraft Product Literature," page on the Weldcraft site (www.weldcraft.com) and click on, "Water-Cooled Hook-Up," you will see that coolant goes into the "Water Hose" to the torch and returns via the "Power Cable." I'd guess that this is to assure that the coolest water goes directly to the head for maximum cooling at the critical location, then goes back via the power cable to cool the cable, allowing smaller, more flexible cable to be used. I think all torch makers use this scheme.Keep cool.awright
Reply:Thanks awright - the weldcraft site shows me exactly what I want to knowcheersBarry |
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发表于 2021-9-1 00:13:32