Water cooler for tig torch

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I am converting my Dialarc 250 over to water tig torch this week. I am building the cooler myself. Anyone do this and if so what kind of luck did you have. Any do's or don'ts. I don't see any problems arising but thought I would ask. I have consulted a good weldcraft rep.Yes I can tack it for you.    I know that won't hold but that is what you asked me to do.  Millermatic 350P XR Aluma-Pro push/pullMillermatic 185/spool gunMiller Dialarc 250 HF Water cooledThermal Dynamics Plasma
Reply:a friend of mine built a cooler out of a 5-gallon bucket, a lemonade fountian pump, an old heater core from a pickup and a 120v freezer fan.  It has been running for several years with the 50-50 antifreeze mix in it.  He has been using an old airco watercooled tig torch (250 amp, I think).  It doesnt get very hot, so he could probably eliminate the heater core from the system and still keep it pretty cool with 5 gallons of liquid.  If you make the container from metal and use a radiator, you might just make sure they are compatible with each other and with the coolant used.  I read about some compute geeks that tried to water-cool a computer and forgot about problems with copper and aluminum together in a system like that.  They ended up with a lot of corrosion in one metal or the other, I forget which.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:If you can find an old drinking fountain like I did they have a fan and radiator built in that work great. The one I used even had a shroud around the fan.
Reply:I know that some units use pumps made by Procon which can be found on ebay, if that's any help.  Personally, I don't see why anyone would pay >$500 for a water cooler when it's nothing more than simple heat exchanger.  I had considered using an aluminum radiator core from a motorcycle which can also be found on ebay.  Getting good airflow through the unit is going to be critical to performance, so it will have to be enclosed well.  If I were going to do this, I'd spend some time and effort to do the necessary engineering and find the right parts to make it robust.  There are probably few things more annoying than a leaky cooler.-Heath
Reply:Right now I have a large condensor out of a window unit AC with the shroud mounted on a stand I built for the machine that has a large fan for cooling. My water tank is mounted on the stand under the machine and I am getting a aquarium water pump to set in the tank. From all the rep told me this should work. He said they only require 1 to 1 1/2 Qt. per minute flow. As long as It is not city water presssure the flow should not get to high.Yes I can tack it for you.    I know that won't hold but that is what you asked me to do.  Millermatic 350P XR Aluma-Pro push/pullMillermatic 185/spool gunMiller Dialarc 250 HF Water cooledThermal Dynamics Plasma