Poor mans tig water cooler

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I had everything already in my garage but one item so it doesn't get much cheaper then this so I figured I'd give it a shot.  My garage has heat and AC so I'm not worried about freezing so I decided to try the domestic water cooling method.  I tee'd off of a 1/2" water line and ball valved it off.  From there I went into a S1156F Watts boiler feed valve which is nothing more then a adjustable water pressure regulator.  I piped regulated water over and right next to the welders wall plug. At that location I will install the one device I did not have (240 VAC water solinoid).  My welder has a 240 VAC outlet for a commercial water cooler.  I will use that to open the solinoid when the welder is powered up.  To get rid of the waste water, I am dumping it into a 3/4 PVC drain with the trap on the inside so it won't freeze in the winter.  I do a ton of HVAC work so I have long refrigeration guage hoses kicking around that no longer hold a vacuum but are good for pressure.  I took a long red hose and snipped off both ends and used a barbed coupling to connect to the tig torch return line and stuffed the other end into the PVC trap.  For the supply, I used a blue AC hose, snipped off one end and used the same barbed coupling for the torch connection. At the the solinoid I have a bushing and AC style fitting that the hose connects directly to.  The red and blue hoses are wire tied to the power cable so I can move the welder around without getting tangled.  For now I'm running it without the solinoid which I bought off ebay and will install it when it gets here.  I have the regulator set to 25 lbs and have gobs of water coming out of the drain.
Reply:Sweet!
Reply:I've often thought this would be an economical way to achieve TIG water cooling on the home setup.  Even a DIY cooler setup can cost several hundred dollars to build.  Some pipe fittings and refrigerator tubing, and bam.The small amount of water wasted by using an open loop system would be nearly negligible on the hobby/light fabrication scale.Great thinking!
Reply:Well if I really wanted to play Mr. Greenjeans, I could buy a 100' roll of plastic tubing and a couple of plastic tee's and run the waste water to the shrubs in front of the house
Reply:Is your water well water or city water? I tried it using well water when I first got my welder, but the minerals in the water ruined my torch in only about 6 months. After the torch replacement  I built a recirculating cooler out of a beverage carbonator, a transmission oil cooler coil, and 2 small muffin fans, plus the hose and fittings. A 50/50 mix of RV antifreeze and distilled water have been the coolant and I have had no problems with this DIY package since I built it 3 years ago. It's powered from the 120 vac receptacle on the welder, so it's always on whenever my welder is. Are you sure there isn't a water valve already in your welder? Many of the older TIG capable welders came with the water valve already installed for using domestic water just as you are planning. My DialArc HF came with one. At a water pressure of 40-50 psi you should be able to get 3-4 gpm of flow, which will keep your torch cool up to 200 amps, or slightly more if you don't run excessively long beads at high current and your incoming water temperature is below 60 deg F. You can do even better if the incoming water temperature is lower.CharleyMiller MM252Miller Bobcat 225NTMiller DialArc HF / DIY Cooler2 Victor O/A TorchsetsMilwaukee 8" Metal SawMilwaukee Dry Cut "Chop" Saw 5 Ton Wallace Gantry Various Grinders, Benders, etc.
Reply:No water valve.  This is set up for a external cooler.  I am on city water and that passes through a whole house filter.  I only did this because I had most of the stuff here collecting dust.  I rarely tig over 150 amps anyway.  I guess I have to much time on my hands.Then again, what good is a 250 amp tig welder and water cooled torch with no waterI'm cleaning out the garage and I think I have enough for the next project.  I'm going to build a DIY (freebee) fume extractor
Reply:Originally Posted by anickodeEven a DIY cooler setup can cost several hundred dollars to build.
Reply:In High School we had a huge old Lincoln tig machine that used domestic water for cooling, It had basically a spigot hook up for a garden hose, one coming in and one that you ran back to the sink for a drain.
Reply:Originally Posted by ironmangqIn High School we had a huge old Lincoln tig machine that used domestic water for cooling, It had basically a spigot hook up for a garden hose, one coming in and one that you ran back to the sink for a drain.
Reply:Originally Posted by stefuelWhen I was in High School they didn't call it tig.  It was lovingly refered to as heli-arc and damn near as big as a smart car.  The only person I knew that did it was a pipe fitter for a commercial fire sprinkler system by day and a tubular race car chassis builder by night.
Reply:You can cool the torch without a solenoid valve, IF you can remember to turn the water ON before you weld and OFF after you have finished welding. Having the solenoid valve in the system just keeps you from forgetting it. No water flow = burned up torch and hoses.   Water left on = high water bill and flooded garden or yard.With everything that needs to remembered when setting up to TIG I would surely forget the water sooner or later.CharleyMiller MM252Miller Bobcat 225NTMiller DialArc HF / DIY Cooler2 Victor O/A TorchsetsMilwaukee 8" Metal SawMilwaukee Dry Cut "Chop" Saw 5 Ton Wallace Gantry Various Grinders, Benders, etc.
Reply:Everything seems to be working fine.  Now I have to calibrate for 250 amps.  The Miller Coolmate 3 pumps 4.2 qt's/min to handle 500 amps.  So I would guess that means 2.1 qt's/min for 250 amps.  So if I adjust my regulator to provide 2.5 qt's/min from the torches return hose I should be OK???