DIY Tig Cooler

[FranV8]

Well, I blame Paul G for me starting off down this track. After picking up the bandsaw he sold me, he showed me his water cooled torch (WP20), which changed my wantalitis from a WP9F to supplement my WP26 (bit bulky and with a relatively heavy and inflexible cable), to want to go the water cooled route.

Well, ended up ordering a WP20 from RTech, it's a very light torch, and the cable/hose bundle is both light and flexible. Looking forward to actually getting to use it, but first got to build a cooler for it.

Many people seem to have success with using pond pumps, but I also read of a few that didn't, and given cooling failure seems to do a lot of torch damage, I opted to go the central heating pump route. Partly because I thought I had one hanging around the garage. Well, looks like I might have been efficient and thrown it out, so ended up with a new one courtesy of Screwfix. Put pictures below, showing the kit of parts, that includes:
- Screwfix bargain central heating pump
- 1991 Corvette power assisted steering cooler (£5!)
- Various fittings to plumb the lot together
- Bathroom extractor fan
- 10mm hose from Halfrauds
- Plastic box (that will be the reservoir) from Staples.

 

[FranV8]

More bits

Since I'm using parts that probably were never intended to be used together, I had to make a couple of fittings to connect them together. Pleased to make probably the most effective use to date of my Drummond B Series lathe.

 

[penfold]

Why bother with a radiator? A hopper cooler will do unless you're running a production line or welding 1/2" plate. A central heating pump seems a little OTT, will it not produce too much pressure/flow for the skinny tubing? Unless I was on a water meter I'd be tempted to just hook it up to the cold tap and empty down the drain!

 

[FranV8]

And end result of first few hours in the garage

Pleased with these.

 

[Tiggy_dorset]

looking forward to seeing the end product. A DiY cooler is yet another item on my list of unfinished projects

 

[penfold]

Are those made of aluminium? Best add some antifreeze or central heating corrosion inhibitor, as brass and aluminium don't play nicely together.

 

[Robotstar5]

A DiY cooler is yet another item on my list of unfinished projects

Unfinished or unstarted?

 

[FranV8]

Hello Penfold. The real coolers use 50psi Procon vane pumps. The pond pumps (small submersible units) do about 2psi. Central heating pumps typically do 5 or 6m head (seems they are available in one or the other, 5m being the most common) - which is 7 psi.

Maybe the rad is overkill, but adding it and the fan has cost less than £20. I'm only going to have a measly 2l reservoir too.

 

[Tiggy_dorset]

Unfinished or unstarted?

Depends on how you view it. The ideas have been floating around my head for a while now and have sourced various components floating around my shed to use for it. Unfinished? Unstarted?

 

[FranV8]

Yes, they're aluminium, I need to get a few different sizes of brass bar in my stock box. The larger of the two fittings I made (22mm to fit the connection from the CH pump) I had to make out of a piece of 60mm bar. It took a long time and created amazing amounts of swarf to get it down to the right size! Liked machining it though, my lathe is much happier on aluminium than doing steel bits.

 

[FranV8]

Tiggy - in truth what was said earlier about just using a water tank is probably fine - the CH pump I had seen done before on here somewhere, and in fact the chap had made a few for machines around his work, they used considerable water tanks and I guess took a hammering.

 

[Shox Dr]

I built one a while back. There's a thread on here somewhere. I found CH pumps were no good as they need a head of water to work. I used a fuel pump in the end

 

[MattF]

Are those made of aluminium? Best add some antifreeze or central heating corrosion inhibitor, as brass and aluminium don't play nicely together.

Does aluminium play nicely with anything? Personally, I dislike that stuff more and more year on year, with the effect it can have on other metals in the right, (wrong?), conditions.

Galvanic corrosion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion

Apologies for the wikipedia link, but it was the first one which came up.

 

[Spark plug]

How about a coolant pump from lathe etc?

 

[Shox Dr]

How about a coolant pump from lathe etc?

I don't think they would produce the pressure needed to push it through the small pipe the lead uses. And they are expensive

 

[pedrobedro]

Just have a total loss system running off the cold tap if you're not on a meter.

 

[Shox Dr]

Just have a total loss system running off the cold tap if you're not on a meter.

Not wishing to stand on a soap box, but this country needs all its tap water for better things than flushing straight down the drain.

I find it quite amusing when someone brags they are not on a meter, as unless you are a massive family it is far cheaper to be on a meter. And then why should the rest of use subsidise your water usage


I've just installed two tanks a total of 4500ltrs to reclaim rainwater, to be pumped back into the house for toilets, car washing, and garden.

Water is never going to get cheaper, nor are we likely to see more of it in the reservoirs.

I'll put the box away now

 

[penfold]

One of these will do 8psi.

 

[Shox Dr]

Not high enough torches need somewhere round 20-40psi, max 50psi. The hose is very small so needs pressure for the flow

 

[penfold]

What do you get out of a central heating pump?