DIY Welding cooler. Mk3.

[roofman]

That's it but they also come with there own disadvantages.
1) they work by pulsing the water very quickly so you do get vibration noise.
2) they are pretty pricey. I've seen a uk seller on the bay sell them for over £100 but I suppose that's less than a new procon set up with motor.
But they can be well boxed up and they don't give off heat inside.
They weigh no more than half a kilo and not much bigger than a car inline fuel filter. So good and not so good in different ways.

yea much like the pulsing pumps i used to have on my powerboats...efficient but noisy buggers,made better by mounting them on rubber mounts

 

[Richard.]

yea much like the pulsing pumps i used to have on my powerboats...efficient but noisy buggers,made better by mounting them on rubber mounts

That's right. These come in that little frame with rubber bushes to help it reduce the vibration.

 

[Maker]

Could you reduce the pulsing of the output with a small accumulator?

 

[Richard.]

Why would you want to do that? The whole idea is that it pulses very quickly to generate the water pressure needed. Reduce pulse= reduce pressure = cooked tig torch.

 

[Maker]

I thought a pulsing output was a bad thing. Don't you feel it in the torch?

 

[Richard.]

I thought a pulsing output was a bad thing. Don't you feel it in the torch?

No. It pulses so fast that it generates a constant flow and pressure. They just grown a bit when running. This is actually very much identical to the little pump in my fronius unit. That used to make a wirring noise (nothing major) it never bothered me but you'd never get torch vibration.

 

[Maker]

View attachment 72676 This is what I'm after. An inline pulse pump rated perfectly for the job.

This looks like the same thing, but a fair bit cheaper.

 

[gaz1]

I would rather get the booster pump for much less in price

ive looked at pc pumps for the cooling that they use for cpus and also memory cards with high heat them they are much less in price and run at 12v and much smaller

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10W-DC-12...oled-500L-H-/131601766244?hash=item1ea4139764

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-DC-CP...y-Brand-NEW-/181848524111?hash=item2a5704454f

even a fish pond pump with good head on it will pump enough water through a 4mm fitting
but I think you need to be looking at more of 1,000L per hour

 

[Richard.]

I would rather get the booster pump for much less in price

ive looked at pc pumps for the cooling that they use for cpus and also memory cards with high heat them they are much less in price and run at 12v and much smaller

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10W-DC-12...oled-500L-H-/131601766244?hash=item1ea4139764

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-DC-CP...y-Brand-NEW-/181848524111?hash=item2a5704454f

even a fish pond pump with good head on it will pump enough water through a 4mm fitting
but I think you need to be looking at more of 1,000L per hour

As I agree a shower booster is a good way to go it's as I've said too big/heavy for what I want from this cooler. Fish pond pumps although they can move water they lack pressure. I've got a 600lphour one on my bandsaw for coolant and it's perfect for that but the pressure is so low it wouldn't get round a tig torch not even close. The pulse pump is the way to go to fit the size I want as it's designed for the job. The last two I made I wasn't fussed about size too much and used rotory vane type procons which were super. My aim this time is to try a different avenue and really step down size/weight Hence why it's getting completely built out of aluminium.

 

[ukracer]

what about one of these it should never get hot.. (I know its a bit big) lol

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DH1-0-LX-Whirlpool-Pump-Hot-Tub-Pumps-/261674490115?hash=item3ced03d903

 

[Wedg1e]

even a fish pond pump with good head on it will pump enough water through a 4mm fitting
but I think you need to be looking at more of 1,000L per hour

Most industrial x-ray gear upto about 160kV generates 1.6kW of heat and uses a Procon sliding graphite vane pump delivering about 4-6L/min flow. Not sure how much heat a TIG torch produces (or rather, absorbs from the arc!) but I'd be surprised if you need 1000L/hour.

 

[Richard.]

Most industrial x-ray gear upto about 160kV generates 1.6kW of heat and uses a Procon sliding graphite vane pump delivering about 4-6L/min flow. Not sure how much heat a TIG torch produces (or rather, absorbs from the arc!) but I'd be surprised if you need 1000L/hour.

You don't need 1000lph infact no where near it. Volume of water delivered over time is really not that important and 2-3 LPM is more than enough although a lot of cooler pumps are around the 6-8 mark. It's the pressure that the volume is delivered at that is key. Pond pumps move a lot of water (more than enough for a tig torch) but there operating pressure is far too low really to get it through the intricate passages in the torch head and back down through the rad to the resivoir.

 

[Richard.]

Back to the project I've gone with the CEME pulse pump as I found it slightly discounted from a seller in Poland. I've also bought a weldable cap for my tank but I'm making the weldable inlet/outlet fittings myself. I'm now on the hunt for a 120mm ish 240v fan that's in this country.

 

[eSCHEn]

Back to the project I've gone with the CEME pulse pump as I found it slightly discounted from a seller in Poland. I've also bought a weldable cap for my tank but I'm making the weldable inlet/outlet fittings myself. I'm now on the hunt for a 120mm ish 240v fan that's in this country.

Easiest ones I can think of is extractor fans for kitchens and bathrooms. Come in 100mm and 150mm as standard but I seem to remember 115mm ones are about.

 

[Richard.]

Easiest ones I can think of is extractor fans for kitchens and bathrooms. Come in 100mm and 150mm as standard but I seem to remember 115mm ones are about.

Thought about that and I have actually used on for a cooler bodge up in the past. I'll have a look. The computer/inverter fans are lovely and professional looking.

 

[awemawson]

Peristaltic pump would fit the bill and possibly could be home made - it's only spring loaded rollers squashing a flexible pipe

 

[eSCHEn]

Thought about that and I have actually used on for a cooler bodge up in the past. I'll have a look. The computer/inverter fans are lovely and professional looking.

Trouble is computer ones are 12VDC and you need 240AC.

Not all the extractor fans are hideous. This one (first decent one I saw) for example:

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p26862

100mm so smaller than you want but it's 38dBA so okay quiet and shifts 90m3/h (52CFM roughly). That's towards the lower middle range for 120mm PC fans. 14 quid all in.

 

[Richard.]

Universal computer fans are 230v AC. Just hit the button. 11quid
2900 rpm 3 mtr3 a min. 120x120x38.

 

[MattH]

What about a windscreen washer pump? Low cost and high pressure.

 

[Richard.]

What about a windscreen washer pump? Low cost and high pressure.

12volts. It needs to be 240v for simplicity. (I'm no leccy guru). I've ordered it now. Gone with the ceme (used in the selcos and fronius coolers) it's gotta be the best of the best. I don't take on projects to skimp on any areas hence the whole thing is going to be built of of my best aluminium.