Simple Tig Cooler

[dazza]

nicely with a tight radius? I think you will struggle.

Will get the place i buy the metal from to fold it for me. And build a folder another day.

 

[RichardM]

If you're passing the pipe straight through the panel put a grommet in the panel, make it a lot neater and stop any chance of chafing

 

[dazza]

Its a good job i did some testing on the tank i put a hole in. I tried to tack weld three nuts and ended up welding the nuts to the bolts. .

Not going to bother trying on the actual tank. I have no more nuts to test with.

 

[dazza]

Here are the feet, I was going to drill holes in them and use smaller bolts but they had an m8 thread and i had some bolts that fitted.

Any tips for welding these on?

 

[Richard.]

Jeeze dazza what you done to that?
It only wanted a little tack. Direct the heat on the nut and wash it down.

 

[Richard.]

Any tips for welding these on?

Do it another way mate.

 

[dazza]

Jeeze dazza what you done to that?
It only wanted a little tack. Direct the heat on the nut and wash it down.

First tack went perfect the rest not so much. 50amps too much??

Do it another way mate.

I was thinking about 3/4 tacks. Whats the worst that can happen. I'd just have to start over.

 

[Richard.]

First tack went perfect the rest not so much. 50amps too much??

No not too much if you focus your heat in the right place, keep things sharp and tight.

 

[dazza]

No not too much if you focus your heat in the right place, keep things sharp and tight.

Will have another go on the test tank.

 

[dazza]

On the 7th nut i managed to tack it without welding the nut to the bolt. On the 8th nut i burnt through the tin . The recessed lip does not help i cannot get in there.

Need some more nuts and bolts now.

Did manage to weld one of the feet on though, the problem is i welded it to the test tank as i thought i would fail.

 

[Richard.]

Why can't you get in there.
Looooooooooooooads of room from what I can see. Stick more electrode out.

 

[dazza]

Why can't you get in there.
Looooooooooooooads of room from what I can see. Stick more electrode out.

I get to one side better than the other, the lighting is my room is rubbish so cannot see anything until i spark it up by then i've already messed it up.

Going to give up on this, even with a lot of more practice i doubt i can weld 18 without messing it up. I think the nuts are made of cheese.

 

[eSCHEn]

Have a break Daz. Grab a brew, relax and tackle it tomorrow on a fresh tank of fuel. If you're not in the headspace for it then have a wee break. You're cocking up something you've demonstrably shown you can do better so it's just a mind issue

 

[Paul.]

Do those nuts really need to be captive, if they do then a hank nut would be a better solution, as handy a process as it is, welding is not the answer to everything.

 

[dazza]

Have a break Daz. Grab a brew, relax and tackle it tomorrow on a fresh tank of fuel. If you're not in the headspace for it then have a wee break. You're cocking up something you've demonstrably shown you can do better so it's just a mind issue

Thanks eschen going to make a fresh start tomorrow.

Do those nuts really need to be captive, if they do then a hank nut would be a better solution, as handy a process as it is, welding is not the answer to everything.

It would have been handy to have captive nuts but its not essential, i'm not going to do any more welding on the tank as i don't feel like starting over.

Need to think of a way to hold the tank in place.

 

[dazza]

As usual got side tracked with other things.

Have been using it though (with the bucket). The HF is interfering with the pressure sensor so will have to remove the auto shutoff if pressure is too high. Wish i hadn't bothered with all these extra bits.

 

[Hood]

Not so good about the interference
I have not had a chance to even get started on the Mk2 cooler. Using the original one with the procon stuffed inside and sitting on a cardboard box Working well though as far as keeping the torch cool and the fan is keeping the motor cool as well. Today I was welding for maybe 3 or 4 hours at about 130amps doing some stainless and the torch was stone cold
The biggest thing I have noticed with the water cooled torch is the collets don't get distorted, slacken the back cap and the tungsten will slide right out under its own weight, with the WP26 the collets distorted and often you had to remove the back cap to push out the tungsten.

 

[dazza]

Not so good about the interference
I have not had a chance to even get started on the Mk2 cooler. Using the original one with the procon stuffed inside and sitting on a cardboard box Working well though as far as keeping the torch cool and the fan is keeping the motor cool as well. Today I was welding for maybe 3 or 4 hours at about 130amps doing some stainless and the torch was stone cold
The biggest thing I have noticed with the water cooled torch is the collets don't get distorted, slacken the back cap and the tungsten will slide right out under its own weight, with the WP26 the collets distorted and often you had to remove the back cap to push out the tungsten.

Water cooled is definitely the way forward, i hardly weld but i've noticed i'm holding the torch in positions that would have resulted in toasty fingers with the WP26.

I'd take a cardboard box over a bucket any day, I've put some material over the in pipe to stop any crap going in there.
Going to plug the computer in tomorrow and see whats happening with the pressure reading.

Also planning to try and clean up the tank a bit, not got the pickling paste out yet, i bought some of the Bar Keepers Friend that paul recommended so will try that out first and one of my fancy 3m discs if/when they turn up.

 

[Richard.]

Not so good about the interference
I have not had a chance to even get started on the Mk2 cooler. Using the original one with the procon stuffed inside and sitting on a cardboard box Working well though as far as keeping the torch cool and the fan is keeping the motor cool as well. Today I was welding for maybe 3 or 4 hours at about 130amps doing some stainless and the torch was stone cold
The biggest thing I have noticed with the water cooled torch is the collets don't get distorted, slacken the back cap and the tungsten will slide right out under its own weight, with the WP26 the collets distorted and often you had to remove the back cap to push out the tungsten.

Gas lenses and ck wedge collets are pretty much none consumable in my sw320.
Watercooling has saved me a fortune over the years.
I can never understand why some businesses still insist on using gascooled torches.
In a lot of cases the whole torch head becomes consumable.

 

[dazza]

Just picked this up. They did a ok job with the folding but the window in the front is nearly as good as my attempt. If i cant clean it up with a file i may have to look elsewhere.