TIG Water Cooler

[Richard.]

What's it rated at??
Id guess it would be too powerfull been a pressure washer??
You only want a trickle coming back to the tank or it might burst lines. 40-60psi is sufficient with 1-2 lpm going back in the tank.

Here's the return on mine. It's quite feeble by the time it's worked its way up and back approx 10 Mtrs of line.

 

[Richard.]

They are huge... I have one under my r-tech 201

It's actually not that big!!
155 a cross the width. Rtech is miles bigger.
Hugh can you have a look in the Rtech cooler at some point and get me the cooler type and spec. A few piccys would be good too. I have been asked to build one for a huge transformer and I would be interested to know what Rtech do to get them rated for such high currents.

 

[carbon]

The pump in a pressure washer doesn't generate any pressure, the nozzle on the end of the hose does that. Pressure washer pumps are just positive displacement pumps and pump a fixed quantity of water per minute depending on the size of the pump. A T piece could still be used as Richard suggested to control the flow, but care would be required to make sure no blockages could occur

 

[HughF]

Richard, I will have a look inside mine this week. I think it is only rated at 300a though?

 

[Richard.]

The pump in a pressure washer doesn't generate any pressure, the nozzle on the end of the hose does that. Pressure washer pumps are just positive displacement pumps and pump a fixed quantity of water per minute depending on the size of the pump. A T piece could still be used as Richard suggested to control the flow, but care would be required to make sure no blockages could occur

On a little investigation the replacement pumps for the little pressure washers create over 100 bar starting pressure. There is no T piece helping out there you'll murder the torch in a flash. Id not entertain using one of those.

 

[carbon]

With a nozzle on they do, remove the nozzle, trigger and any other restriction and no pressure.

 

[Member 66061]

It was just a hypothetical question really. Ive got an ancient karcher 320h lying around. I checked the spec and it says 380lph, thats 6.4lpm.
When the nozzle is removed, its not very powerful. It would depend on how small the constriction in the torch head is to how high the pressure would get.

 

[Brad93]

Baring a splash of paint mine is done.
Gone with a removable tank top this time round and a plastic bung for filling. Better design from a service POV so I can clean any sediment that may get in there.

When did you get a Rehm Richard?
Cooler will look excellent with a matching paint job!

 

[Richard.]

I still think too much pressure by a long way. Procons can be made to put out 250psi with a 1/3 hp motor. Those pressure washer pumps have 5-10 hp motors and put out a lot more. Yes the nozzle creates a lot of the pressure but think how narrow Tig torch passages Are. You WILL blow it to bits. I've no doubt.

 

[Richard.]

When did you get a Rehm Richard?
Cooler will look excellent with a matching paint job!

Yeah bought a couple weeks ago. Little used eBay bargain. It's a really good tool. Spent a bit of dollar on the torch and Oe pedal mind but for what I got for the mls I'm very much better off.

 

[carbon]

5 - 10 hp is not a small pressure washer, the one that GreasedUpDeafGuy suggested was what I was thinking about. Fit a T piece after the pump to limit the flow then add a 6 bar or smaller pressure relief valve after that before the torch hypothetically

The vane pumps in procon pumps are also positve displacement pumps with an internal pressure relief valve and bypass

The CEME mtp 600 is a centrifugal pump so doesn't mind if the output is restricted or even blocked

 

[Brad93]

I've seen some of the work the rehm's produce (AC) and it is on par with the likes of the big boys. A good tool no doubt. Shame you just got the speedway all set up for the kemppi. Will you be moving the kemppi on now?

 

[Member 66061]

The pump needs to produce a minimum 50 and max 90 psi of pressure to ensure flow of water can get through all the tiny passages in your torch and back. .

It was this post that made me think of a small pressure washer, Im happy with air cooling, id only build a water cooler for ***** n giggles if i could cobble one out of junk. Youll know by now thats my style

 

[Chris Stevens]

The other question with using a pressure washer is input power.

Why use something that's going to be dragging over a kilowatt out of the wall when you can easily get by with something else that uses 1/4 of the electricity? Especially when (chris says) you can get a complete cooler for 17p and half a bag of murray mints off ebay...

Here you go: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beer-Barrel-Cooler-/121945422972?hash=item1c64837c7c:g:m70AAOSwAvJXAm6K

No real need to pay a lot of money for a cooler when £100 will get you almost all you need to make one....................

 

[Richard.]

I've seen some of the work the rehm's produce (AC) and it is on par with the likes of the big boys. A good tool no doubt. Shame you just got the speedway all set up for the kemppi. Will you be moving the kemppi on now?

Kemppi is gone mate. Went last weekend. Rehm is lovely on AC. It's a teeny little thing too.

 

[carbon]

I'm not planing on doing it but offering suggestions

 

[Brad93]

Kemppi is gone mate. Went last weekend. Rehm is lovely on AC. It's a teeny little thing too.

Corr you got rid of that quick! I was just looking on ebay to see if you had listed it haha.

 

[Richard.]

It was on there couple days then snapped up on 1st viewing. Result.

 

[Richard.]

Im happy with air cooling,

Gas cooling is alright for a bit of DC and light AC but it's crap really in my opinion. You should investigate your pump further if you can make it work. Once you put 200 amps down a tiny wp20 on AC you'll never back to a gas cooled set up again. Everything about water cooling is nicer apart from the initial expense. Consumables last 10 x longer

 

[Member 66061]

Gas cooling is alright for a bit of DC and light AC but it's crap really in my opinion. You should investigate your pump further if you can make it work. Once you put 200 amps down a tiny wp20 on AC you'll never back to a gas cooled set up again. Everything about water cooling is nicer apart from the initial expense. Consumables last 10 x longer

My little welder only goes up to 160 amps and only has a 35% duty cycle at that. My wp26 torch is only rated for 150 amps ac but ive used it at 160, it does fine. The only thing i dont like is the massive mig style handle. Ill just shrug my shoulders and try and focus on being a better welder using what i have.
I have limited resources, the main one being space, i have to pack my welder away every time im finished with it. Im lucky just to have it.