YATC - yet another tig cooler

[HughF]

I have been having a workshop cleanup/sell off these last few weeks and have sold my water cooled 300a Tig. I’ve replaced it with a 200a machine and in the process have lost my water cooler.

This thread is mainly to document the build of a replacement cooler. I’ve decided that it should be compact (I would like it to fit underneath the welder) , and built from the cheapest parts I can find that will do the job because I’m tighter than a ducks....

I’ve been looking around for a used procon micro-vane pump, the ones that are powered from a brushless permanent magnet motor, but they don’t seem to be on eBay anymore for £49... as such I’ve decided to try a 230v shower booster pump.

Exhibit A:


This will be with me early next week, along with a new wp20. I’ll run some tests and see if it is any good, if not eBay returns can take care of it for me.

For a radiator I decided to go with a cpu cooler, again cheap junk from China - because if it works, it works....

Exhibit B:


I have a bunch of 120mm 230v fans, just need to make a suitable reservoir from aluminium sheet and box it all up. I might do something clever with a current sensor and a time delay relay so it fires up on arc strike and stays running for 3 mins after the arc has extinguished. My new welder has proper fan on demand and is usually silent in use, it would be nice to keep the cooler quiet when not required.

Anyway, I’ll update this thread as I get the parts delivered and tested.

 

[frank horton]

Like ur style...
Like u I want something for not a lot...
Ie an inter cooler for my VW T4, 1.9TD....
By chance found a large intercooler using air from the air filter inlet on an air cleaner box from a late model Renault Espace...so as it sucks air in it goes thru the intercooler...
Good idea, just gotta make it fit....
There's no room for 1 between the rad and the grill...
Norm place for this mod is above the engine, the only place there’s room...

 

[HughF]

T4 intercooler is a fun fitment, I remember doing one on a 2.5

 

[optima21]

be interesting to see how this goes, if the pump is silent I'll be tempted to fit one to the cooler I made (to replace the 12v pump)

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum...-to-use-with-wp20-torch-and-diy-cooler.65542/

 

[Shox Dr]

Coils from car internal heater matrix, are a good source.

 

[HughF]

be interesting to see how this goes, if the pump is silent I'll be tempted to fit one to the cooler I made (to replace the 12v pump)

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum...-to-use-with-wp20-torch-and-diy-cooler.65542/

These pumps are anything but silent. Plenty of reviews on YouTube. But for 25 quid it's worth a shot

 

[Ruffian]

Please keep this updated as thinking a cooler may be my next plans to go with my 200ac/DC also.

 

[addjunkie]

I used an ebay, car oil cooler, seems to work a treat

 

[Richard.]

Pump selection is key to success or failure
Your pump needs to produce 45-60psi of pressure with around 8-10lpm free flow on the out going. By the time this has zipped up your torch and through the exchanger you want around 1-2lpm coming into your tank.
Personally if I was hooking £350 worth of tec torch up to a cooler I’d not be experimenting with cheap pumps. I’d be biting the bullet on a £100-150 worth of pump actually built for the job.
Those aluminium computer rads ain’t worth a ..oss either. They hardly hold any water and what they do hold doesn’t transfer heat very well. 4m of 1/4 inch copper brake pipe tightly coiled infront of 1 or 2 fans dose a far better job and probably just as cheap. This below was just a 2m length and it did a fantastic job of getting the heat out the water but more importantly out the whole box.

 

[HughF]

That's the beauty of eBay Richard, it allows experimentation with minimal risk, I can always return it if it doesn't work.

Unfortunately i decided to let the speedway go with the Hitachi package so it will be parweld pro-grip on the mw2000 this time. I actually quite like those torches and they are a chep way to get a flexible hose package if I decide to swap out the torch head.

 

[Richard.]

That's the beauty of eBay Richard, it allows experimentation with minimal risk, I can always return it if it doesn't work.

Unfortunately i decided to let the speedway go with the Hitachi package so it will be parweld pro-grip on the mw2000 this time. I actually quite like those torches and they are a chep way to get a flexible hose package if I decide to swap out the torch head.

Do you not have the ballpoint Hugh? That was the torch I was referring to and far nicer than a Parweld imo.

 

[HughF]

Do you not have the ballpoint Hugh? That was the torch I was referring to and far nicer than a Parweld imo.

I do, but I haven't got a hose package for it yet. All in good time...

 

[HughF]

These were knocking out at £49 on eBay a few months back. All sold out now.

They needed a brushless motor controller though. Looked like a nice little pump.

 

[Richard.]

As far as on paper is concerned these are near on perfect for the job
I’m going to buy one myself at some point for testing as they are a very nice pump.
Stainless steel gears doing the driving and will draw water too.
45psi of pressure.
Needs a little power supply mind.

 

[HughF]

That's a nice looking pump there Richard. Might have a go with one of those.

 

[Richard.]

I’ve not tested one so can’t say if it’s actually any good but on paper it’s made for the job.
It’s actually a fuel transfer pump but great stats and geared design which I really like.

 

[HughF]

My original BOC 'argonarc' set from the 50's has a gear pump. Still works perfectly

 

[knighty]

Those aluminium computer rads ain’t worth a ..oss either. They hardly hold any water and what they do hold doesn’t transfer heat very well.

I'm a geek, I've been watercooling since I was a kid... since before I had an internet connection and thought I was the only person doing it

not all radiators are the same, but a lot of computer water cooling ones are pretty awesome, especially with decent air flow, happy to dump 200 watts of heat with the return water only a few 'C above room air temperature

 

[Richard.]

I'm a geek, I've been watercooling since I was a kid... since before I had an internet connection and thought I was the only person doing it

not all radiators are the same, but a lot of computer water cooling ones are pretty awesome, especially with decent air flow, happy to dump 200 watts of heat with the return water only a few 'C above room air temperature

I’ve never had much great results from the ones I’ve used in tig coolers. The copper piped exchangers seem to do a much better job if tank volume is limited.

 

[Barking Mat]

Why water and not antiffeeze?