We have some very creative people posting here and I love it because it inspires me...as a newbie it makes me want to dig deep, improve my skills and produce work to such high standards. Something to aim for!
And out of several very impressive TIG cooler builds, yours is certainly right up there with the neatest and sweetest. Well done.
I applaud you guys that build your own TIG coolers. It's a lot of work, even though that's what welding is about, lol. Things like that I would just rather buy. I just picked up a demo/slightly used HTP Arctic Chill dual-voltage cooler for $390.
Here is the pump that I'm setting up for my cooler, along with the bypass valve to dump excess pressure/flow back to the tank.
It's a Procon that I got from a beverage equipment rebuilding company for about $60, strapped to a motor from eBay that ran $35.
I bought a retired soda syrup tank to use for my reservoir.
~3 gallons and has nice fitting on the top with a dip tube to the bottom of the tank, and I was easily able to add a return fitting in the lid to dump excess flow and torch return flow with no restriction back into the tank.
Most of the fittings were junk bin parts from disassembled equipment.
Now I just have to finish plumbing it and get it wired for power, instead of just sitting there near my welder taking up floor space!
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That style of procon pump has a pressure adjustment under the nut by the intake you can back out the screw for less pressure. There is a minamum pressure for some water cooled torches but you might save your self some energy by backing it down a bit. My used one came set at 115 psi.
Poland308 wrote:That style of procon pump has a pressure adjustment under the nut by the intake you can back out the screw for less pressure. There is a minamum pressure for some water cooled torches but you might save your self some energy by backing it down a bit. My used one came set at 115 psi.
I had this one spec'd at 60 psi, since the pump that I initially had purchased turned out to be a good bit overkill (1/2" NPT fittings, 120gph at 150 psi...), I traded it in on a rebuilt from a repair and service center. I explained what I was doing when I ordered it, and they even offered the lower pressure set point for the application.
The main reason I have the bypass valve there is to keep from internally bypassing continuously and potentially boiling the water in the pump, when pushing against the restriction of the very small hoses in the CK20 torch that I have. It's also a convenient place to hook up the radiator, so any coolant going back and forth to the tank will have a chance to dump any excess heat on the way.
I used a pro con pump(eBay) carbonator motor.My heat sink was an aluminum heater core from a pick up.The resivoir was a S/S buffet pan .Panels are aluminum.Most of the stuff is just garbage or stuff I accumulated and got from friends shops.Lines and fittings are from hardware store.I use a computer muffin fan to cool the heater core.It works fine.The pricy parts were the fittings and the torch set up.Its got to be 6 years old.
I the principal shop, I had I took advantage of the icy water line in the sink to a ball valve..., I set on the back of the welder tied it into the light and ran the arrival line back to the deplete in the sink...
Utilized 200 mph tape to secure it to the sink. Simply need to make sure to turn the water on before beginning to weld...