Project #1: Water Cooler...

Just started my water cooler a couple days ago. Got the tank done, the front panel(the picture was taken before I added the power switch), and the plumbing mocked up. I ground the welds off the tank because although it's water tight and doesn't leak, the welds weren't up to my standards on looks. The weld I left on the front was 'OK' seeing as I've only been working with aluminum for about a week. I have to get a pump and heat-exchanger, most likely these will come from ebay as I've seen a few of each on there that I think will handle the job. The valve on the front is a needle valve that bleads off pressure if it should be needed. I'm hoping to have a properly sized pump and not need the valve. What PSI are water-cooled torches supposed to be run at? Flow rate? On with the pictures.

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HI Blas
You don't want to go above 50 psi but you should hook it up without the torch at first and adjust the PSI to about 25 and hook it up to the torch. Because of the restrictions inthe torch the pressure with jump with the torch in the circuit. Also you want about flow of about 1/2 Gal a minute (may be a little off on that).
Procon pumps on Ebay is what you want. Punps have a pressure release built in so the valve would not be needed.
Here is the one I built for my PM256 http://www.everlastgenerators.com/fo...Y-Water-Cooler
have fun
Tom

The Procon pumps have a pressure relief valve in them for adjustment. You should use that or a regulator not just a simple needle valve as the volume can change quite a bit as things heat up and depending on how the hose drapes. Flow is very low and depends on the torch, but typically less than 1 gallon a minute. But it is imperative that the flow be constant. It doesn't take much to fry a power cable. CK Worldwide makes a nice fuse block that will provide torch and cable protection in case of cooling failure. The fittings you will need vary depending on torch manufacturer. Many use the inert arc sizes (3/8-24, 5/8-18, 7/8-14) but often with left hand threads to insure they are not mixed up with argon lines.

A Procon pump was what I was planning on going with. Thanks for the tips on the flow and pressure. I planned on hooking it up w/o the torch and backing the pressure way off, then hooking up the torch and raising it to a proper level. I should have been more specific about the needle valve I'm using, the needle is spring-loaded against the knob, it came off my car where it was used to adjust the oil feed pressure to the cylinder head. I built a "Frankenstein" Chrysler engine where I had to run the oil-feed to the head externally and this valve was used to regulate the pressure to the head. It worked well and held a solid pressure, even once the oil heated up and thinned out. Like I said, the valve is only in there as a "just-in-case" scenario. I plan on getting a Procon pump with the internal adjustable pressure relief adjustment thingy. As for the water line fittings, they are the proper left-hand threaded fittings. My welder had a water solenoid on it for use with a non-circulating water supply and I just took the two fittings off the solenoid. They are adapters from the female LH-Thread water fittings to 1/8" NPT threads. Anything else that I should know about building this water-cooler that I hadn't thought of just yet? Thanks for the help guys.

Here's a link to the "hook-up" kit that I am going to get to hook the CK200 torch up to my welder. It comes with the "Stud-to-Dinse" connector, the 2 water quick-connectors, and the gas quick-connectors. My cooler has the proper LH-Threaded connectors for the 2 water quick-connects to screw into. Also the gas solenoid on my welder has the proper female connectors for the gas quick-connector to thread into as well.
http://www.arc-zone.com/index.php?ma...oducts_id=3612

I need to figure out where I'm going to mount my cooler in relationship to my welder, and I will probably need to extend the water lines to reach the cooler which shouldn't be a problem since the kit comes with the female-to-female couplers.

I have another question. I'm having trouble deciding whether to get the 70* Rigid CK200 or the Flex-Head CK200 torch...Any opinions on this matter? I'm leaning towards the flex-head torch that way if I need to get into an area that requires the torch head to be manipulated then I will have that ability. Also, how durable are the flex-head torches? I doubt I'll be bending it very often, but I'm just curious as to how well they hold up to being moved around a lot.

Take a look at CK's Flex-Loc system. The best of both worlds. That will be my next torch for sure. With the size of your welder, I doubt that portability is going to figure into the equation. So the quick connect is just another place for a seal to fail and leak. The dinse is a nice addition to hook up stick welding cables, but you can also just sandwich that to your power block and just leave your TIG torch connected all the time. I've done this on a number of welders, as they mainly see TIG duty, but on occasion I have been known to bust out a stinger for a little stick welding. Here is one with an older Miller style connector under the water block.

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Since you have a polarity switch, you never have to swap cables around and your work clamp can always be on the same terminal. It just makes for a simple setup. And without all the adapters and dinse plug, it's very compact and not as likely to get damaged by something hitting it. Also on your welder, and many others, there is a door or panel that covers the connections and this will fit, where anything bigger would not.

The current TIG torch connection is just sandwiched on the stud along with the stinger lead. There's plenty of room under the door on the front of my welder for the dinse connector that's in that adapter kit. You are correct about me not needing the portability of the quick connectors, but if I ever need to disconnect the TIG torch for some reason then it's easily removed with the quick disconnects and the dinse connector. I'm not worried about the connectors leaking as they will hardly ever be moved once they are mounted up. I'll post up more pictures and stuff when I start buying the rest of the parts for the cooler and when I get my new torch and stuff in hand. Thanks for the help guys.