Quote Originally Posted by Rambozo View Post
Here is a comparison of a few different torches.
The top is a Lincoln Magnum 26 rated at over 200 amps. It is a club, but it stays cool and works well.
Next is an unknown brand 17 with standard hardware. This is not silicone covered, and it can get toasty even with the long thin neck.
Next is the Everlast WP-17 with stubby hardware. I don't have a lot of hours on it, but so far it works fine and doesn't get too warm.
Last is a WP-20 water cooled. By far the smallest and never gets hot. I like real thin gloves so that is important to me.

And here are the lead flex tests.
The Lincoln has a huge one piece cable but it is pretty soft and flexible. The next one is a two piece set (separate power and gas) basically just like a ground cable and aquarium tubing inside a fiberglass sheathing. Next is the Everlast one piece but with a small control wire added, also in fiberglass sheathing. And last is Weldcraft 3 piece water cooled set in a cable cover. I don't remember if this is the standard or deluxe version, but it looks like the vinyl set.

None of these are what I would consider light weight cables, but they are all pretty soft.
Thanks for your input Rambozo. I like welding with thin gloves as well, but I have found that a larger torch is easier to hold, even with slightly thicker gloves. I like the idea of the flexible cables, so I'll check my options when it comes time to make a purchase.

Quote Originally Posted by Kempy View Post
I have a Weldcraft CS300 Amp Air cooled torch and cable it weighs over 12LBS it is the 25 foot I used it but it was just to heavy had to go back to water cooled torch. The site you gave (http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/pl....campaignId=WZ) is just the torch head the cable is extra and the quick disconnects.
The weight of the larger torch was a big concern for me and most of the reason I posted this topic. My hands won't take too much stress and a 12lb. torch with cables can't be easy on your hands! I know I'll have to bite the bullet later and move to water-cooled, but it'd be nice to sneak around that for a while so I could still do small jobs and projects that require more amps.

I've only welded on 250-300 amp water-cooled machines (the blue ones), or the little red Lincoln 185 Tig at work that was air-cooled. I remember that torch getting only a little warm on long sheet metal (10ga) welds (several feet in stretchout, with cooling breaks every few minutes), but it got REALLY hot just simply doing a few small welds on some aluminum heads I modified years back. I had to preheat the living heck out of them first by leaving them in front of the soldering furnace, then I had a coworker run the rosebud over them as I welded at full throttle. In reality, EVERYTHING on or near the tabletop was hot when I welded that job, not just the torch! It gave me a little bit of a clue as to what I could expect on heavy aluminum projects with the small air-cooled torch though.

I would certainly run the longer (standard) length collets and front end parts as Jake mentioned. Anything to increase the odds in my favor! Plus they seem to be easier to get (after checking out the inventory of my local Matheson store).