water cooled tig torch

[bob308]

yes water is the only way to go. i made mine out of a radator from a car.

[jcarter]

I was wondering how many of you have a tig machine and use a water cooled torch? I have a Lincoln 175 square wave with an air cooled torch.It is ok for light materials or short welds on thicker stuff. But for larger projects the torch gets too hot to continue using. I am considering going to a water cooled torch and possibly building my own cooler.Has anyone else done this? Any info or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[J. R. Williams]

For short welding sessions you can connect to you potatble water supply and use the solenoid valve in the welder to control the water flow. The water goes thru the torch and is dumped down the sewwer. The commercial units use a motor pump combination designed to pump water.

JRW

[shawnspeed]

Yes, water cooled is the way to go, I built my own using parts scrounged from an abused syncro 300 tank cooler that sat under the welder,and at some point was used as a coolant system on a lathe. the only items I used was the pump,bypass block,and sightglass. built a small stainless tank(2gal.) placed the pump, motor , and bypass on top, and hung a 28,000 lb tranny cooler off the back of the welder, over the fan to keep it all cool. had about $100in the whole deal including a new motor,and pump rebuild kit. One of my co-workers built a similar cooler ,only he used a soda fountain pump he obtained from an in-law that worked for coke or pepsi. that pump is nearly identical to mine off the Miller cooler. Also use the distilled or de-ionized water and the recomended anti-freeze. tap water will plug the torch with mineral bildup after a while.My cooler has been in service for almost 15 yrs with only one torch replacement(Tap water buildup) current torch has been on welder for almost 10 yrs. (distilled water) And I did use the welder to make a living for over 7 of the last 15 yrs. so good luck,Shawn

[Allmetal]

I have the same welder and had the same problem with burning up the handle. So at a car swap meet I saw a guy selling what he said was an unused dehumidifier pump unit but after looking at it closer and a 220 hook up it dawned on me that it was a pump for a tig welder set up and for $10 I got it. At the next swap meet I saw a guy selling a new Miller water cooled handle with lines for $40 and now I had the parts to make one up only I had to remake the connector to fit my Lincoln and connections to the pump but now I can weld without smoking the handle. I haven't wired the pump into the welder's main switch yet and just have a separate switch to turn it on and off but I will in time. Bob

[Rustybolt]

Right now I'm using a little giant pump and a cooler chest that iur milk used to get delivered in. Works OK.

[kevin sr]

i've got a factory lincoln water cooled system.
my guess is it ain't got near the horse power described above
go for it
just make sure system is working at the right times
a water cooled gun with no water runs a very short time before melting down

[Joel]

Hoffman “the conqueror of rust” has recently built himself one:

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net//Fo...ML/013500.html
http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net//Fo...ML/015276.html

[sandman2234]

Water is the only way to go, especially when welding aluminum.
David from jax

[Warren]

I have a water cooled torch on my tig welder. I use a No.20 water cooled torch. The proper nomenclature would be a Heliarc HW20 model. All makers have a no 20 sized torch & they all to my knowlage use the same consumable parts.

I like it because it is compact & can easily run a 1/8 tungsten while welding aluminum & not cook my hands. But if you want to use an .040 electrode on delicate things the torch is not cumbersome. They have ready made adapters to hook up your torch to almost any type of Tig welder. See your welding dealer for info on adapting a watercolled torch to your 175.