OT. Tig water cooler pump question

[Mr Fixit]

Hi Group,

I'm building a TIG touch water cooler and have a pump out of a ice machine, I think. It has no badges or label's and does run on 120v. It is a centrifical pump with 3/8" NPT supply and discharge connections.
I did a quick Google on measurements for GPM but most info was for Wells not a small pump like this. I know I can get a ravcon (?) Pump off flea bay, but this one's free and pumps water, I'm just not sure of flow rate for the TIG setup and if it will do.
The winded question is, How do you measure for GPM on this kind of pump?

TX
Mr fixit for the family
Chris.

[RichR]

Fill a bucket with water and time how long it takes to pump it down to another level.

[JRouche]

Sorry, not really an answer to your question cause I am a seat of the pants hack. I made a TIG cooler. From an old heat pump (motor/pump) and a car heater coil and fan. I welded up the tank, larger enough for five gallons of Millers mix. It has a hinged lid (with funky seals) and a latch. Fits on the back of my Hobart cart.

I have a 25' cable and the torch never gets too hot (aluminum weld).

IMO it is better to flow any amount of coolant through the water cooled cable than dry.

Just build it and if its needed change the pump. You will know when its needed. The torch will be hot. I weld bare handed for steels, gloved for aluminum (UV and Flash heat, not torch heat).

Solly no help. Try what you have, if it works use it. Thats what I do. JR

[boslab]

The pump is on the torch return side ( tried the wrong way first), as JR said, if it's inadequate then replace, you still need to build the rest anyway, but leave a bit of space in case the new one is bigger, plus spanner room
Mark

[vpt]

Will it do 50psi?

[Tony]

I've been collecting parts for a similar build but ended up just tapping into my (city) water line for now.
9 sized torch wants about 40-50 psi and a minimum of 1 quart / minute. (~ 1 LPM)

If in doubt measure water flow after the tig torch. My torch proved to be a significant restriction. It's currently running 40 psi @ ~ 1.5 quarts/min.

My biggest beef with water coolers is how loud they can be.

As RR mentioned, put the return side of your torch in a big bucket, measure how much time it takes to fill, say, 5 gallons, do the math.

[JoeLee]

You don't need a high rate of water flow to keep the torch cool. The line is what??? about 3/16" ID or so.
I was going to make a chiller years ago but found that hooking up to a garden hose worked just fine and only took a couple fittings to adapt to the input of the welders solenoid valve. I would adjust the water flow so I had that of what you would get from siphoning and stick the hose down into the floor drain. At that flow rate and water temp my torch was almost always cool to the touch when welding at around 180 amps.

JL................

[Mr Fixit]

So, as usual I'm looking for something that is easier that I make it. Running it and calculating the time of transferring from one to the other bucket is WAY to easy. The 50-60psi I've found on other research so you guys have confirmed what I've already found, this is great! I've got the cooler almost finished, except for the pump part, when it's completed I will post a couple of pic's and the results of my water test.
I appreciate all your responses.

TX
Mr fixit for the family
Chris.

[MattiJ]

Related project and measurements on el cheapo pump:

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/73226-DIY-Water-cooler-and-water-water-cooled-WP-20-torch-amp-cable?p=1107076#post1107076

[tjs]

I think you are referring to a procon pump. You should be fine with that. You should also put a pressure gauge inline so you can do a qucik glance to see that your system is working. Smoking a torch set up is not fun. I have a bernard tig cooler and it had the loud oberdorfer pump in it that would drive you crazy. I converted it to a procon pump. Albeit I did have to adjust the bypass so I would only yield 40psi. I think it was set at over 80psi. You can see my conversion on my YT site. Username: tjsnordic.
T.J.

[BigMike782]

the replacement pump for a Miller Coolmate 3 is a Procon 101C100F11BC060 and its specs are 100gph and 60 psi.

[garyhlucas]

The common type of pump used for tig coolers is a Carbonator pump used in soda machines. It is a vane pump to produce a fair amount of pressure at low speeds and is pretty quiet. It has a mounting flange that mounts it directly to a motor with the same connector. Both are easy to find.