- Thread starter DennisCA
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Chris Stevens
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Yes i'm a production welder myself and i think i know a lot about operator fatigue and straining your wrist allready...what's the pricetag on that torch then?
Flex Loc with 20ft superflex lines, and 3/8 bsp fittings is about £300 on Rapid site. Less money from the US, but maybe not much difference when you paid shipping and duty.
DennisCA
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The water cooling unit compatible with my welder would be a Kemppi WU10, quick google at used machines says 550€ for a used unit. According to the manual there's also a TW300 interface between the cooler and welder, I am not entirely sure this is needed.
Richard.
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Of course it's like anything. If you want the best you need to pay more for it. If the best isn't needed then you can save a few quid.
Richard.
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You'd be mad to pay that. No need to go out looking for compatible oem watercooler.
Get yourself a pump and a plastic tub with a few fittings and make one. You'll save a lot of money. Failing that buy a used one off any brand you can find cheap and just run it off a 240v supply.
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Chris Stevens
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Best and most reliable pump for a cooler is Pro-Con as used in Tweco and Bernard coolers. They are used in things like vending machines, and a couple of years ago I bought one complete with motor for £25. But if you can get electric pump for nothing that sounds even better!
Get hold of a stainless gastronorm catering container from Ebay to use as a tank, and something like a heater matrix from a scrap car to use as a heat exchanger, add some pvc hose, and connection fittings, and you have pretty much all you need for less than £100.
Richard.
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You won't make a cooler for less than £100 if you want to use a procon pump and motor.
It's just not gonna happen.
Happy to be proven wrong if you can link me to any going cheap but something tells me that's not gonna happen either.
Richard.
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Exactly..........
I've built enough of them to know how much they cost to do. £100 is eaten up most of time in a pump purchase alone.
I think Chris tends to exaggerate a bit (a lot) on how much things actually cost.
Assuming a second hand shower pump costs 50-80 quid. It should cost you about that again to build the rest of it.
Heat exchanger, fans, piping, fittings, tank, chassis. Hose clips etc. I'd say £100-150 minimum will see you a nice one.
I recently made a cheap cooler using a caravan pump from ebay. so far it has worked fine, but even when in use, I'll be welding less than 10% of the time, and so far the torch handle and coolant tank has remained cool. I have ordered a spare pump just in case though and long term reliability isnt known yet.
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/...torch-and-diy-cooler.65542/page-2#post-860698
Richard.
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That was a great thread and a great example of a little diy cooler.
C
Chris Stevens
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A couple of years ago someone who I imagine was scrapping vending machines listed Pro-Con pumps and motors for £25 each. Stainless gastronorm container holding 8-10 pints is about £25-30 new (Ebay), and is whats used on Bernard coolers, but I would guess would be £2-3 at the most from a boot sale? Used car heater matrix might cost £10 or if lucky maybe even FOC. Good quality heavy duty fan (used) is not going to be more than £10, that just leaves some pvc pipe and a few fittings, which shouldnt be any more than £15 say.
Making a cooler in the way outlined above, means something that looks commercially made if nice looking housing to go over pump, heat exchanger and fan is fitted, and will still be working long after most home made coolers have bitten the dust.
Last cooler I made cost I think £25 for gastronorm and maybe £15 for fittings and hose, got Kemmpi pump foc, and rest of the parts were from a beer cooler and also foc. Its obviously a lot easier to buy new parts, but kind of nice to make something not far from a £900 commercial cooler, with used parts at a fraction of the cost of the commercial item.
Its well worth putting a few specific searches into Ebay, as there are certainly bargains to be had for those who are prepared to spend a few minutes looking every day, and I guess its easy enough to get hold of a cooler for nothing, if you are prepared to buy a non working 3 phase Tig with cooler (which almost always works), and take cooler off
Making a cooler in the way outlined above, means something that looks commercially made if nice looking housing to go over pump, heat exchanger and fan is fitted, and will still be working long after most home made coolers have bitten the dust.
Last cooler I made cost I think £25 for gastronorm and maybe £15 for fittings and hose, got Kemmpi pump foc, and rest of the parts were from a beer cooler and also foc. Its obviously a lot easier to buy new parts, but kind of nice to make something not far from a £900 commercial cooler, with used parts at a fraction of the cost of the commercial item.
Its well worth putting a few specific searches into Ebay, as there are certainly bargains to be had for those who are prepared to spend a few minutes looking every day, and I guess its easy enough to get hold of a cooler for nothing, if you are prepared to buy a non working 3 phase Tig with cooler (which almost always works), and take cooler off
