TIG torch advice please. Are these ones past it?

[Dragnet]

I've got a box with five TIG torches in, and wondered if anyone had an opinion on them. Should I keep them or buy a new one? I haven't tried TIG yet, but would like to have a go with the ESAB TIGAID 315 I've just done some PCB work on. Some are labelled WP-20, some are water-cooled and they all look similar in size. Perhaps a smaller one is advised for a beginner, or these are shot and not worth repairing.

The TIG FAQ link is 404, so I don't know about tungsten sizes and so on. Some of these torches have a button strapped to the handle. I don't have a foot pedal.

 

[hotponyshoes]

The water-cooled ones need to be used with water or they will probably melt so that might help you narrow them down..

 

[Dragnet]

Is that the case even if used on much lower currents than their ratings? I have a Pickhill Bantam with maximum 180A so will likely be right down on the lower end of that for the kind of work I can imagine doing in the short term. have a BOC stack of some ancient TIG stuff which is somewhat further off getting going, but that might have water-cooling integrated. Perhaps they make friends with that set of boxes - I'll drag it out and try to match up connections. There are some pretty ropey looking hoses which I suppose it would be good practice to replace!

 

[BrokenBiker]

Is that the case even if used on much lower currents than their ratings? I have a Pickhill Bantam with maximum 180A so will likely be right down on the lower end of that for the kind of work I can imagine doing in the short term. have a BOC stack of some ancient TIG stuff which is somewhat further off getting going, but that might have water-cooling integrated. Perhaps they make friends with that set of boxes - I'll drag it out and try to match up connections. There are some pretty ropey looking hoses which I suppose it would be good practice to replace!

Yes...a water cooled torch needs water...

You might get away with it on very low current for a very brief time, but why risk it...

I use a 17 sized air cooled torch up to 200 amps, but once the every growing tool list for the shed has been finished I'm getting a water cooled 9 and a cooler