DIY Tig Cooler

MAKEITOUTOFWOOD

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Hello all,
I recently bought a Old Miller 320 ap/b stick tig machine. It’s big and heavy.

We’ll bolted to the side of the machine was a home built cooler. It’s nade from an old ac condenser and a furnace blower and oil pump. I know the gentleman who made it. He is an engineer and mad scientist. I asked him how he thought it performed. He told fare better then the miller radiator 1.

Let’s rewind a bit. I did not purchase this welder from the man who built the cooler. It had been passed along a couple of times since it was owned by him. When I got the machine the cooler was toast. Someone ran water through it and left it in. Well I guess it froze. Large leaks in the condenser and the pump was seized.

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Well after talking to the original owner and fabricator of the cooler. I decided it was worth rebuilding. I got a second hand oil pump and a new condenser. Added a coolant tank. Made some new brackets for mounting and replumbed. I haven’t used it yet. I am flip flopping on what coolant to run. Expensive miller or dex cool.
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I’ll report back after using. For now I am interested in what you all think.

Cheers,
Mike

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Like it.

Were it me it would be some variant of ethylene glycol with a bottle of water wetter added to improve heat transfer. Why run stupidly expensive proprietary coolants when a cheap, commercially available inert coolant is available?
 
yep, I run 50 antifreeze : 50 water in mine for years now.
 
I used a carbonator pump and plain water in a 5 gallon bucket; it worked fine for stainless welding, but perhaps if aluminum is the main event, a cooler might be better.
 
I used a carbonator pump and plain water in a 5 gallon bucket; it worked fine for stainless welding, but perhaps if aluminum is the main event, a cooler might be better.

The fan blowing through the condenser is not acting as a cooler?
 
I was speaking for myself regarding the fan/condenser issue. I never had one, but if I did aluminum, likely I would have needed one.
 
Something else I should add to the "gotta-build-one-of-these" list!
 
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