So a few years ago I bought a used Miller Dialarc HF 300 from a gentleman on Craigslist for about $600. It came with a ton of tungsten in various sizes, the different tips and a home made stainless steel 50 gallon water cooled tank permanently mounted into a huge 3x3x3/8 angle iron cart. The torch body is a WP-18.
When I bought it the guy had an industrial oil filled water pump inside the tank that ran constantly forcing water through the torch body. When I first set up the unit in my shop, I just did as he suggested and filled the 50 gallon tank about 2/3 full with fresh tap water, turned on the unit and watched the return line for flow and away I went. I used the machine for maybe a week and then didn't turn it on again for several months.
Well the tank is open at the top and water evaporates and before I knew it the level was significantly low but when I looked inside the tank to fill it up again, the water was brown and slick. Turned out the industrial oil filled pump had cracked and the oil escaped contaminating the cooler tank. I then proceeded to take everything apart and clean it. Before I put it all back together I researched how the cooler should be attached and it turned out that he had the flow reversed from what Miller suggests. So now I have everything hooked up correctly, I bought a 300g per hour pond pump and used the necessary reducers to get it down in size to the hose fittings on the machine.
But now all I get out of the water return is a slow drip... drip... drip. How much water should I be getting out of this return? Sometimes when I'm welding with 200+ amps the torch body will still get quite warm but be cool after 5-10 minutes sitting in the holder. I'm a self taught welder and this is my first TIG machine, so I have no baseline info to go off of. If I should be getting a steady flow, I'm not. The torch has 12ft of supply lines that are covered with a leather sleeve.
When I disconnect the pump from the torch lines, it flows like mad. The only thing I can think is the torch body and water supply lines are so restricted (IE small diameter) that water is not moving fast enough.
Thanks in advance for anyone to help answer this question.
Talk soon Travis.
When I bought it the guy had an industrial oil filled water pump inside the tank that ran constantly forcing water through the torch body. When I first set up the unit in my shop, I just did as he suggested and filled the 50 gallon tank about 2/3 full with fresh tap water, turned on the unit and watched the return line for flow and away I went. I used the machine for maybe a week and then didn't turn it on again for several months.
Well the tank is open at the top and water evaporates and before I knew it the level was significantly low but when I looked inside the tank to fill it up again, the water was brown and slick. Turned out the industrial oil filled pump had cracked and the oil escaped contaminating the cooler tank. I then proceeded to take everything apart and clean it. Before I put it all back together I researched how the cooler should be attached and it turned out that he had the flow reversed from what Miller suggests. So now I have everything hooked up correctly, I bought a 300g per hour pond pump and used the necessary reducers to get it down in size to the hose fittings on the machine.
But now all I get out of the water return is a slow drip... drip... drip. How much water should I be getting out of this return? Sometimes when I'm welding with 200+ amps the torch body will still get quite warm but be cool after 5-10 minutes sitting in the holder. I'm a self taught welder and this is my first TIG machine, so I have no baseline info to go off of. If I should be getting a steady flow, I'm not. The torch has 12ft of supply lines that are covered with a leather sleeve.
When I disconnect the pump from the torch lines, it flows like mad. The only thing I can think is the torch body and water supply lines are so restricted (IE small diameter) that water is not moving fast enough.
Thanks in advance for anyone to help answer this question.
Talk soon Travis.
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