Tweet
I am about to purchase a 200 Dx with a water cooled torch. Does anyone know if Miller makes a water selenoid that could be used on this machine? I will use it intermitently for long periods and It would be nice not to hear the water cooler running when I'm not welding as well as extending the life of the water cooler. Thanks for any imput you guys might have.
-
-
Does anyone know if any of Miller's external coolant systems feature Cool-on-Demand, like the built in Syncrowave systems?
Anyhow, the switch is on the front of most of the units, like the Coolmate3, so after you're done welding and you have given the torch some cool time, it's easy to switch the cooler off. Just remember to turn it back on when the time comes.
If you're trying to close the coolant loop via a solenoid, I don't think this would be a good idea because that's not going to stop the pump and may burn it up (if there isn't a bypass valve). Also, what would trigger the solenoid? And will you incorporate a delay so the torch has coolant flow time after your done welding?
The only way to implement this yourself would be to get an inline liquid thermostat and use it to switch a relay on the cooler's input (or the cooler's motor directly, but that would void the warranty). Actually, this wouldn't work either, now that I think about it, because if you stop the flow then there would be no way for the thermostat to sample the current torch temperature and it would never restart. So nevermind, this wouldn't work...
I think the best thing to do would be to turn it on and off manually. -
If you are up for the work.
Attach a thermister to the torch handle and a circuit to incorporate hysterisis. Use the information from the thermister to turn the pump on and off. With this set up, the heat of the torch handle will turn the pump on or off regardless of the temperature of the coolent flow.
Depending on how cool the cooling water is, you may need to incorporate a thermister in the tank and one on the handle, feed the data from both thermistors into a microcontroller, and use a state machine to control the pump.
Or....just do it manually.Comment
-
Sweet.Originally posted by Steved
And don't forget to interface the microcontroller to your welder so that in case coolant is interupted (for whatever reason) or is to low to pump, you'll disable weld output before the torch burns up. You can do this via the 14 pin remote connector. And while you're at it, build a triac controller for the cooler motor so that the microcontroller can vary the fan/flow to the most efficient speed and thus reduce running noise and current draw as well. 
j/k. 
Comment
-
you guys give me a headache, what a pita circuit / pcb design!!!Comment
-
You guys making Dan feel welcomed here.Comment
-
Dan, sorry in advance if I/we made you feel unwelcome! Steved was just expanding on the thermostat idea I mentioned with a very realistic control system...realistic for those interested in electronics, anyway. (Well, OK, nobody's going to build it but theoretically it was a fun idea.) And then I added on to it, but I was just joking around. For fun.
None the less, I spent the last hour looking into this:
From what I can tell, none of Miller's external coolant systems feature what Miller calls Cool-on-Demand, which automatically regulates coolant flow. This is a feature reserved for the built-in coolers on the upper-end Syncrowave welders, it appears. It would require significant communication between the cooler and the power supply, so I guess that's why it's reserved for the built-in units.
So, in reality, manually controlling the cooler is what you'll need to do. Now, a very easy thing to do would be to disable weld output if the cooler wasn't on, as a safe guard, and I don't know why Miller didn't add this. You'll just have to remember to turn it back on, and I don't think it will be that hard because you'll get used to it and it will probably become second nature.
Still, a "safe-lock" would have been a good idea on Miller's part, and could be implemented simply by routing the remote connection through the cooler. So the cooler would have a short 14-pin cable to connect to the power supply remote connector, and then your foot/finger controller would connect to a similar connector on the cooler. A water cooled torch can quickly destroy itself if the coolant isn't flowing. Miller?
As far as other manufacturers having Cool-on-Demand type features, I'm not sure so make sure you look around (internet) and see what there is out there. Personally, I'd rather have the Miller cooler and deal with it manually, because it's blue and it has the cool Miller logo on it. Not to mention that I trust Miller to produce exceptional equipment and also help me get it fixed when it goes wrong.
Anyhow, welcome and good luck with your 200DX! You will LOVE it, I'm totally certian.
Comment
-
Why not just off the 14 pin hook up a simple relay with timer so when the machine sees trigger the cooler turns on and at the advent of lack of trigger it runs for say 30 seconds after the trigger is off.Thats what we did with our 700 amp mig guns but we run for 3 minutes after trigger signal goes open. Easy and no transistors for any dirty HF nearby to burn up if you use either a bimetal heated timer or even a smple 110 plug in the wall timer set to return to zero upon excitation. Dont forget the fail safe all run in case of failure and reduntify it. (those **** guns are 1500 a piece, and power cables alone are 200, not cheap or fun to replace before the 6month service)Trailblazer 302g
coolmate4
hf-251d-1
super s-32p
you can never know enoughComment
-
Exactly! That would work, of course, and what I think miller should have built into the cooler. Trigger sense by the cooler could be obtained via routing the remote through the cooler, or by a dedicated trigger output on the P/S. The route through the cooler method would be easy to build into the cooler without modifications to the P/S, though. You could check the remote return voltage, or, doesn't the remote connector provide a contactor status via one of its pins? And, if Miller really wanted it to be fail-safe, in addition to a post flow timer (say 30 sec, or a minute) they could also monitor the return coolant temperature in the cooler and make sure the cooler stays on until a safe minimum temperature is detected, then shut the cooler motor off.Originally posted by dyn88
This would add a bit to the cost of the cooler, but it would be really nice.Comment
-
Shees......I sometimes run my swamp cooler 24 hours a day in the summer. The water pump takes a licking and keeps on pumping.
Comment
-
seems like a lot of trouble for little gain.Comment
-
Sometimes It's Not All About The Gain But About Designing And Building Just To See If It Can Be Done.
KellyComment
-
Since I don't have a water cooled torch I am not sure but....
It is my understanding that there is a fuseable link right at the water cooler.
This fuseable link will get hot and blow if the coolent is not running thus shutting off power to the torch.
If the coolent is running then the fuseable link stays cool and everything works fine.
Am I in LA-LA land on this or is this something that is standard on every torch?Comment
-
They have some for the dinse style too.
Comment
-
aphexafx, Steved, and dyn88,
Good solid ideas-I doubt many here will execute the pramatic design described. None the less very good ideas!!!
Now for a reality check. I run a Coolmate 4 with the ALT304 and a Coolmate 3 with the Dynasty 300DX. I would honestly be lost if I did not hear the coolers whirring in the background. They are a lot like the backyard train tracks. You don't really hear the trains since they run all day and all night. After a while you become "acoustically jaded". Only when they stop does the silence become deafening.
I have yet to burn up a pump or anything else on these Coolmates. The Coolmate 3 has seen 8-12 hours/days for the last year or so without any problems. The Coolmate 4 is used less, but still gets a workout.Comment
Comment