Hi to everyone, new member here looking for a little help.
I'm building a cooler for my tig welder, i'm using an arduino to control the pump motor via a relay, I also have some 12v cooling fans. I've rigged up a photocell to start the pump when the arc fires. But its not working too well at low amps.
The welder has a very simple control pedal containing a switch and 10k pot (10v). I was thinking about tapping into the switch to use this to control the pump.
But then i though about making the pedal wireless. Would this be possible?
Why do you need to turn the pump on when you strike an arc. My tig welder starts the pump and the fan when you start the welder and runs as long as the welder is on. The torch head needs some water flow after you stop the arc to cool it down. If you cease the water flow as soon as the arc quits you can wreck the torch.
Also the post flow of argon which keeps the weld shielded until it cools down also contributes to cooling the torch. Just wire the pump and fan into the main switch be done with it.
detown:
Why do you need to turn the pump on when you strike an arc. My tig welder starts the pump and the fan when you start the welder and runs as long as the welder is on. The torch head needs some water flow after you stop the arc to cool it down. If you cease the water flow as soon as the arc quits you can wreck the torch.
Also the post flow of argon which keeps the weld shielded until it cools down also contributes to cooling the torch. Just wire the pump and fan into the main switch be done with it.
At the moment it will run for 2 minutes after you stop welding if set to auto. Or switch to on and it stays on permanently. The pump motor gets very hot if left on for a long time, plus i'm a welding newbie so i spend more time fitting up than actually welding i thought the auto start would be a nice feature to have.