Check yer water

Last time I used my TIG on a very small job, I noted some steam.
Uh-oh! Put a note on the torch to check that before using it again.
I got around to checking. Pulled a line off the cooler. No flow. Uh
oh. Applied air pressure both directions. Cooler bubbled, air
flowed into the torch line. Lookin' good. Added some water, hooked
everything back up with the feed line loose. Powered up. Got flow
into a bucket. Awright, the pump is still good! Hooked that up,
powered up again. After running for a minute, a puddle appeared
under welder, but I didn't see it until it had crept out and was
sloshing my shoe. Aw, crap! Two things I strongly dislike on
me are antifreeze and tranny fluid. I'd about rather roll in pig***.
Well, I say that having never rolled in pig***, but while stinky
it's can't be any more slimy than antifreeze or tranny fluid and it's
gotta be easier to wash off.

The supply line mit water-cooled power cable within had a ... uh...
linear aneurism. Split like a banana with the air pressure I'd
applied. The 10 gage bare stranded wire within (for 250 amps!) had
overheated without water flow and hot-wire-cut nearly thru the vinyl
tubing. That wire can handle the welding current just fine as long
as there's water flow, and I figure the voltage drop at 250 amps to be
less than 3 volts which is negligable for a TIG machine. The
welder came with that setup and it'd welded many stainless steel silos
in its previous life. I suppose light weight is a plus when welding
a silo a fair ways above ground. It's also a plus for welding at my
bench.

Disassembled, took to welding store to have John cut off the bad part
and crimp on a new fitting. NOT! "Gotta buy a whole new one, Don."
I guess I coulda kludged it, but it looked like more than $38 worth
of screwin' around even for this frugal Finn, so I popped for the new
one.

Got everything put back together, which included unsnapping about 100
snaps on the leather shroud by prying each one with a screwdriver,
then resnapping with a big pair of pliers. Clean up mess -- yuk! Add
water to cooler reservoir. Took a gallon and a half of distilled
water. I guess it was a bit low. Don't know how that could have
happened since I filled it up in 1995...

I'm TIG'in again.

Check yer water!

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