Ok, got an older (Big machine) Airtech Tig welded with a mickey mouse water cooled tip system on it. I'm told the fan / air cooled one works best for short production runs like I do, but the water one works best for long and HD Tig use....

What are your inputs and favors?

 

Air cooled is bigger, gets hotter, stiff cable (usually).

Water cooled is smaller, stays cooler, and has fairly flexible hoses and cables.

IMO water cooled is the way to go if you have the funds for it, especially if you do much aluminum welding. Alot of people get by with an air cooled, and they work fine till you start burning your hand on it.

 

Water cooled!

 

If you plan on using the machine seriously water cooled is the only way to go. Air cooled torches get HOT.

 

ive had both....now that i have a watercooled torch going back is not an option

 

Water cooled is worth the expense.

If you are doing all your welding below 100 amps, seated at a welding table, with little pieces parts, you can get by with the air cooled as long as it's not 8 hours at the table. If its a full shift you will come to hate the lack of cable flexibility and the heat soak.

The water cooled torch isn't that expensive, and I posted a thread once that has all the Grainger part numbers in it for building your own tig torch cooler for a couple hundred in parts. That cooler is working flawlessly in year 7 so far. Never serviced except for vacuuming the fins of the cooler.

 

Definetly water cooled over air we have 2 water cooled at the shop and one in my garage i would never get air cooled again

 

I used an air cooler lincoln tonight for the first time. I only welded a bov flange and I could barely even hold the torch body (barehanded). The lead was just as flexible and much slimmer than the miller 250 im used to though. My vote goes with the water cooled hands down.

 

Thanks all as it already has a water cooler tip set up but it looks cheesy.....I'll try and take a picture of it soon.