hey fellas, i need your help. i purchased a brand new syncrowave 200 from a local welding store and its been working great untill i started welding a bunch of aluminum, large/thick stuff that soaks up a lot of heat. ive been having to max out the amperage to 200 to be able to do this stuff. i quickly realised i NEED a water cooler setup after burning my hands a couple of times from the torch heating up badly.
so i welded up a 5gallon tank, got a pump in there and bought a radnor 20F water cooled torch with a flex head. using the miller coolant for it. that torch worked good for awhile untill it started leaking coolant through the gas passage... no bueno. got it exchanged and less than 2 days after the new one gave up the ghost while welding an intake manifold. the water lines melted...
another thing is, i think i need to step up to a bigger machine if im going to keep doing a lot of aluminum stuff which i think i will be. only 60%DC@200 amps kinda sucks

so any suggestions? am i just using shitty torches, do i need to get a higher capacity torch, diff pump or what? what would be a worthwile(but not ridiculously more expensive) step up from the sync 200?
thanks guys.

 

You can't pump 100 PSI through the torch lines. It needs to be regulated to around 50-60 PSI. I would get a Dynasty 350 if you plan to do thick aluminum and lots of it.

 

I agree with the dynasty 350. That is what I use at work, & I no longer want to use my sync 250 at home.

 

I'm not pushing 100 psi, I'm actually using a fountain pump thaTs rated at like 40 iirc.
What torch can I get that's rated for 300ish and has a flex head?

 

Whats the flow on the pump more importantly?

 

There is no step up from the sync200 that is not expensive if you buy new.

I use several of these http://www.tectorch.com/sw%20torches.htm and I also have a flex head. The torch I gave you a link to is based on hw20 comsumables and is very small yet it has a 320 amp rating. Its a very high quality pc and has the silicone hoses and a very thin flexible leather sheath. I had a sync200 for a while that I ahd bought as a backup off of craigslist for 1200. well maybe I stole it. I don't understand what your welding that would be a problem for the stock torch. I found the torch to be amazing in it ability to not get hot. Yes maybe you couldn't hold it with bare hands but it was just fine with gloves on. That is after welding and intercooler that has 13 feet of weld on it with most of it being welded flat footed on the pedal. I have an lx350(awesome) snycrowave 275 lincoln(very good machine for chassiswork with the 4-step feature but not as nice on aluminum) and also a miller aerowave( no comment yet as its been in the shop almost since I bought it).
Make sure you don't hang the cable over something where they would get a sharp bend in them It could create a hot spot by restricting the water flow.

 

i use a speedway torch, never had an issue in the last three years...

 

i would use a pump like this one... http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Procon-Pump-...item2a02108ca6

 

are those flex?

 

Read and check the link what KFMRC posted

 

well ive looked at a bunch of diff manufacturers and it seems about the max rating for a flex head torch is ~250 amps. i cant imagine using anything but a flex head torch so im not sure what ill be doing

anyone selling a dynasty 350? :D

 

Not sure why you have to have the flex head for everyday welding. When you bought your water cooled torch did you buy the torch that excepts the same consumables as the original sync200 torch? That may be why you want the flex head so badly. The hw20 style torch is very small in comparison to the 18 style. The hw20 cup+ torch body+ the short cap are not really any longer then the cup itself of the 18. The link I posted earlier will give you the highest rated hw20 style torch you can buy. Get a speedway and a flex if you have to have one for when you need. You can get a selector so you can hook bith torches up at once or make something simple yourself.

 

I'm just used to the adjustability of a flex head, I think my current radnor 20f should be ok, gonna need to look into a diff pump, unless I end up upgrading to a dynasty 350. Any good deals on those? Local welding place sells a complete package for 7k, is that about right?

 

Dude get a fixed head mini torch from weldcraft I have used it for years without any issue and as far heat goes , nothing u can do about really it, get real man gloves specially for aluminum, I use thick cowhide gloves

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...Itemnumber=488

I weld 1/4 aluminum plate on my Intake Manifolds and sometimes 1/2 to 1/4 with my 180 Syncrowave
I just use 75/25 helium/argon mix , but most of the time I use 50/50 for aluminum and 100 argon for stainless carbon steel works wonders man!

Gil

 

The speedway torch head does flex, and I usually weld with just latex gloves, the torch stays cool to the touch with the bernard cooler I have, literally cold while welding alluminum.