October 3, 2019 Efficient Welding Cooling

What is the purpose of welding cooling and how does it work?

October 2, 2019

During the process of bonding two metals together, successful and efficient cooling is a key part of the weld. To cool down the weld, fabricators use a tool called a MIG gun, which stands for Metal Insert Gas, is what is used to weld.

In order for the weld to be successful and the MIG gun to be cooled, the gun must have some sort of cooling system. MIG guns typically come either air-cooled or water-cooled. Water-cooled guns tend to be the choice of professionals, since they are more effective and allow them to get the job done more quickly.

However, there are a few points to consider when choosing a water-cooled or an air-cooled MIG gun. Find different cooling solutions here at https://northslopechillers.com/process-cooling/welding/.

What Are The Main Reasons For Proper Cooling?

When welding, managing the massive amount of heat that is created is very important indeed. Should the heat not be managed and moved away from the welding process appropriately, the resulting weld can end up being very sub-standard.

Should a weld have been adversely affected by too much heat, it can have serious structural risks. Too much heat can cause the weld not to form properly, resulting in a not only aesthetically non-pleasing weld, but an unsafe one. Welds can also be far more susceptible to rusting should they be heat-damaged.

In order to maintain safe welding practice both during and after your weld is complete, it is, therefore, essential that a proper welding cooler is utilized.

What’s The Different Between Water and Air-Cooled?

Before you can understand why a certain type of cooling method is better, it’s essential that you understand why cooling is needed at all.

Welding is a process that requires an immense amount of heat to fuse the two metals together – the weld can only take place if the metals that are being joined are able to reach a high enough temperature to melt, and thereby join together.

Due to this massive temperature that is required, the equipment that’s used must be able to withstand a massive amount of heat. During arc welding, a welding (MIG) gun is used. Whilst very tough and durable, the gun must be cooled in order to protect it from the immense heat being emitted. In addition to making sure the equipment is kept safe/lasts as long as possible, a properly-cooled welding gun will keep the worker safer and more out of the way of a massive and dangerous amount of heat too.

Water Cooled Welding

In a water-cooled system, the gun is cooled by a solution (with a very high boiling point) that moves through tunes that are connected to a radiator. These tubes that come from the radiator surround the inside of the gun handle and the rest of the equipment needed for welding.

The solution that leaves the radiator and moves towards the MIG gun is cool – this is the solution that’s ready to bring the temperature of the MIG gun down. After this cool solution has passed through the hosing that’s inside the welding equipment, it will have absorbed a great deal of heat from the MIG gun. To make sure this heat is drawn away from the gun, the solution keeps moving and returns to the radiator where, similarly to a car, it is cooled and sent back out to do the same again. A water-cooled system is a very effective method of cooling indeed.

Air Cooled Welding

Air-cooled systems are not quite as efficient as the water-cooled alternative. Air-cooling uses the surrounding air to move the heat away from the welding gun. Systems that rely on air-cooling tend to be far more heavy-duty, in order to make sure that they are able to withstand the higher temperatures. This means thicker cabling and more cooper.

Means of Obtaining Cooling?

Air-cooled systems come in a few different types, mainly however in the forms of air guns and large fans that are designed to disperse as much air as possible. Water cooling, however, can be slightly more difficult to set up. Once water cooling has been implemented though, it’s far more effective than air-cooling. It can move far more heat away from the welding equipment far more quickly than air cooling is able to.

Welding Chillers & Recirculation

It’s important to know that there’s a difference between welding chillers and water recirculators. The main difference between them is that a chiller contains a compressor to most effectively remove the heat from the solution (similar to a fridge freezer). A recirculatory on the other hand simply passes the solution through a radiator that cools the solution this way.

What’s the most suitable for your needs? A welding chiller is far more effective at cooling solution quickly than a recirculatory is, due to the fact that they physically remove the heat from the solution as opposed to cool it with a radiator.

Chillers are essential if you are going to be welding constantly and heavily, or if you’re going to be joining metals that aren’t as commonly welded, or that require an even greater deal of heat to weld.

Not only do welding chillers offer extremely effective cooling for your equipment, but they can also be moved around and taken mobile to wherever you need.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you feel more informed on why welding cooling is absolutely paramount, as well as on the various measures that you can use to implement effective cooling. An important point to take is that, whilst air cooling can be an effective method of cooling down your weld and equipment, water/liquid-cooling is almost always going to be the more effective solution. Welding cooling solutions, as well as mobile welding chillers can be found here at https://northslopechillers.com/process-cooling/welding/

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