Tig water chiller coolant?

[no704]

So this topic seems as old as chicken or the egg.. got a new chiller and an induction heater, as opposed to a tig torch. Will likely be used for tig also in the future.

Seen every angle on what coolent to run. Just got it set up today with 100% distilled water. See lots running automotive coolant, special welder coolant, tap water, window washer fluid…etc.
opinions?

 

[txvwnut]

If you are going to use it for welding you want non-conductive welding coolant.

 

[Jswain]

My Lincoln chiller says right on it use automotive style coolant if temps go below freezing, or distilled water if they don't.
Some will be different though, so go by what yours calls for

 

[no704]

Manual calls for distilled water, that’s what is in it now. Below some temp it calls for organic coolant. In Phx it will never see freezing temperatures. I tend to overthink these things.

At a past job we had a fog chamber that was filled with DI water and rotted out the evaporator in a couple years. Not on my watch!
Was a $80k machine. Wade tee would not cover it. Too high dissolved solids by a lot. Was able to repair it and switch to only distilled on that one.

 

[welder4956]

I have a Bernard cooler and it calls for this:



If freezing temps are not an issue, distilled water should be fine.

 

[turner66]

I use Miller coolant in my Miller Coolmate cooler and the manufacturer recommended Cantesco coolant in my Primeweld Maxcool cooler. Most importantly they include algae and corrosion inhibitors...

 

[bdbecker]

...Most importantly they include algae and corrosion inhibitors...

+1

It's worth putting some coolant in there if for no other reason than to prevent algae growth. I've flushed out a few neglected chillers over the years and it is downright nasty what grows inside of them. If OP wants to run straight water, it's worth flushing it out at least annually, if not more frequently.

 

[turner66]

"If OP wants to run straight water, it's worth flushing it out at least annually, if not more frequently."

Right on! I'd be in favor of much more frequently even.
It's the wrong place to try and "save a few bucks" .

The cost of maintaining even the cheapest Miller Coolmate is worth every penny of the $50/gal Miller coolant when you figure the cost over time. Cantesco for the Primeweld cooler is only $20/gal.

 

[no704]

Running straight distilled now. I’ll throw in a bottle of coolant. Company cc got hacked so when that’s straightened out I’ll throw some on the next McMaster order.

 

[dffay]

I use De-ionized water. Gallon jugs from the grocery store availability.

 

[03ranger]

Miller® Low Conductivity Coolant is a mixture of 50% de-ionized water with 50% ethylene glycol.