5460 DV cooler FLOW ALARM !!

[John T]

Absolutely.
Depending on what you’re welding and how hard you are running the machine...

Most guys could probably get away with a 5 gallon bucket of water and a pro con motor and pump sitting on top.

No fan
No cooler/ radiator
Just in and out.

You would be hard-pressed to heat up A 5 gallon bucket of water to the point that it affects the torch.

[TJS]

Oberdorfer....straight cut gears.

[jagboy69]

Thanks for the thoughts gentlemen. I've had my 221 now for around 5years and I love it! Not a lick of trouble out of it, but I've grown tired of cooking my hand hanging on to that torch for hours so I decided it's time to do something about it. When I see a water cooler is 250bucks on scamazon and this one is 450, I have to start asking questions. After buying a torch and by the time I toss in a bag of consumables, it's starting to get close to a grand. I believe in paying for quality, but I expect something in return. The fact it will be wired to always work is something I've considered. I'm the guy that occasionally forgets to flip on the argon, but it's a game changer when you forget to flip on the cooler. Goodbye torch with a quickness!

[John T]

I'm sure you can take the cover off your 221 and find the power wire(s) that go to the receptacle in the back....
maybe even find the proper plug ... then wire whatever cooler you want.... to come on with the welder.

[cornchip]

it's a game changer when you forget to flip on the cooler. Goodbye torch with a quickness!

i wouldnt go that far. ive forgot to turn on the cooler and welded for a decent amount of time and nothing was burned up. but having it turn on with the welder isnt a bad idea if your absent minded like me

[jagboy69]

The cooler finally arrived. I've only used it about 5mins so far and the torch is nice and cool. One thing I wasn't ready for was how loud it is. I still think it's way overpriced so I sure hope to hell I don't need it's 18month warranty. Interesting piece of info for anyone is when I bought it, the girl on the phone said it was made in Taiwan. I can absolutely confirm the box says made in CHINA. China is actually capable of making decent stuff, but it's a rarity. I think I would have been happy to part with this amount of cash if it came from Italy or Taiwan. SO yeah, I'm a little sideways to see china at this price.

For this kind of money, I could have bought almost 3 cheapazz amazon coolers and I doubt they are any better that this thing. Time will tell! :-/

[Oscar]

The fan does move a lot of air, so i guess its a necessary evil.

[Munkul]

Most decent coolers are fairly loud... a decent pump and a decent fan always makes a racket. You can quieten it down if you put some acoustic insulation on the insides of the case - it worked well on my Esseti cooler which uses a Procon pump.
The new Lorch cooler I have also uses a procon, and the fan is even louder... but it's pump on demand, which is a lovely luxury!

Anyway, reading through this thread, I didn't see John's eventual diagnosis? He burned his torch up, and surmised that the pump was bad, given no other obvious faults.

I'd like to see pics of the pump opened up and to see in what way it failed...

[John T]

Munk
The key on the motor shaft that drives the pump Failed/busted

Not sure why this happened
Perhaps it was never sized properly and there was some movement and it eventually wore out and started spinning the pump slower???

Who knows…
It was probably a slow process because first the flow alarm started going off
And then not too much longer it stopped pumping water completely.
And unfortunately when that happened I burned up my hose.

Sorry I do not have any pictures of the internals

I just moved on and rebuilt it with a procon.

There is also another thread on this.

[massacre]

Sorry, i know this thread is a little bit old, but i am having issues with my arctic chill cooler.
Machine is a invertig 221 DV and i bought both at the same time. I love the machine, and the cooler has worked fine up until recently. I have had the machine and cooler for probably like 10 years now, i always used the HTP coolant but when covid hit i got a little behind on that. I wasn't using the machine regularly for a while. I did drain, flush and replace with new HTP coolant last year and it has been working great but the other day the flow alarm came on and would not shut off. I could see the bybass was really shooting water in, but the return was not flowing very much.
I received my new torch and hoses today, figured that would fix it but it did not.
I did take the cooler apart, removed the flow sensor/orifice and used vinegar to clean it. No dice. Clamped off the bypass and flow increased. I ended up removing the reservoir from the machine and even took the pump apart, looking for trash/restrictions. Didn't find much. I put a gallon of vinegar in the reservoir and let that run for a while, and the return is flowing about twice as much as it was before (bypass no longer crimped) but the damn alarm is still going off.

At this time, i have tightened the wires to the alarm itself, and got it to stop. But when i turn the cooler on, i don't get the initial single beep like i usually do when it is turned on. So it seems like it is either constantly on, or constantly off.
I have had it running for like an hour now, and all of a sudden the alarm started to come on slowly, very short beeps that eventually turned into the regular alarm.

Can i get a new flow sensor and alarm from HTP? I will call tomorrow but just wondering if anyone knew for sure. I really don't want to have to spend $600 on a new cooler because of the damn alarm.

Thanks for reading, and have a nice day!

[52 Ford]

Sorry, i know this thread is a little bit old, but i am having issues with my arctic chill cooler.
Machine is a invertig 221 DV and i bought both at the same time. I love the machine, and the cooler has worked fine up until recently. I have had the machine and cooler for probably like 10 years now, i always used the HTP coolant but when covid hit i got a little behind on that. I wasn't using the machine regularly for a while. I did drain, flush and replace with new HTP coolant last year and it has been working great but the other day the flow alarm came on and would not shut off. I could see the bybass was really shooting water in, but the return was not flowing very much.
I received my new torch and hoses today, figured that would fix it but it did not.
I did take the cooler apart, removed the flow sensor/orifice and used vinegar to clean it. No dice. Clamped off the bypass and flow increased. I ended up removing the reservoir from the machine and even took the pump apart, looking for trash/restrictions. Didn't find much. I put a gallon of vinegar in the reservoir and let that run for a while, and the return is flowing about twice as much as it was before (bypass no longer crimped) but the damn alarm is still going off.

At this time, i have tightened the wires to the alarm itself, and got it to stop. But when i turn the cooler on, i don't get the initial single beep like i usually do when it is turned on. So it seems like it is either constantly on, or constantly off.
I have had it running for like an hour now, and all of a sudden the alarm started to come on slowly, very short beeps that eventually turned into the regular alarm.

Can i get a new flow sensor and alarm from HTP? I will call tomorrow but just wondering if anyone knew for sure. I really don't want to have to spend $600 on a new cooler because of the damn alarm.

Thanks for reading, and have a nice day!

Have you tried giving USA Weld a call?

[tapwelder]

Sorry, i know this thread is a little bit old, but i am having issues with my arctic chill cooler.
Machine is a invertig 221 DV and i bought both at the same time. I love the machine, and the cooler has worked fine up until recently. I have had the machine and cooler for probably like 10 years now, i always used the HTP coolant but when covid hit i got a little behind on that. I wasn't using the machine regularly for a while. I did drain, flush and replace with new HTP coolant last year and it has been working great but the other day the flow alarm came on and would not shut off. I could see the bybass was really shooting water in, but the return was not flowing very much.
I received my new torch and hoses today, figured that would fix it but it did not.
I did take the cooler apart, removed the flow sensor/orifice and used vinegar to clean it. No dice. Clamped off the bypass and flow increased. I ended up removing the reservoir from the machine and even took the pump apart, looking for trash/restrictions. Didn't find much. I put a gallon of vinegar in the reservoir and let that run for a while, and the return is flowing about twice as much as it was before (bypass no longer crimped) but the damn alarm is still going off.

At this time, i have tightened the wires to the alarm itself, and got it to stop. But when i turn the cooler on, i don't get the initial single beep like i usually do when it is turned on. So it seems like it is either constantly on, or constantly off.
I have had it running for like an hour now, and all of a sudden the alarm started to come on slowly, very short beeps that eventually turned into the regular alarm.

Can i get a new flow sensor and alarm from HTP? I will call tomorrow but just wondering if anyone knew for sure. I really don't want to have to spend $600 on a new cooler because of the damn alarm.

Thanks for reading, and have a nice day!

I posted my finding in another thread. Potential issue.... The valve /switch is adjustible. It looks like a black plastic coupler wires attached. There is a flat side with a panel held in place with tiny screws. The panel is adjustable. It will slide a couple millimeters.

The panel is a magnet. The generic switch will operate to sense flow or no flow and is sensitive to the direction the panel is shifted.

I think in posted photos in a John T thread about 3 years ago.

The switch is readily available online no need to go to htp. I search,. but did not mine.

Also, If it is coolant is Flowing then turn off the alarm.

[massacre]

Have you tried giving USA Weld a call?

I will call them tomorrow, thanks.

[massacre]

I posted my finding in another thread. Potential issue.... The valve /switch is adjustible. It looks like a black plastic coupler wires attached. There is a flat side with a panel held in place with tiny screws. The panel is adjustable. It will slide a couple millimeters.

The panel is a magnet. The generic switch will operate to sense flow or no flow and is sensitive to the direction the panel is shifted.

I think in posted photos in a John T thread about 3 years ago.

The switch is readily available online no need to go to htp. I search,. but did not mine.

Also, If it is coolant is Flowing then turn off the alarm.

Thank you! I did see your response in this thread and i did try adjusting the panel with the little screws in both directions, but it didn't make much difference. I did not realize it was a magnet. I wonder if that black plastic coupling could be the culprit?

[massacre]

Just as a follow up-
Talked to HTP today. Pretty sure i can get the parts i need to get this flow alarm taken care of. HTP was very helpful on the phone and they also emailed me some helpful schematics and troubleshooting information.
They will call tomorrow and we will get this ironed out.

[52 Ford]

Just as a follow up-
Talked to HTP today. Pretty sure i can get the parts i need to get this flow alarm taken care of. HTP was very helpful on the phone and they also emailed me some helpful schematics and troubleshooting information.
They will call tomorrow and we will get this ironed out.

That's awesome!

[massacre]

Minor setback, HTP said they would have someone call me today. Well, no one called. So i emailed them and hopefully i will get a call back at some point?

[massacre]

I received an answer to my email- not sure where the miscommunication was, but now i have to wait until tomorrow to order the parts i need. 24hrs behind now. Not too happy about this, like they completely forgot all about my problem. At this rate i will likely have to spend a ton of cash to get what i need in a timely manner which is not ideal.

[tapwelder]

can you operate te cooler without the alarm. I never notice flow issues when alarm went off. you can cool the torch manually.

The lady, apparently forgot me when I called them.....

[52 Ford]

can you operate te cooler without the alarm. I never notice flow issues when alarm went off. you can cool the torch manually.

The lady, apparently forgot me when I called them.....

I think the flow alarm is more important if your moving around a lot and worried about a hose kinking or something like that. If you're just at the bench welding something, what are the odds the pump is going to stop or a line get plug by... I dunno. Shouldn't be anything in the coolant since they use a biocide... I guess they use one... It's a handy feature, but I see no reason he couldn't run the cooler without it for a few week or two.

[tapwelder]

With that in mind could the blockage be in the hose or torch? Is there a flow rate through the hose that can be measured?

[massacre]

Follow up-
Was able to get in touch with HTP today, everything went well. Was able to order what i needed. I did have to overnight ship everything which is a bitter pill to swallow. But i need my machine back up and running. Everyone at HTP was very friendly and helpful.

[John T]

can you operate the cooler without the alarm. ..

yes, it can be easily bypassed.

Anyway, that "alarm" is a joke. You would be better served installing a Whirrly-gig flow gauge.

I installed one on mine when I redid my cooler.

If the gauge is spinning.... YOUR GOOD. End of story.

That said.... ( I also have a pressure gauge and temperature sensors for in/out water temp) but basically if it's flowing and you have a moderate size water tank ..... you are good for most applications / and or weldORS ......

don't get your brain in a frazzle.

[massacre]

Received my parts today, replaced the flow switch and now all is well! Flow stops, alarm sounds. Flow begins, alarm stops. The only thing i can figure is that the flow switch got gummed up over time. I am flushing now with distilled water, then i have 2 gallons of HTP coolant and anti-algae/lubrication additive ready to go in.
Looking forward to putting it all back together and using my new torch!

Thanks again to everyone here for all of the helpful replies. Really appreciate it!