Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey all, how are we?

So long story short, I'm looking into building a watercooled setup (opens wallet)
I'm welding a lot more heavy stuff and also I would like to use a smaller torch. Currently have a big 26 aircooled.

Now, I don't have a machine that has a built in setup like some do, so I was hoping that you guys could help me out with what you may see as dumb questions.

My connections are what I believe to be called DINSE connection. My one isn't gas through, it has the gas line separate (no hole in DINSE) and that line goes through the side then into the torch.
A mate of mine has a eBay cheapy tig with the same connections. His cooler is basically a drum full of water, with a submerged pump (that you have to turn on, not run by the machine) which then pumps the water through.

He didn't give me a lot of info as he was busy but correct me if I'm wrong but this is what I can gather:
You have a water in straight from the pump, then water out is through the power lead? This I don't quite understand. And the gas in.

Is the power lead inside a bigger hose?
Also I was lead to believe to need a "fuse block"? But there wasn't one. Or is that for a different power connection?
It's a rough setup but it works for him.

I hope I've explained it so you guys can understand haha!
Thanks heaps, Ben

A water-cooled torch will have three hoses; gas in, water in, and water out/power in. The water out line is somewhat larger, as the power lead runs through it, in the water bath. This power lead is water-cooled then, just like the torch head, allowing for a much smaller wire than for a similar amperage air-cooled torch. It's arranged in this order because the torch head will introduce far more heat than the power lead, so the coolest water (fresh from the cooling system) hits there first. Then, the relatively warm to mildly hot water (assuming you have enough flow) passes over the pwer cable on it's way back to the cooler.

The cooler system should be properly grounded, and the water used in it should not be "hard"... For simple scratch start or lift-arc, this is not as critical, but if you have HF start, and especially if you do HFAC, you should use distilled/deionized water, and only "low conductivity" antifreeze if you're in a cold climate. I smoked three torches in three weeks from not knowing this while welding aluminum pipe all day.

Steve S