....and I'm still alive

For the coolant tank I need for the CNC plasma table I'm building I
ended up just buying a new 100# LP tank as it was the cheapest available
tank of the correct size and with a new tank there is no fuss with
trying to purge LP out so you can weld without going into orbit.

Since I'm mounting the tank horizontally in a 48" long space I cut the
base and top collars off and ground those welds flush. I made two weld
bungs from a couple of 3/8-1/4 NPT steel adapters, milling off the
excess length. I TIG welded the two new ports into the tank and pressure
tested for leaks to a whopping 10 PSI (no leaks).

Pete C.

"Pete C." fired this volley in news:498e2184$0
:

..and I'm still alive


How high are you going to run the tank? Did it need new bungs, or could
an imaginative manifold have served with the existing hole?

We like you without metal in your forehead, Pete.

LLoyd

"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" wrote:

"Pete C." fired this volley in news:498e2184$0
:

..and I'm still alive


How high are you going to run the tank? Did it need new bungs, or could
an imaginative manifold have served with the existing hole?

We like you without metal in your forehead, Pete.

LLoyd

It will run with just enough air pressure in the tank to displace the
coolant out the bottom port on the tank and up 24" or so to the cutting
table. What's that, something like 10-12 PSI?

With the tank on it's side, it would be difficult to use the one 3/4"
hole at the mid point to get it ported to both the top of the tank for
the air fill/vent and the bottom for the liquid exit/return.

"Pete C." wrote: (clip) just enough air pressure in the tank to displace
the
coolant out the bottom port on the tank and up 24" or so to the cutting
table. What's that, something like 10-12 PSI? (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
My back of the envelope calculation says 1 psi. Less, actually, if you
allow for the head of liquid in the tank.

Leo Lichtman wrote:

"Pete C." wrote: (clip) just enough air pressure in the tank to displace
the
coolant out the bottom port on the tank and up 24" or so to the cutting
table. What's that, something like 10-12 PSI? (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
My back of the envelope calculation says 1 psi. Less, actually, if you
allow for the head of liquid in the tank.

I think you're correct, I was off a decimal place. I'm pretty sure the
tank will handle the required pressure just fine.

"Pete C." wrote:

...and I'm still alive

I'd paint a warning on it, not safe for pressure over ##. You know it is safe for your
app, I'd stand next to it at 10 psi, (don't forget a relief valve) but we are mortal. The
next person that owns it may get to meet you for a warning.

Wes

"Pete C." wrote in message
ster.com...

...and I'm still alive

For the coolant tank I need for the CNC plasma table I'm building I
ended up just buying a new 100# LP tank as it was the cheapest available
tank of the correct size and with a new tank there is no fuss with
trying to purge LP out so you can weld without going into orbit.

Since I'm mounting the tank horizontally in a 48" long space I cut the
base and top collars off and ground those welds flush. I made two weld
bungs from a couple of 3/8-1/4 NPT steel adapters, milling off the
excess length. I TIG welded the two new ports into the tank and pressure
tested for leaks to a whopping 10 PSI (no leaks).

Pete C.

Pete
I used to have a water tray under my plasma table and my intention was to
build something similar to what you are building to raise and lower the
water level. The design I saw was a large chamber that was pressurized to
displace the water. I am wondering what will happen if you leave the water
in your tank for any length of time and the dust or now muck falls out of
suspension. It seems that the 1/4" port would plug rather quickly.
Steve

Up North wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
ster.com...

...and I'm still alive

For the coolant tank I need for the CNC plasma table I'm building I
ended up just buying a new 100# LP tank as it was the cheapest available
tank of the correct size and with a new tank there is no fuss with
trying to purge LP out so you can weld without going into orbit.

Since I'm mounting the tank horizontally in a 48" long space I cut the
base and top collars off and ground those welds flush. I made two weld
bungs from a couple of 3/8-1/4 NPT steel adapters, milling off the
excess length. I TIG welded the two new ports into the tank and pressure
tested for leaks to a whopping 10 PSI (no leaks).

Pete C.

Pete
I used to have a water tray under my plasma table and my intention was to
build something similar to what you are building to raise and lower the
water level. The design I saw was a large chamber that was pressurized to
displace the water. I am wondering what will happen if you leave the water
in your tank for any length of time and the dust or now muck falls out of
suspension. It seems that the 1/4" port would plug rather quickly.
Steve

The coolant normally has anti-rust additives in it. For the muck issue,
the drain from the cutting table will be covered by a fine mesh strainer
to keep out big stuff, and will be surrounded by some magnets to help
keep the stuff from getting to the strainer to begin with. I might
install a filter inline between the tank and the table too. If need be I
can easily rework to a larger line size, the 1/4" was based on the low
flow rate needed to fill the small table in a reasonable amount of time
and the adapters I had on hand to make the ports from. Lower flow rate
will probably help keep from drawing the muck towards the drain as well.

"Pete C." wrote in message
ster.com...

Up North wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
ster.com...

...and I'm still alive

For the coolant tank I need for the CNC plasma table I'm building I
ended up just buying a new 100# LP tank as it was the cheapest
available
tank of the correct size and with a new tank there is no fuss with
trying to purge LP out so you can weld without going into orbit.

Since I'm mounting the tank horizontally in a 48" long space I cut the
base and top collars off and ground those welds flush. I made two weld
bungs from a couple of 3/8-1/4 NPT steel adapters, milling off the
excess length. I TIG welded the two new ports into the tank and
pressure
tested for leaks to a whopping 10 PSI (no leaks).

Pete C.

Pete
I used to have a water tray under my plasma table and my intention was
to
build something similar to what you are building to raise and lower the
water level. The design I saw was a large chamber that was pressurized to
displace the water. I am wondering what will happen if you leave the
water
in your tank for any length of time and the dust or now muck falls out of
suspension. It seems that the 1/4" port would plug rather quickly.
Steve

The coolant normally has anti-rust additives in it. For the muck issue,
the drain from the cutting table will be covered by a fine mesh strainer
to keep out big stuff, and will be surrounded by some magnets to help
keep the stuff from getting to the strainer to begin with. I might
install a filter inline between the tank and the table too. If need be I
can easily rework to a larger line size, the 1/4" was based on the low
flow rate needed to fill the small table in a reasonable amount of time
and the adapters I had on hand to make the ports from. Lower flow rate
will probably help keep from drawing the muck towards the drain as well.

A stand pipe might be the thing to keep some of the particles from draining
into your tank. A coarse screen at the level of the stand pipe would catch
larger pieces you either want to keep or toss in the scrap bin. Are you
building your own table? There is a guy on the Yahoo PlasmaCam group that
has a nice grate system design that allows one or more grates to be quickly
removed to access the tray below. It works nice for smaller parts you cut
and have fall through the grate.
Steve

Up North wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
ster.com...

Up North wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
ster.com...

...and I'm still alive

For the coolant tank I need for the CNC plasma table I'm building I
ended up just buying a new 100# LP tank as it was the cheapest
available
tank of the correct size and with a new tank there is no fuss with
trying to purge LP out so you can weld without going into orbit.

Since I'm mounting the tank horizontally in a 48" long space I cut the
base and top collars off and ground those welds flush. I made two weld
bungs from a couple of 3/8-1/4 NPT steel adapters, milling off the
excess length. I TIG welded the two new ports into the tank and
pressure
tested for leaks to a whopping 10 PSI (no leaks).

Pete C.

Pete
I used to have a water tray under my plasma table and my intention was
to
build something similar to what you are building to raise and lower the
water level. The design I saw was a large chamber that was pressurized to
displace the water. I am wondering what will happen if you leave the
water
in your tank for any length of time and the dust or now muck falls out of
suspension. It seems that the 1/4" port would plug rather quickly.
Steve

The coolant normally has anti-rust additives in it. For the muck issue,
the drain from the cutting table will be covered by a fine mesh strainer
to keep out big stuff, and will be surrounded by some magnets to help
keep the stuff from getting to the strainer to begin with. I might
install a filter inline between the tank and the table too. If need be I
can easily rework to a larger line size, the 1/4" was based on the low
flow rate needed to fill the small table in a reasonable amount of time
and the adapters I had on hand to make the ports from. Lower flow rate
will probably help keep from drawing the muck towards the drain as well.

A stand pipe might be the thing to keep some of the particles from draining
into your tank. A coarse screen at the level of the stand pipe would catch
larger pieces you either want to keep or toss in the scrap bin. Are you
building your own table? There is a guy on the Yahoo PlasmaCam group that
has a nice grate system design that allows one or more grates to be quickly
removed to access the tray below. It works nice for smaller parts you cut
and have fall through the grate.
Steve

The drain port area will be raised slightly from the bottom of the tank
due to the logistics of it, and the magnets nearby should attract and
trap most of the steel particulate that gets close.

The table area will have individually removable slats and with 3"
spacing it will be pretty easy to reach past them anyway.