Water-Cooled TIG connectors confusion

Having looked on the interweb, I get the impression that , even though CK sells lots of kit, and the functional parts are good, they have a deliberately contrary thread connection that a DINSE water entry coupler would have to mate to. Not only CK, but Miller too, and more. There seem to be zillions of various connector styles and sizes. To get a full working kit, one generaly has to buy all the stuff as one brand, and even within the brand, a near unique combination with definite part codes. There is an entire third party industry in brass adapters to get around thread incompatibilities, and I hope to find one that suits my kit.

Maybe I am not surprised that the DINSE water coupler from CK is about $76, when the intrinsic value + vendor margin should have it at between $20 and £35. I get it that deliberate unnecessary incompatibilities are an obvious marketing strategy, and there is always business pressure to have it that way, but disappointing.

In the end, I will have a solution, and I do that hope getting there involves less than the balance between the DINSE I have, and $76 !
 
I just set up my welder( an ESAB Rebel 205 AC/DC ) with the same torch that @NC Rick has. Tried it out tonight, and love it! Also ordered it from the same vendor as he did. Simply told them what model welder/cooler I had, and it arrived with the torch, the proper DINSE connector/adapter, and it was plug and play. While the multitude of DINSE adapters is a bit of a pain to weed through, I get it. Much more efficient to make a more or less standard torch, and then the needed DINSE adapters to fit to the various connectors used by all the welder manufactures. Otherwise they'd have to stock a dozen or more different torches. Hope you get it sorted out. I think you'll be happy with the result when you do.
 
graham-xrf said:
Having looked on the interweb, I get the impression that , even though CK sells lots of kit, and the functional parts are good, they have a deliberately contrary thread connection that a DINSE water entry coupler would have to mate to. Not only CK, but Miller too, and more. There seem to be zillions of various connector styles and sizes. To get a full working kit, one generaly has to buy all the stuff as one brand, and even within the brand, a near unique combination with definite part codes. There is an entire third party industry in brass adapters to get around thread incompatibilities, and I hope to find one that suits my kit.

Maybe I am not surprised that the DINSE water coupler from CK is about $76, when the intrinsic value + vendor margin should have it at between $20 and £35. I get it that deliberate unnecessary incompatibilities are an obvious marketing strategy, and there is always business pressure to have it that way, but disappointing.

In the end, I will have a solution, and I do that hope getting there involves less than the balance between the DINSE I have, and $76 !
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I don't know a lot about the other options. When I purchased a previous CK-9 I bought the adapter through the welder manufacture (more accurately-importer) who i bought my welder from and paid less for the connector hardware. In this case, i wanted to purchase through a particular vendor who makes and has made a lot of videos which have been enjoyable, informative and helpful to me. I was surprised at how much the adapters cost and i even ended up with some duplication of QD fittings since some came with my water cooler. I was willing to pay for the small vendor’s expertise and for the ease of me not having to think about The options too much. The vendor got it all exactly right which is something i value. In reality, my use case doesn’t actually require a water cooled torch yet the upgrade is one of my favorite new tools / toys and has proven to be a great R.O.I. When it comes to $ spent to utility and enjoyment.
I think you are likely exactly right with regard to the profitability of the adapters. I'm thinking, as a vendor or even a manufacturer, i would have to have a high margin on parts that have to be picked out per customer application and ones that if a mistake was made (not hard to imagine) my feet would be held to the fire (so to speak) with regard to exchanges, shipping and such. I could be wrong but I don’t think these adapters were engineered with the intention of adding complications but to allow flexibility to suit many different types of TIG welders which are used around the world.
 
That TIG torch kit simply has the wrong connectors. The Dinse connector in NCRick's post is what you should have bought (SLWHAT-35) and the Torch kit CK2325SF FX. Done. ;)
 
General Zod said:
update?
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Waiting on the post. :)
I contacted the CK supplier from where I bought the CK20, and they are sending the additional DINSO part with the thread that will match the torch connector. Also, a brass adapter to connect the Argon tube to the bottle regulator.
I will post again when I have more kit arrived. I can already tell there may be more adapters needed before everything is together.

Also, all stuff related to welding and machining is temporarily set aside as the construction of my shop has reached the over-site concrete pour stage. Welding for bench frames, etc. (MIG) is shortly coming up.
 
Sounds like a complete headache! lol.
 
graham-xrf said:
Waiting on the post. :)
I contacted the CK supplier from where I bought the CK20, and they are sending the additional DINSO part with the thread that will match the torch connector. Also, a brass adapter to connect the Argon tube to the bottle regulator.
I will post again when I have more kit arrived. I can already tell there may be more adapters needed before everything is together.

Also, all stuff related to welding and machining is temporarily set aside as the construction of my shop has reached the over-site concrete pour stage. Welding for bench frames, etc. (MIG) is shortly coming up.
Click to expand...
Glad to hear your on the way to sorting it out. As long as the adaptors make it work, the weld puddle won't know the difference so do what ya gotta do to make it work! And good luck with the shop upgrades, that takes definite priority over a little TIG torch mixup!
 
akjeff said:
Glad to hear your on the way to sorting it out. As long as the adaptors make it work, the weld puddle won't know the difference so do what ya gotta do to make it work! And good luck with the shop upgrades, that takes definite priority over a little TIG torch mixup!
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Thanks! Yes, in the end, I will make it work. There is yet the water cooler arrangement. I already had exactly the right Permatex-style pump, and a cute new radiator heat exchanger that (I think) is a type used in car heater systems. Sure, I could expend several hundred UK pounds on a noisy box with yet more BSP thread connects that you can't just screw a CK torch onto sans adapters, but I thought I could manage a cute little cooler project.

In some ways, the kit I am getting, not only for the welder, but also in most other areas I have interests in, is almost hoarding for future playtime. The domestic fixup stuff I get up to right now, I press on with an urgency to "get it out of the way". This time, I have hit the point where I am thinking "Good Lord - what have I done"? There will now be a 20 x 12 insulated space there under a pitch roof with storage loft, power, water, and internet. Keep in mind I am building in a National Park. It all has to be "just so"!

The compatibility of connections I will post on separately. It is in the nature of me to measure accurately, and tell it like it is

You are right about the priorities. For me, the first is the people in my life, family, friends, and what we need and like to live. The workshop to be, is next. If you think I am near not knowing what I am doing, you would be right! For quite a lot of it, I am just making it up as I go. Here I post a WIP picture of what has displaced putting together welding kit.

Workshop-ManCave Area11a.png
 
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An update on my adventures with (the gorgeous) CK20 water-cooled torch that does not fit anything. The DINSO, and a small adapter intended to get me connected to the gas regulator arrived.

So I tried to connect the red lead to the CK supplied DINSO. Er .. no fit! I almost started laughing!
What?? The DINSO threads were identical to the DINSO I already had, in fact, they fit each each other, all of them standard 3/8" BSPP. The female brass connectors on the torch leads were still a law unto themselves, all the same, and all wrong!

I phoned, and nice guy at official CK suppliers in UK said they they were all supposed to be 3/8" BSPP.
He said that I could send everything back free of charge, and he would set up or replace all as necessary to have them go together.
Yes - this is OK with me!

THEN .. I happened to try the other little brass adapter I had ordered, supposedly 3/8" BSPP to 1/4" BSPP, to get the black lead onto the gas regulator, and wow! That bit of brass actually fits the CK20 leads. Whatever that thread is, it is not an accident! The torch still won't screw on to it's own DINSO though, so I have packed it all up for return. They have emailed me a parcel label.

The kit is clearly very good stuff. We are just having a few stumbles. :)

[Edit: Neglected so far, but I think I should get in at least some electrode, and ceramic cup stuff. There seems so many sizes and types. Gas savers, gas lenses, clear see-thru cups (would they be quartz?). Kits with whole rows of stuff. Do they really have such a short life? Still reading about it all. ]
 
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