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Appreciation post: Switching from water-cooled to air-cooled cupolas was a game changer
I ran a water-cooled cupola for like 12 years at the old shop in Akron. Always had to watch the jacket temperature like a hawk, and if the pump failed during a pour you were in for a bad time. Then around 2 years ago I switched to an air-cooled setup at the new place. No more worrying about scale buildup or freezing in winter. My melt rate actually went up by about 15% too. Anyone else made that switch and noticed a difference in consistency?
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masonm705mo ago
Different strokes I guess, but I don't buy the air-cooled hype. Ran water-cooled for a long time myself and the ability to dial in that shell temp on a hot day is a real advantage, especially with thinner castings. Bleach in the loop sounds nuts to me too, never had algae problems up here with a closed loop and some anti-freeze mix. Air-cooled units run hotter and more erratic in my experience (plus the fan noise drives me nuts), so I'm sticking with water.
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claire_ramirez5mo ago
...and that's funny because I had the opposite problem with my water-cooled setup down here in Texas. I mean, we don't worry about freezing, but the heat and humidity made the water jacket a breeding ground for algae. I spent more time flushing that thing out than actually pouring iron. My old mentor swore by adding a little bleach to the system but that always felt sketchy to me. Air-cooled definitely takes one more variable off the table, though I will say I miss being able to tweak the water flow to fine tune the shell temperature on a hot afternoon. Your mileage may vary of course.
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thomas_martinez5mo ago
...wait, hold on - BLEACH? Like, actual laundry bleach in your water cooling loop? That sounds insane, dude. I mean, I get the algae problem (Texas humidity is no joke) but pouring that stuff in feels like asking for a chemical disaster, lol.
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