Tramp oil

Does anyone have problems with tramp oil in the coolant system? My coolant is only lasting about two months, it gets bubbley like cappuccino and I can't see thought the window. I installed a skimmer on the tank and started using a waylube thats supposed to work with the coolant but since doing that its gotten even worse. I'm guessing their must be a seal or gasket thats leaking.

Use your skimmer in the morning before you run any parts. That gives the tramp oil time to float to the surface.

matt_d77 said:

Does anyone have problems with tramp oil in the coolant system?

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Me? No, Never, its a myth, like PMS and the tooth fairy.

My coolant is only lasting about two months, it gets bubbley like cappuccino

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so... what coolant and waylube are you using. What maintenance procedures are you using?

2 months is sad and sorry, a quality coolant even half ass maintained should last you until you damn near die.

Froth on the other hand, do you pee in it? An analysis of your water by your coolant manufacturer should give you a good coolant that should give you few problems.

Then again if you can buy a case of toilet paper and a drum of floor wax from your coolant supplier, all bets are off.

Presumably it is a Haas machine; have you checked that the separator device that is supposed to dump waste oil in a little plastic bottle is working correctly? This can greatly reduce the amount of tramp oil that gets into the coolant.

Steve, I've been running my skimmer over night at least once a week to try to keep on top of this but it seems like the oil is mixed right in with my coolant, it seems like TSC almost beats the oil right into the coolant like an egg beater. My skimmer has a diverter so its supposed to separate the tramp oil/swarf from the good coolant.

Hdpg, yes it is a Haas machine. I am getting a good amount of run off oil in the plastic jug in the back of the machine. I would say pretty close to the amount being output by the oiler. the bubble level is centered, is there anything other than level I should be concerned with?

BobW, Thank you for assuming that I'm a total moron. I use Monroe AstroCut HP and Monroe way Lube. I check it with a refractometer until the tramp oil(or whatever the issue is) makes the reading line just a big blur but then its pointless. I am not using a synthetic coolant and yes there is a sump life of about 6months on a semi synthetic coolant (according to the Monroe salesman). I only pee in it when I really have to go bad. And I buy my toilet paper from a different tool supplier.

Thanks for the input guys before I talk to the Monroe rep I just wanted to see if tramp oil was a common problem with Haas machines.

matt_d77 said:

...... it seems like TSC almost beats the oil right into the coolant like an egg beater.....

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That is an interesting point. I have several Haas machines and they are not particularly bad for tramp oil. The ones that run production on leaded and 1018 do pick up a lot of oil and we recently fitted these with coalescing filters which work like a charm. Even before the filters, however, we were getting a years life on the coolant in the machines, but none have TSC.

Does the oil separate and float to the surface over the weekend? It has to separate easily for a skimmer to work, even with a coalescing filter it has to be able to separate.

Have you considered changing coolant, we use Shell Dromus, really old fashioned, not expensive, works fine on aluminum, leaded or mild steel, washes off easily using hot water and we have never had any allergy issues with it.

I cut about 90% tool steel and 10% aluminum. I have been thinking of switching coolant but before I went through the trouble of flushing everything out and scrubbing everything down I wanted to find out if other Haas machines had a lot of tramp oil problems. I have to be carefully on coolant choices because they have to be very low foam due to TCS. I've tried a couple of different coolants already including Liquid ice and Perkool, but the Liquid ice was really tacky after drying leaving chips almost welded to the machine and vise. The Perkool, even though its supposed to be low foam , would fill the bottom of my machine with a layer of froth when I would run TSC for an extended amount of time. I switched to the Monroe Astro-cut HP on a recommendation from a local tool shop using it.

An often overlooked area for coolant issues is the quality of your water. Excessive hard water will drastically shorten coolant life due to the heavy mineral content affecting emulsification and also what your city does to treat the water i.e. heavy chlorine amounts.

If you have a quality coolant distributor he should be able to look at all variables affecting your coolant life. If he does not have any good solutions find another one who does. Also look into better and more frequent skimming methods since you will never be able to stop the oil from mixing completely.

Good luck.

I also used Monroe Astro Cut, it foamed so bad that I could not even pump it. It was a very think foam not like a bubbly foam.

I switched back to Microsol Trim 685 from Master Chemical. I have tried a monroe, valcool etc... It has always been at the request of a salesman. but have always went back to Trim 685.

On a side not I fill with our town water system which has a high level of chlorine. Perhaps Monroe is not as chlorine tolerant.

Tramp Oil - You can't live with it....

Hi all, I'm pretty much a newbie at running my Haas, but I really hated the tramp oil mixed in to my coolant - seemed excessive to me. Broke down and spent some money (big deal if you know me!) and got the Keller air pump separator /filter setup, and it works nice. Now you can't tell if there is any tramp oil in the machine by looking at the coolant. No afilliation, really happy with product, wish it wasn't so danged expensive. My 2 cents...Oh, on edit, using Hangsterfers S500 and their way lube, and RO water.

I've been using the astrocut for about a year and the previous time it held up better and I didn't get any of the foaming. The Monroe rep is coming out this morning to get some samples, hopefully she figures something out. I run my skimmer constantly when my machine is on, I'm using a Zebra sidewinder skimmer because I didn't have to chop up my sump cover and the limited space under our machine(also the TSC filter is right in the way for getting the tank in and out with anything too big sticking out of the tank). I've never heard of the Keller air pump separator, maybe I'll look into it. As you all know changing coolant out is not only a pain in the a$$ its an expensive down time. Thanks for the input guys.

The coalescing filters I bought that I mention above were the Keller type and I can say they work fine. Actually the first one I bought was through a post here on Practical Machinist and I tested this in my prototype shop on a Haas SuperMiniMill with coolant that was eighteen months old. Leaving the filter running 24 hours a day for about two weeks completely rejuvenated the coolant, removed all the smell and separated about a gallon of tramp oil. Then over our Christmas shut down at the main shop we collected all the coolant from the machines into a 300 gallon tank and filtered that for twelve days removing about 30 gallons of oil. That coolant then went back into the machines and is still being used. After these trials I bought fifteen of them.

Do you have a link to where you bought them or a suggestion as to what type I should be looking at?

matt_d77 said:

Do you have a link to where you bought them or a suggestion as to what type I should be looking at?

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Here you are: keller products oil skimmers & filters keep coolant and cutting oil clean

I bought the cart mounted one for my trials and then bought the largest single machine units for all the machines.