Thread: Strange happening with my coolant

I am running Trim-sol, from masterchemical. It's a good stable coolant, and never gets that bacteria that gives it that "rotten egg smell". But, something weird happens when I turn it on, usually for the first time for the day.

Coolant comes on and for the first second or two, coolant comes out that is very strong blue in color, almost the same as before mixing water.

Then the next second or two, I get almost a white milk colored coolant coming through the lines.

After that, it then turns a soft blue, like it should. It almost seems as if the coolant is kinda seperating over night, and then getting mixed back together during use.

I use a refractometer when mixing, so I know the mix is correct. Could a bacteria be causing this?

Would a skimmer help? It seems to me if the coolant is seperating over night, then running a skimmer could skim off the coolant, and leave me with a very thin mixture. The coolant still seems to do its job well, and I'm not experiencing any rust. Any ideas?

I should mention that most material cut in this machine is 1018 and 6061 aluminum. Very little of anything else.

Try catching that initial burst in a bucket and setting it aside to see if it grows a skin, or anything.

Did you use soft water, not softened, but Reverse Osmosis, distilled, or rain water?

The skimmer is to take off the tramp oil floating on top of your coolant. It usually becomes milky when mixing with the coolant. Skimming will actually help keep the coolant from seperating. That old way lube, etc doesn't help the life of the coolant.

Sorry for the late replies on this, I was supposed to get an email notification when you replied, but never got it.

Huflung,
No, I only used regular tap water, which could be kinda hard.

small shop,

I'm sure I have some tramp oil on the coolant that could be skimmed. I did buy a skimmer, but haven't installed it yet. Is it possible for the coolant to be too far gone for a skimmer to help? In other words, do I need to do a complete cleaning of the coolant tank at this point?

I would say if you are still in the "Blueish" operating range then your coolant is still OK. I have found that when it heads south of cheese that it turns brown or green and is time for real action.
Do you have any oil or growth on the surface of your coolant in the tank?

As a side note. We just purchased a couple of Sump Side Coalescers here at work. While they do not look like much they seem to work great. These do a very good job of removing tramp oil. I was ready to change one of our sumps it was so nasty looking. But after a couple of days with one of these units the coolant looks like new.


ARB

Yeah, if the coolant keeps seperating it could be past the point of no return. a fish tank bubbler with a cheap timer will also help. The thing that really kills coolant and makes it stink is anerobic bacteria. This stuff hates oxygen so the more you can oxygenate your coolant the healthier it remains. When you're in between setups run your coolant line full blast and this will mix and oxygenate the coolant. Another reason the tramp oil is bad is that it starves the coolant for oxygen. It creates a blanket that keeps it from breathing.

Simple solution guys is to get an Ultraviolet light
and have it shine in the tank. try to get the flow to bubble like a water fall so you expose all those little germs, but don't splash the bulb or it will explode.
Are you ready ?..my coolant is over 4 years old.
I just add new and/or water to replace evapoation/losses.
it don't stink and I do not have rashes..
You still have to skim off the way oils etc.

Believe it or not, my coolant is over 1 year old, and it still don't stink. I just started to notice the seperation recently. I don't have a skimmer on the machine either. I'm going to get one and then I think it will last pretty long.

I've had some computer problems so I didn't get a chance to say thanks to all who replied, until now. Still open to new ideas.

I don't know nothing about this here, but if you want to oxigenate your coolent couldn't you just pour a capful of Peroxide H2O2 into it? Works great as a perserivite for things you ain't gonna eat and might be easier and cheaper than a bubbler.

B

talk to your coolant man...(the number on the barrell not the local drill bit salesman he might not know)
it may be the way you are mixing it.
if you put some in a bucket and then fill the bucket up with a hose or something...there is something in the freekin physics that goes wrong....with some coolants...Blasocut for one
...try filling your bucket with water and then "stir" in the coolant.
if your using an in line mixer I got no clue. sounds like a bad emulsion to me.
.
i bet if you put your hand down in the bottom of the chip box you got some stuff that looks about like snot the same color as your coolant,,thats some of the consentrate material falling out of suspention,,but not all.

Better find an apprentice to feel for the "Snot" in the bottom of the sump.

ARB

Yuck!! You had to put that picture in my mind, didn't you!! [img]tongue.gif[/img] Now that's all I'll think of when the day comes that I clean that out. Maybe the machine will die before the coolant gets too bad?

Dave
What type of way lube system is on your machine? Is it a oiler or a greaser? If you have a greaser then you most likely don't have tramp oil issues.
I would agree that you have emulsion issues.

ARB

It's an oiler. So, emulsion issues can be avoided with a skimmer? Or do I need the ultravilote light too?

Did you mix the trim sol according to their instructions? They say that if you just mix it straight without the small starter quantity mixed up first then added to the larger water quantity that it can separate. We mix it the way they say, and our coolant is over 5 years old, with just make up collant added as it is lost.

I'm not sure what you mean by the small start up quantity, but here's what I'm doing.

First I fill a five gallon pail with water. Then I add the correct coolant mixture and stir with a stick. Then I pour it in the coolant tank.

apprentice Hell!...
.
it takes a master machine repairman to reach in there, grab that snot, pull it out and take a lick to see if the PH is right. "no chip girls need apply"
just kiddin'.........
my favorite is "swarf"....the fluffy grey stuff that builds up in the bottom of a grinder tank..had my nephew working for me years back..he was cleanin' out a grinder tank...pokin' around with a shovel for about an hour trying to get all the settling chambers....i walk by and he say's "is this clean enough" well there's all kinds of swarf left in the chamber that the pump is mounted in and no way to get in there with a shovel...i say " what about all that"...he say's "there's no way to get that out of there." It's summer and i'm wearin' a pure white t-shirt right out of the package. white like snow......i reach in to the little hole grab a handfull and throw it down on the floor...SPLAT !! ...swarf everywhere, all over me, him, our faces my white shirt and everthing within 10 feet....
..I say "if you wanta be a machine repairman you better get used to a little dirt boy"....long story short...he paints houses in washington state now ......
..
...I love the smell of sulfides in the morning...smells like victory!!

.
call the 800 number on the barrell

Do you folks use distilled water for the coolant mixture?
I have read that deionzed water is the optimum choice.
How is Trim-sol treating your paint?
There are some interesting articles on the Masterchemical site,in case anyone is intrested:
http://www.masterchemical.com/8/8b-frames.html
This one on bacterial control: http://www.masterchemical.com/db-doc...s/bacteria.pdf

Rusty,

It's interesting that you ask about the paint. Our Okumas where I used to work, started peeling real bad from the coolant. From what I'm told, the paint being cheap is part of the problem. I don't have that on my Fadal, or my Haas. It depends on how porous the paint is I guess.