Coolant bugs?

[xyzzy]

Greetings -

I've been using Cimcool 320Z without problems for a few years in my VMC. I run an aerator as well as remove tramp oil reasonably (I thought) frequently. Just looked in the bottom of the sump though with a flashlight and saw all sort of what look like white colonies the size of quarters. Fished one out, some sort of soft goo (not swarf.) The coolant doesnt smell, nor any obvious problems. On the other hand, this can't be good. Any suggestions to cure this without the pain of a full coolant changeover? (Here is hoping anyways!)

Thanks - Jon

 

[lowdowncoyote]

Jon,

Not sure what you have growing. I have always joked that there are at least three new species growing in the sump. Does your sample die and change color if you expose it to UV light? Is it a reaction by product, i.e. a precipitate of some kind, or an actual biological colony? Are you cutting steel? I have heard of some iron eating bacteria that thrives in some coolants? I am fighting a battle with Hangsterferters S-500CF which seems to settle out of solution and carmelize on the surface of the liquid. My skimmers won't pick up the carmel 'flakes' that develop.

 

[phiberden]

There are some " bacteria killers" for coolant, check with your suplier for the right one for your coolant.
We used to use that before filling up the coolant reservoir, and added a little every 2 or 3 months. No odor or things growing up in the tank so far....

We used DASCOOL coolant, and the bacterycide was called, "DASCOCIDE"

 

[Mike_]

Jon,

Not sure what you have growing. I have always joked that there are at least three new species growing in the sump. Does your sample die and change color if you expose it to UV light? Is it a reaction by product, i.e. a precipitate of some kind, or an actual biological colony? Are you cutting steel? I have heard of some iron eating bacteria that thrives in some coolants? I am fighting a battle with Hangsterferters S-500CF which seems to settle out of solution and carmelize on the surface of the liquid. My skimmers won't pick up the carmel 'flakes' that develop.

We had that problem with Hangstefers too, seems like there was more coolant stuck to everything in thick goopy layers than in the tank. Now we fill a 5 gallon bucket with about a gallon of mixed coolant and fill the rest with water and add that to the sump when it gets low. It seems to mix together in the bucket, but just adding water to the sump doesn't mix right. We fill a machine (from empty) with mixed coolant in the right ratio, but adding it back at the same ratio to cover any losses gets the stuff way too thick too fast, so we thin it out a bit.

Nasty stuff, I hate hangstefers. Leave a part with a little coolant on it and come back the next day and it's "sticktioned" to the vice and takes a good scrubbing to get clean...

Don't use bleach to try and kill stuff, if you think it's an organism or anything. It seems to work for a day but it ruins the coolant.

 

[LLNL Optics]

This works

For years I (and everyone passing through the shop) suffered from our Blanchard's "rotten egg" odor. The shop has two Blanchard’s, used to grind glass. The Blanchard’s utilize water soluble coolants--in the old days, Rustlick, currently Trim®. Filtering didn't help, biocides were temporary fixes and presented their own problems.

A few years ago we tried air bubblers--aquarium aerators plumbed to a small air pump. The idea obviously is to kill the anaerobic bacteria (nasty) with oxygen. For a while the odor was reduced, but within a few weeks it was as bad as ever. But this got me thinking; if a little air worked for a little while, maybe a lot of air would work for a lot longer.

Following this "Tim the Tool-man" logic, I tossed the feeble little air pumps and hooked the bubblers directly to the house air supply--at 60 psi. With the added volume of air and increased air pressure the coolant had the appearance of a pot at low boil.

That was a year ago and not only are the two Blanchard’s odor free, but I've dropped bubblers into the wet-belt sander's tank as well.

Cheers