Floating balls to prevent coolant evaporation

[tome9999]

My machine is not running in a production environment and will often sit idle for a week or more at a time. I find myself constantly having to add water and/or coolant to the tank to replace what evaporated.

It is a large rectangular tank that is about 5-6" deep. It sits under the machine but is basically open on the top so lots of area for evaporation to take place. I am thinking of floating some ping pong (or similar) balls to cover the surface to slow evaporation. I am wondering if anyone has tried this and how it works?

I am also curious if anyone has recommendations for the ball material? I am running a synthetic coolant and would like the balls to be as oleophobic as possible so they don't hang onto any tramp oil. Not sure if ping pong balls are the right material but doing some research on that topic at the moment. McMaster sells polypropylene balls for a similar application but those definitely WILL attract oil so probably not ideal...

Thanks,
-Tom

 

[steve-l]

What's the issue with just adding water from time to time. My horizontal bandsaw is used the same way. It has a similar sized tank. I just add about 2 liters of water about every 4 months and I skim the tank once a year with paper towels. What problem?

 

[DanASM]

Those balls can and will attract bacteria. I have seen things like this used before for other applications. I never saw the intended results achieved.

Just add water when needed.

 

[Tony Quiring]

Does the drippings from machine go directly into tank or via a dri or catch pan?

Our band saw has similar, but it is closed tank with drain hose from chip tray.

Little loss to evaporation nut more to flowing off parts.

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[tome9999]

The problem is my coolant is mixed with DI water so I have to make the water with our sink filter system which takes many hours. I end up adding between 5 and 15 gallons of water which is not a small amount.

I suppose bacteria could be an issue if it ends up growing on the balls themselves. The coolant itself that we use hasn’t had a problem with bacteria at all and I dont want to cause that.

Thanks,
-Tom

 

[BT Fabrication]

simple problem, simple soloution.
1 - take that water supply and plumb in a dedicated water reverse osmosis system for top ups. might cost $800 or + depending on size.

2 - go to a local water refill station like i have around here. $3 a jug for 5 gallons. its all RO for top ups. buy 3-4 jugs at a time and top up as needed. no real need for DI water. just make sure first fill has all the minerals in it, as the coolant needs it for the proper mixing

 

[Orange Vise]

simple problem, simple soloution.
1 - take that water supply and plumb in a dedicated water reverse osmosis system for top ups. might cost $800 or + depending on size.

Do this.

And save some money with this:

Amazon.com: iSpring RCC7AK, NSF Certified 75 GPD, 6-Stage Reverse Osmosis System, pH+ Alkaline Remineralization RO Water Filter System Under Sink, Superb Taste Drinking Water Filter : Everything Else

Ditch the after-filters though.

Also get a larger pressure tank, like this:

APEC Water Systems TANK-14 14 Gallon Pre-pressurized Reverse Osmosis Water Storage Tank: Amazon.com: Tools & Home Improvement

 

[CarbideBob]

I spent a lot of money on DI and RO for coolant and part wash.
Not so much payback.
Snake oil comes to mind.
Bob

 

[Cole2534]

I spent a lot of money on DI and RO for coolant and part wash.
Not so much payback.
Snake oil comes to mind.
Bob

Interesting, so you just run tap water?

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[CarbideBob]

Interesting, so you just run tap water?

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Filtered but yup.
At one time spending over five hundred dollars a month on treatment and outside source analysis of coolants.
All the fancy charts.
Live and learn.
Bob

 

[Cole2534]

Filtered but yup.

I just changed out some 2 year old coolant that I filled and maintained via tap water only. Water quality isn't why I changed it.

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[ss_user]

Some cutting solutions work pretty well with semi-hard water. Others are more finicky. My irrigation water is pretty much snow melt especially just after the water comes on in the Spring. It is NOT potable; it has at least algaecide added. If I really wanted to be touchy about it I would use a bit of activated carbon to absorb chemical in solution. Think carbon used to absorb odors in refrigerators or CA (controlled atmosphere) storage. If it ain't broke don't break it. :-)

As far as sealing the surface with poly balls, etc you are making the tank anaerobic which aids the growth of beasties that produce volatile fatty acids. The simplistic example would be butyric acid ( rancid butter ) and it gets worse up to about C9 or C10. Some of them smell bad enough to make you throw up! The inverse of this is bubbling air thru the coolant or good circulation of the coolant.
Just my tuppence.

 

[mhajicek]

I just changed out some 2 year old coolant that I filled and maintained via tap water only. Water quality isn't why I changed it.

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Water quality varies wildly from place to place. Last place I worked, we ran tap water for the first two years, the brand new machine was covered inside with rust and mineral buildup. Nearly destroyed it. Switched to DI and the problem stopped.

I got a water distiller; I distil a gallon of water and what's left is thick, stinky, mineral scum.

 

[maf1909]

Water quality varies wildly from place to place. Last place I worked, we ran tap water for the first two years, the brand new machine was covered inside with rust and mineral buildup. Nearly destroyed it. Switched to DI and the problem stopped.

I got a water distiller; I distil a gallon of water and what's left is thick, stinky, mineral scum.

We have a culligan DI system in our paint shop for washing parts, otherwise our extremely hard water would leave spots all over the parts. We're getting a 2nd one put in the machine shop this week. Each system can make and store like 50 gallons per day, and it's less than $1,000/year.

We always ran tap water in our mill with TrimSol, but put DI water in our new lathe with the clear Synergy 735. I've been bringing 5 gallon pails of DI water from the paint shop to the lathe for the last 6 months, so it'll be nice to not have to do that anymore.

 

[scarymonkeyman]

Do this.

And save some money with this:

Amazon.com: iSpring RCC7AK, NSF Certified 75 GPD, 6-Stage Reverse Osmosis System, pH+ Alkaline Remineralization RO Water Filter System Under Sink, Superb Taste Drinking Water Filter : Everything Else

Ditch the after-filters though.

Also get a larger pressure tank, like this:

APEC Water Systems TANK-14 14 Gallon Pre-pressurized Reverse Osmosis Water Storage Tank: Amazon.com: Tools & Home Improvement

we have a setup for that and it would hold 6 gallons or so. It does take a while to fill back up so what i did was got 15-20 gallon jugs of distilled water and when the machines would not be in use i would fill those up so we now have 20-25 gallons available. when i am running all day i will use maybe 2 gallons of water to top it off.

 

[DrHook]

Our tap water has so much manganese and other stuff in it, I tried 3 different coolants trying to get them to stay mixed with the water. No luck. I had to circulate the coolant an hour before using the machine because they would separate. R.O. water was no different. Someone here on PM suggested DI water, and I have been using it for about 7 years with no problems. DI may be snake oil somewhere, but it works here. I just add more DI water when the coolant evaporates.

 

[tome9999]

Thanks for all the replies and info. You definitely talked me out of the balls idea. We decided to install our RO/DI system more permanently and put a 55 gallon water tank on a pallet rack above the sink. The RO/DI system makes it's water into that storage tank. We have a 1/2" PEX line out from the storage tank to a hose faucet so we can now fill a bucket very quickly. Will just add water as needed. Should have done this ages ago.

-Tom

 

[G00 Proto]

We used those floating balls to diminish evaporation on a heated solution of chemicals used to strip nuclear contamination off of inconell before we reprocessed it into new parts. One night the temperature got a little too high and the balls started exploding one after another (security cam footage). My guess is that facility is still a highly contaminated super fund site… oops.


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