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Adding Through Spindle Coolant on a Fadal??

mmurray70

Stainless
Joined
Jan 11, 2003
Hi, Wondering whats involved with adding through spindle coolant on a Fadal 4020. Wheres the best place to buy the parts?

I've heard there can be issues with through coolant leaking into spindle bearings. Can anybody provide more details on how this happens and how big a deal it is? I checked into TSC years ago and gave up on it after learning it can cause bearing problems. Ironically last week I damaged my spindle bearings from not having TSC. Was pecking drilling a deep 21mm hole in steel and occasionally chips would fall back in the hole caused the drill to crash into them when it reached the bottom. Hit hard once and now I have a whining spindle. :(
 
Hi, Wondering whats involved with adding through spindle coolant on a Fadal 4020. Wheres the best place to buy the parts?

I've heard there can be issues with through coolant leaking into spindle bearings. Can anybody provide more details on how this happens and how big a deal it is? I checked into TSC years ago and gave up on it after learning it can cause bearing problems. Ironically last week I damaged my spindle bearings from not having TSC. Was pecking drilling a deep 21mm hole in steel and occasionally chips would fall back in the hole caused the drill to crash into them when it reached the bottom. Hit hard once and now I have a whining spindle. :(

I was told by a fadal tech it would cost about 7k-10k with pumps tanks(good stuff) etc etc. I dont know if this is true or not just what I was told last year bye the tech.

now keep in mind your going to have to put New parts in the fadal as well. Like drawbar even though they all have coolant holes but the faces and grooves need to be perfect otherwise you will get leaks. and you'll have to buy other seals and some misc parts.

One I had back in 97(was a 96) had TCS we never had a problem with it leaking, but we bought the machine 6 months old also. we did have it to 2001. it was nice but damn messy with mist,friends had them on older machines and they hated them because of blown spindles and leaks

would like to hear more from guys who converted them recently as well. I been thinking about it when I change my spindle here in the near future.
 
Anybody here using the lightning cool system? Does it work well?

I requested a quote but no response yet.
 
I installed the lightning cool on my '95 4020HT. It originally came withe TSC, so I had the pump, filter, and line up to the head, but the coupler was removed. (read the factory setup was just destined to be a high maint item - so i suspect the previous owner just pulled it and went on their way).

Install wasnt bad, the kit I got uses linear bearings on a couple guide shafts that replaces the top of the draw bar cylinder housing. Uses a more normal type of rotary union (the brand name escapes me at the moment - but was like 500 for a replacement when I last looked at getting one for a spare). The pic shows it on the lightning cool page. It relocated the belt shift valve doo-hickey since they changed out the top of the draw bar cylinder, it got mounted to a plate that actually bolts up to the bottom of the head casting (where you have a tin cover panel now - its the red anodized plate in the pic on their site) and also includes a drip line that is supposed to give you a heads up that the rotary union is leaking. I put it on at the end of 2013 and have loved it since - use it more than flood. But I also dont log the hours on the mill like I do on the lathes... So Id say though I use the TSC 80% of the time, I dont run the mill a ton on a weekly basis - so I might not be the best judge of longevity.

In 2013 dollars, I think I paid something like 3800 for the whole kit, and installed pretty easy.

I suspect with some looking you can come up with a workable pump (and filter) arrangement so you can save a little coin. Be it a vane pump like Fadal used, or coming up with something like a Walrus pump in the pressure range you want. Im only running 150-200PSI as that does about all that I need and the mist isnt very bad at all at that pressure. My factory line was only rated to 250PSI so if I ever wanted to get up beyond that in pressure Id have to run a new hose.

I dont regret spending the money on it one bit, but have a few things I do where I have to run coolant through drills - so was kind of a necessity - all the added time I run it is just icing on the cake :D

[edit] I have a new to me VMC15 that would be in need of everything to make it work (draw bar, pump, hose, and all), but as much as I like on on the 4020, it is quite tempting to get a kit for the little 15 too.

Wade
 
I installed the lightning cool on my '95 4020HT. It originally came withe TSC, so I had the pump, filter, and line up to the head, but the coupler was removed. (read the factory setup was just destined to be a high maint item - so i suspect the previous owner just pulled it and went on their way).

Install wasnt bad, the kit I got uses linear bearings on a couple guide shafts that replaces the top of the draw bar cylinder housing. Uses a more normal type of rotary union (the brand name escapes me at the moment - but was like 500 for a replacement when I last looked at getting one for a spare). The pic shows it on the lightning cool page. It relocated the belt shift valve doo-hickey since they changed out the top of the draw bar cylinder, it got mounted to a plate that actually bolts up to the bottom of the head casting (where you have a tin cover panel now - its the red anodized plate in the pic on their site) and also includes a drip line that is supposed to give you a heads up that the rotary union is leaking. I put it on at the end of 2013 and have loved it since - use it more than flood. But I also dont log the hours on the mill like I do on the lathes... So Id say though I use the TSC 80% of the time, I dont run the mill a ton on a weekly basis - so I might not be the best judge of longevity.

In 2013 dollars, I think I paid something like 3800 for the whole kit, and installed pretty easy.

I suspect with some looking you can come up with a workable pump (and filter) arrangement so you can save a little coin. Be it a vane pump like Fadal used, or coming up with something like a Walrus pump in the pressure range you want. Im only running 150-200PSI as that does about all that I need and the mist isnt very bad at all at that pressure. My factory line was only rated to 250PSI so if I ever wanted to get up beyond that in pressure Id have to run a new hose.

I dont regret spending the money on it one bit, but have a few things I do where I have to run coolant through drills - so was kind of a necessity - all the added time I run it is just icing on the cake :D

[edit] I have a new to me VMC15 that would be in need of everything to make it work (draw bar, pump, hose, and all), but as much as I like on on the 4020, it is quite tempting to get a kit for the little 15 too.

Wade

Thanks, good to know
do you know if the kit had all the parts (aside from pumps and stuff) or did you stell need to buy factory seals and some other parts?
 
Maybe so, I dont know. I remember a few years ago, that the company had changed hands from the originator, but were still going. Maybe they just quit dealing with FadalCNC or having distributors and went to a direct sales approach? Hopefully the didnt shut down all together.
 
I was talking to Craig from lightning cool this morning. He didnt say anything about being out of business. Price on a bolt on kit without pump is $3450. It does sound like a nice setup. He said this was factory equipment the last year before Fadal went under. They sold a bunch and havent had many issues. Waiting for him to send some more pictures and info on it now.
 
I know this thread is a year old, but I wanted to add that over the last 6 months I have been trying to get a hold of Lightning Cool about their kit and other than one time (getting a guy on the phone while he was at what sounded like a mall) I never heard back. Multiple emails were sent and multiple calls were made, nothing ever returned. I have since moved on. If I can't get a returned call to purchase a system, I can only imagine what it would take to get a returned call on a support issue.
 
I bought their kit in August. There was a little delay it getting it shipped but everything showed up ok. Havent got around to installing it yet but looks to be decent quality. I will post pictures and results whenever I finally get around to installing it.

I was able to reach him at the number listed on their website. I spoke with Craig Hannus. Seemed to know his stuff, and was helpful as well. Even explained options of running other pumps instead of buying theirs. He wrote me back from this email: [email protected] Try him there or keep calling. I dont think this is a real big seller for them anymore so their probably moved onto other things. Also, Ontario seems to be hit pretty hard with covid lately too. Could be issues with that.
 
Hello, I just wanted to clarify that Lightning Cool is not out of business. We are now based out of Ontario, Canada. We have even created an online store that accepts Paypal payments to serve you better. https://lightningcool.com/

If you have any questions about Lightning Cool, you can direct them to [email protected].

I will be checking this account routinely as well.

Regards,


Jared @ Lightning Cool
 








 
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