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Coolant Mixing Setup with RO Water

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Mar 6, 2010
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CA
I am using RO Water and looking to setup a Cooling Mixing setup, wondering what you guys are using. Looking for something a little better than a 5 gallon bucket and a drill, getting tired of that.

I bought one of these, and hooked it straight up to the RO tank, but the Coolant % was very low, I am guessing because the RO tank doesn't have enough pressure.
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I am thinking of getting a 15-30 gallon tank, that can be filled with RO Water, then have a pump that will feed the water into the mixer.

When I need coolant, I simply turn the pump on and open the valve on the mixer.

Anyone have anything similar or a better idea ?
 
Those venturi mixers work off tap water pressure, roughly 45 psi, although you can get away with less. The graduations are more of a suggestion anyway, since venturi flowrate is affected by inlet pressure.

The easiest, quick-and-dirty solution would be to use some sort of trash can with a sump pump.

A more elegant solution would be an IBC tote with an air powered transfer pump.
 
Dosatron makes a very high quality piston type proportioner. It also allows you to easily adjust your mix. In addition, you can put as long of a discharge hose on it and not have it affect your mix. Venturi style are sensitive to back pressure, and the length of the discharge hose will affect the mix. A Dosatron will last forever, but they are expensive. In addition, they are not affected by inlet pressure.
 
I'm having the exact same problem with my RO system. I don't mind that the output is really slow, but the venturi mixer is basically worthless without enough flow.

Are you guys actually using the Dosatrons with really low flow? Any recommendation on a model?
 
After everyone suggesting the Dosatron I started doing some research.
Per this: https://www.dosatronusa.com//upload/industries/Metal Processing/support documents/MP Brochure.pdf
it looks like the D14MZ10 would be the best option.

They really do appear to be the right answer for low flow, the one I am looking at says it works from 7-85 psi. Based on what I have read so far, since they are actually metering pumps and not venturis so the low flow rate should not be a problem.


They are pricey, so I did a quick search on ebay/craigslist/offer up. Good thing is they appear to get used by guys that try to grow "herbs" in an extra room of their house. When business goes south, they tend to get desperate for money. Local guy has one for sale and he has agreed to sell it for $100, its the lower mix percent but for $100 I have come up with a solution to make it work for the cost of a few pluming fittings. I'll report back.
 
I think you're going about this then wrong way.

Here we have a large tank for RO water storage and suck from the bottom into a pump that pushes the water to a large bladder tank. From there it goes out to "in our case, the machine because every machine has the Haas auto coolant option"

That solves your water pressure issues and can be done for cheap.
 
I'm making my own mixer. My RO system is super low pressure. I doubt it would drive a Dosatron. For me, I'm going to stage water and coolant in two containers, pressurize both with air and mix with needle valves. The containers are sized accordingly so I'll know the ratio with certainty. I plan to do a 5 gallon at a time into a bucket then eventually direct line into the tank. My RO system is a 4 gallon (which means 2.5) so a full coolant change will take some time. I'll have to stage it in a 55 gallon drum. I'll post pics in a couple weeks assuming it works.
 
I think you're going about this then wrong way.

Here we have a large tank for RO water storage and suck from the bottom into a pump that pushes the water to a large bladder tank. From there it goes out to "in our case, the machine because every machine has the Haas auto coolant option"

That solves your water pressure issues and can be done for cheap.

You haven't paid for one of those bladder tanks lately, have you?
 
Here's my mixing setup. Basic idea is the RO filter (cheapo) fills the big tube. I pour in coolant into small tube. Pressurize both and set needle valves for them to go down at about the same rate. The tube size differences give my about a 10% mix by volume. I will make marks if I need different concentrations. Seems to work well. I made this so I could try the clear Blaser 735 which needs RO water. This makes about a 5 gallon at a time. I made the AL parts, everything else is from McMaster.

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Controls are water in from RO, exhaust to let air leave and in case RO is left on it will overflow into a drain. To run, shut those, open pressure in and mix out. Goes into bucket.

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FYI, I setup a Dosatron D14MZ10 on my extremely low flow RO system, and it is working perfectly. I've made a few hundred gallons of coolant without issue. The piston fires once every 30 or 45 seconds. It's very easy to adjust, can easily accommodate a drum or a pail of coolant, and appears to get the concentration exactly correct.

From my experience, I'm not seeing any reason to mess around with staging in drums, etc. Just hooked up the Dosatron and got to work.
 








 
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