OK, I'm quite sure some knowledgeable people are going to chime in and tell me why this is such a bad idea. Pretty much the norm on forums, for people to throw rocks. I don't care. I'm just going to tell a true story. Everyone is free to take it or leave it.
One of my machines was recently shut down for about four days, due to a bad way lube pump. That's how long it took me to get the parts in and fix it and get it back into service.
So I fired it up Wednesday morning and put it back to work and left the shop. I came back about an hour later and the entire shop STUNK TO HIGH HEAVEN. Apparently that shutdown was enough to cause a whole bunch of bacteria poop in my coolant. It was really bad. I opened the overhead doors on the shop to air it out, thankfully it's summer. I could smell it all day, even standing 100 feet from the shop.
I was a bit pissed, because the coolant (Hocut 795-B) was only about 9 months old, and in more than a decade of using the stuff I had never got less than a year out of it. And now I was going to have to stop production and spend a day cleaning the machine and the sump and replacing the coolant, costing me both time and money.
I really didn't want to do it. I was already behind because of the machine being down for four days. I had work backed up.
I full well know the ills of putting bleach into the coolant. Been there, done that, won't do it again. It caused rust, and it was a very temporary solution anyway. Dicked around with it for a week or so and ended up changing the coolant anyway. Waste of time, at least for me.
But I got to thinking. What about Hydrogen Peroxide? I mean, it kills bacteria. It's not some nasty chemical, hell, it's nearly water. And it's readily available and dirt cheap. What the hell have I got to lose?
I dumped a quart in (my sump is 60 gallons). Costed me a whopping 88 cents at Walmart for the standard 3% stuff you use to clean cuts or gargle with. That was Wednesday afternoon.
Within 24 hours, the smell had gone down dramatically. Still there, but not nearly as bad, and I was able to close the doors.
Thinking that maybe the reduced smell was natural from using the machine and aerating the coolant in the process, I left it like that. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I ran the machine 12+ hours each day. The smell level stayed pretty constant, not better or worse.
Finally, late Saturday, I dumped another quart in. Now I'm up to $1.76 invested. Ran the machine a few hours, and I've got about 6 hours on it this morning. I just went to turn it around, and the smell is basically gone at this point.
No harmful effects observed. Not a bit of rust anywhere. Hydrogen peroxide is essentially water with 2 oxygen molecules instead of one. I was a bit concerned that the extra oxygen could cause rust, but I haven't seen it.
I'm still going to change the coolant and clean the machine - upgrading to Trim 690XT in the process - but this at least seems to have bought me some time. I can get caught up on my work while I bring in the new coolant.
I'm NOT promoting this or telling anyone else they should try it. Only relating my experience. You're free to ignore me or try it yourself. I take no responsibility if it damages your machine. But I can't imagine it. I mean, it's damn near water.
OK know-it-alls, throw the rocks and rotten tomatoes. I can take it.
One of my machines was recently shut down for about four days, due to a bad way lube pump. That's how long it took me to get the parts in and fix it and get it back into service.
So I fired it up Wednesday morning and put it back to work and left the shop. I came back about an hour later and the entire shop STUNK TO HIGH HEAVEN. Apparently that shutdown was enough to cause a whole bunch of bacteria poop in my coolant. It was really bad. I opened the overhead doors on the shop to air it out, thankfully it's summer. I could smell it all day, even standing 100 feet from the shop.
I was a bit pissed, because the coolant (Hocut 795-B) was only about 9 months old, and in more than a decade of using the stuff I had never got less than a year out of it. And now I was going to have to stop production and spend a day cleaning the machine and the sump and replacing the coolant, costing me both time and money.
I really didn't want to do it. I was already behind because of the machine being down for four days. I had work backed up.
I full well know the ills of putting bleach into the coolant. Been there, done that, won't do it again. It caused rust, and it was a very temporary solution anyway. Dicked around with it for a week or so and ended up changing the coolant anyway. Waste of time, at least for me.
But I got to thinking. What about Hydrogen Peroxide? I mean, it kills bacteria. It's not some nasty chemical, hell, it's nearly water. And it's readily available and dirt cheap. What the hell have I got to lose?
I dumped a quart in (my sump is 60 gallons). Costed me a whopping 88 cents at Walmart for the standard 3% stuff you use to clean cuts or gargle with. That was Wednesday afternoon.
Within 24 hours, the smell had gone down dramatically. Still there, but not nearly as bad, and I was able to close the doors.
Thinking that maybe the reduced smell was natural from using the machine and aerating the coolant in the process, I left it like that. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I ran the machine 12+ hours each day. The smell level stayed pretty constant, not better or worse.
Finally, late Saturday, I dumped another quart in. Now I'm up to $1.76 invested. Ran the machine a few hours, and I've got about 6 hours on it this morning. I just went to turn it around, and the smell is basically gone at this point.
No harmful effects observed. Not a bit of rust anywhere. Hydrogen peroxide is essentially water with 2 oxygen molecules instead of one. I was a bit concerned that the extra oxygen could cause rust, but I haven't seen it.
I'm still going to change the coolant and clean the machine - upgrading to Trim 690XT in the process - but this at least seems to have bought me some time. I can get caught up on my work while I bring in the new coolant.
I'm NOT promoting this or telling anyone else they should try it. Only relating my experience. You're free to ignore me or try it yourself. I take no responsibility if it damages your machine. But I can't imagine it. I mean, it's damn near water.
OK know-it-alls, throw the rocks and rotten tomatoes. I can take it.
