Water Soluble Coolant: What's everyone using? Pros/Cons

aj · May 21, 2019

Like the title says, I'm curious what you guys are using for water soluble coolant. Our present company has changed formulas (and won't admit it...) and now we have a terrible foaming problem along with shorter tool life and rusting. So if you don't mind sharing, I'd love to hear what's good and what isn't. We run a high volume mix of steel, stainless, some occasional aluminum and 2 or 3 brass jobs a year.

Thanks guys.

Finegrain · May 21, 2019

Blaser BC935SW has been very good in my VMC for ~3 years now. No rust in the machine, and while I do mostly aluminum, the mild steel parts I've done have never rusted. It will start to foam up if I'm doing parts that have long periods of 16k RPM time, but a foam-ban now and then takes care of it.

Regards.

Mike

litlerob1 · May 21, 2019

aj said:
Like the title says, I'm curious what you guys are using for water soluble coolant. Our present company has changed formulas (and won't admit it...) and now we have a terrible foaming problem along with shorter tool life and rusting. So if you don't mind sharing, I'd love to hear what's good and what isn't. We run a high volume mix of steel, stainless, some occasional aluminum and 2 or 3 brass jobs a year.

Thanks guys.

This is a very generic question. Ask 100 Machinists what the best coolant is and you'll 250 answers. There are coolants for specific purposes, and materials, coolants that help certain things, and not others. The real question might be what's the best for the price? Or does it even matter? Your company changed coolant and the new stuff isn't great, but the old stuff worked fine. Isn't that enough?

R

SND · May 21, 2019

Fuchs, it instantly solved my foaming issues. Also easy on the hands and very very low smell. I've not noticed any rust yet. I never add just water to a tank, I always mix a little bit of new coolant into it, and always oil in last.
Contact them for which one is best for your application. I use 7830C, but I plan to eventually try their 711C as well to compare the 2.

aj · May 21, 2019

litlerob1 said:
This is a very generic question. Ask 100 Machinists what the best coolant is and you'll 250 answers. There are coolants for specific purposes, and materials, coolants that help certain things, and not others.

That's why I was sharing as much information as I could as far as materials and what-not. Surely we're not the only shop running multiple materials.

litlerob1 said:
Your company changed coolant and the new stuff isn't great, but the old stuff worked fine. Isn't that enough?

Our company didn't change coolants. The coolant supplier changed formulas and won't admit it. We've had him out here three times, testing, looking at layers of foam on the chip conveyors, coolant all over the floor. If they wanted to admit there's been a change and gave us the option to go back to what was working for the past several years we'd be more than happy. The only thing he's offered is a gallon of de-foamer, which, by the way isn't working.

SND · May 21, 2019

De-foamer wasn't working for me either, and it wasn't a water problem.

HuFlungDung · May 21, 2019

aj said:
That's why I was sharing as much information as I could as far as materials and what-not. Surely we're not the only shop running multiple materials.

Our company didn't change coolants. The coolant supplier changed formulas and won't admit it. We've had him out here three times, testing, looking at layers of foam on the chip conveyors, coolant all over the floor. If they wanted to admit there's been a change and gave us the option to go back to what was working for the past several years we'd be more than happy. The only thing he's offered is a gallon of de-foamer, which, by the way isn't working.

Are you using RO water or better? Otherwise, your coolant is going to get harder and harder water over time, because the minerals never leave with evaporation.

mhajicek · May 21, 2019

Using Hangstefers S787D, cutting mostly Ti6Al4V-ELI and 17-4 H900. Good tool life and surface finish, no foaming, no skin or lung irritation. I did have some rust issues, but that was likely a water problem (very hard unfiltered water). I've since installed a DI water system, we'll see how that helps.

SND · May 21, 2019

Some coolants just foam, they probably changed the emulsifier or something to do with it.
Pretty much none of them will ever admit its their coolant that is the problem, so you waste a bunch of time and $ only to find out you should have switched right away.

CG60 · May 21, 2019

Castrol Hysol MB 50 has worked really well for me the past 8-10 years. I machine aluminum, A2, 304SS and others. Foaming , smell or skin irritation has never been an issue for me. It has gone up in price a little past few years, around $175.00 for 5 gallons. Overall works well with everything I do from drilling tapping etc.

Gobo · May 21, 2019

Do your machines have a high pressure coolant system?

aj · May 21, 2019

Gobo said:
Do your machines have a high pressure coolant system?

Only two of them do. I don't use it that often.

litlerob1 · May 21, 2019

aj said:
That's why I was sharing as much information as I could as far as materials and what-not. Surely we're not the only shop running multiple materials.

Our company didn't change coolants. The coolant supplier changed formulas and won't admit it. We've had him out here three times, testing, looking at layers of foam on the chip conveyors, coolant all over the floor. If they wanted to admit there's been a change and gave us the option to go back to what was working for the past several years we'd be more than happy. The only thing he's offered is a gallon of de-foamer, which, by the way isn't working.

Fair enough. I've had good results with Hangsterfers and Blazer and Trim-products.

The only one I refuse is Hocut, but that's just an individual skin allergy.

R

G00 Proto · May 21, 2019

I use Fuchs EcoTool… mostly because I like saying Fuchs on the phone and not getting it trouble. Same reason I use Jokisch for tapping fluid. That being said, they are also the two best machining fluids I have used (added bonus).

EndlessWaltz · May 21, 2019

I am using the Oemeta brand with their waylube. Instead of that oil slick on top or those brown oil patches , the oil clumps up for easy skimming. Mine sticks the the side of tank, so if level gets way down I just reach inside and wipe off the side. Anyways, so far so good. I do not have high pressure so can't comment on foaming. I also believe this stuff is biodegradable?

Gobo · May 21, 2019

EndlessWaltz said:
I am using the Oemeta brand with their waylube. Instead of that oil slick on top or those brown oil patches , the oil clumps up for easy skimming. Mine sticks the the side of tank, so if level gets way down I just reach inside and wipe off the side. Anyways, so far so good. I do not have high pressure so can't comment on foaming. I also believe this stuff is biodegradable?

We used Oemeta for a while. In almost all respects, it was the best coolant I have ever used. Except for the rust issue. We maintained this coolant religiously, but it still rusted our equipment. We worked closely with Oemeta on this, and the problem was not solved. We now use Fuchs.

aj · May 21, 2019

I googled 'Blaser coolant'. I now know all I need to know about the coolant system of a Chevy truck with a very similar name...

litlerob1 · May 21, 2019

Try Blazer (with an S) Swisslube.

EndlessWaltz · May 23, 2019

Gobo said:
We used Oemeta for a while. In almost all respects, it was the best coolant I have ever used. Except for the rust issue. We maintained this coolant religiously, but it still rusted our equipment. We worked closely with Oemeta on this, and the problem was not solved. We now use Fuchs.

I had rusting when I first did the coolant. I was so lean that the refractometer was all blue(colored) some make the mistake that it is over rich. I also have seen when doing a full coolant change that residue may make things weird. I let the tank settle for a few weeks and then kept adding more concentrate and now all good. I keep it at 6-7.

Wsurfer · May 24, 2019

I've only had my machine since Jan. Been using Trim 685 mostly on aluminum. Been good so far. No rust or slime. Smells odd though. Not bad, just odd.

Water Soluble Coolant: What's everyone using? Pros/Cons

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