Anyone experience skin irritation with Hangsterfers coolant?

A couple of us at work have gotten some bad skin reactions to this coolant. My problems started when using one of my hands to grab wet parts on a production job after the machine op was done. I've had mixed emotions about this coolant since starting at this company. When it mists in the lathe, the smell will make you sneeze or cough. It's like an ammonia smell. Iam thinking it could be an additive to keep it from going rancid but Iam not sure yet.

Iam going to track down the specific blend number tomorrow but I think it's a synthetic. It leaves a dry tacky residue the next day.

Iam just curious what other people are experiencing.

I have. But then again I found out I developed an allergic reaction to a preservative that's used in most coolants. So I have had the issue with most cutting fluids.

When was the last time the coolant was swapped out? If you're smelling ammonia, it could be going rancid due to bacteria build up.

lateralus said:

A couple of us at work have gotten some bad skin reactions to this coolant. My problems started when using one of my hands to grab wet parts on a production job after the machine op was done. I've had mixed emotions about this coolant since starting at this company. When it mists in the lathe, the smell will make you sneeze or cough. It's like an ammonia smell. Iam thinking it could be an additive to keep it from going rancid but Iam not sure yet.

Iam going to track down the specific blend number tomorrow but I think it's a synthetic. It leaves a dry tacky residue the next day.

Iam just curious what other people are experiencing.

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if it smells like cat piss, a petting zoo or ammonia smell its because your coolant is bad period. You need to richen it up, you also need to clean all the metal shavings out of your sump.
another problem is people watch there hands to f'n much and it takes all the natural oils off your skin. or your just a susan and cant handle it.

i never had skin irritation in my 30+ years of machining with any coolant, or oils.
My wife runs a machine with hagstefers red oil forget the name real thin shit. she never had a problem in 20 years running. one day I added 8 gals of fresh new oil and with in a few hours her skin bubbled up. Mine felt tingly. we changed to the fish oil they sell and it worked fine for her. I still use the red oil in my citizens havent had a problem.

I changed the coolant out a couple of months ago, wiping down the reservoir and getting all the sludge out. It has a small 10 gallon or so reservoir and gets added to 2-3 times a week. We have our drums hooked up to an automatic dispenser that puts out about a 7% mix which I've verified with a refractometer.

As for the smell, it doesnt smell bad or rancid at all. It's like a burning ammonia smell that takes your breath away. I've been in the trade for 20 plus years and never smelled coolant like this or had my skin react this way.

lateralus said:

I changed the coolant out a couple of months ago, wiping down the reservoir and getting all the sludge out. It has a small 10 gallon or so reservoir and gets added to 2-3 times a week. We have our drums hooked up to an automatic dispenser that puts out about a 7% mix which I've verified with a refractometer.

As for the smell, it doesnt smell bad or rancid at all. It's like a burning ammonia smell that takes your breath away. I've been in the trade for 20 plus years and never smelled coolant like this or had my skin react this way.

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I have one Lathe that likes to do that the other 5 dont. I run 10-11% and havent had the problem since. 7% in my opinion is just to low. I run tap water.
Throw a airstone in it with an aquarium pump.