"Joseph Gwinn" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Mike Henry" wrote:

"Joseph Gwinn" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Mike Henry" wrote:
snip

Could that be way oil? If not it sounds like you are getting some
sort
of emulsion. Do you check the coolant concentration and adjust
periodically?
A refractometer is an easy way to check the concentration.

I haven't been able to convince myself that I need one that badly.

Maybe your coolant has become too concentrated, which a refractometer could
tell you. How do you make up for volume losses? Do you add plain water,
straight coolant, or a diluted mixture of coolant and water?


It is not way oil. Doesn't look like way oil, and I get it with the
drill press, which has no such oil. It appears that something in the
coolant is absorbing oxygen and solidifying.

Then perhaps your coolant is partially coalescing or separating in the
mix.

Remixing does not work, and one can pick the gel lumps and ropes up with
the bare hands.

Once lumps and ropes form it may be too late for simple mixing to help.
Emulsions (if that's what the lumps/gels are) can be very difficult to
break. Heat is one way.

I've never had any problem in that regard with the Hangsterfer, but
that's
all I've ever used. Mixing the raw coolant with water can be tricky if
one
is to believe user reports and/or manufacturer's preparation
instructions.
Does your give any special instructions and how closely did you follow
them?

There are no mixing instructions other than giving the suggested
dilution range.

I don't think that the instructions are commonly sent with the coolant. The
manufacturer's web site should have info on mixing new batches and peparing
make-up solutions. Have you checked there yet?

My usual approach for small quantities (such as to feed the mister) is
to put water into a gallon plastic bottle, followed by concentrate,
shake, top off with water, shake. For the 1 gallon coolant pump, I use
the gallon bottle. For the 3-gallon coolant pump, I pour the
concentrate into water while running the pump full bore with the output
being directed back into the tank.

I believe that most manufacturer's recommend continuous mixing while adding
raw coolant to water and slowly at that. As mentioned above, I'd check to
see what the manufacturers recommend.

In all cases, I get a uniform mix. The shaken bottle works very
quickly, while self-mixing by the coolant pump is far slower, but both
approaches work.

Perhaps they'd work longer if mixed differently. Or maybe something else
entirely different is going on.

The gel lumps formed much later, from initially uniform coolant at 10%
to 15% dilution or so.

I also got gel lumps in the Kool Mist 77, which is pretty easy to mix.

The bottle feeding the mister is a total-loss system, with no
recirculation, and yet gel lumps eventually formed and caused problems
with spray generation. This happened with both WS-5050 and Kool Mist 77.

How long do the mixtures last before the lumps start to develop?

I assume that whatever forms the gel was supposed to perform some
function, which is no longer done. I think the simplest solution is to
completely replace the mixed coolant once or twice a year.

I don't use my mill much and even more infrequently use coolant and still
replace the coolant once a year or so. The coolant tank is partially open
though and the screens on the return system aren't very efficient at
removing small bits of swarf, so my situation may be different than yours.