At no time since I have started using water soluble coolant have I used
tap water. I am on a private well here and have modest to high
dissolved solids. I was buying 20-50 gallons at a time from the local
grocery stores of whatever their store brand was when I first started.
I didn't really want to be dependent on a water service to fill a tank,
and I'm not sure they provide distilled as a service anyway. I think
for those services its all RO filtered for drinking water.

I looked at DI, but then I either have to recharge the DI system
periodically or I have to hire a service to handle it. I don't like
being dependent, and I wasn't 100% sure DI would do the trick.

I bought a small distiller. Really intended for residential cooking and
drinking. It produces about 11 gallons per day and has a 4.5 gallon
reservoir. It has worked for several years, but the setup and
production marginal. I can go through 10+ gallons a day if all the
machines are running and the reservoir is about the right size to mix up
one bucket at a time. If I remembered to fill and premix buckets even
on days I am not running all the machines all day I had "enough" coolant
on hand. I've been using it for several years.

Last week it died, and I have been shut down. Well I have been shutdown
dealing with some family issues, but the distiller probably kept me from
running some short jobs. Ok. I really didn't want to work anyway. I
spent this morning cleaning it out, and replaced the fuse and it seems
to be working ok again. I need to clean out the evaporator tank more
often I think.

Some time back I contacted Master Chemical and asked what level of water
treatment I should have and they were pretty noncommittal so I just
stuck with distilled.

I have to ask. For those of you using water soluble coolant in a small
shop are you using for your water source?

P.S. I just ordered a new distiller with a 25 gallon reservoir. The
one I have will go on the shelf as a backup when the new one arrives.


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Bob La Londe wrote:
At no time since I have started using water soluble coolant have I used
tap water. I am on a private well here and have modest to high
dissolved solids.

Makes sense, but it matters what those dissolved solids are. Carbonates
aren't so bad, sulfates a little worse. Chlorides are probably much worse,
but what are you trying to protect?

I looked at DI, but then I either have to recharge the DI system
periodically or I have to hire a service to handle it. I don't like
being dependent, and I wasn't 100% sure DI would do the trick.


Did you consider reverse osmosis?

I bought a small distiller. Really intended for residential cooking and
drinking. It produces about 11 gallons per day and has a 4.5 gallon
reservoir. It has worked for several years, but the setup and
production marginal. I can go through 10+ gallons a day if all the
machines are running

Is that purely evaporation, or is there some carry-over loss?

Last week it died, and I have been shut down. Well I have been shutdown
dealing with some family issues, but the distiller probably kept me from
running some short jobs. Ok. I really didn't want to work anyway.

Hope that situation improves. It's way more important than the water!

Some time back I contacted Master Chemical and asked what level of water
treatment I should have and they were pretty noncommittal so I just
stuck with distilled.

Sounds a bit like they don't think it matters much.....

I have to ask. For those of you using water soluble coolant in a small
shop are you using for your water source?


I'm talking out of turn here. I'm no machinist and haven't used water
soluble coolants since high school shop class.

P.S. I just ordered a new distiller with a 25 gallon reservoir. The
one I have will go on the shelf as a backup when the new one arrives.

It'd help to know what's in your water supply, how the water escapes
your coolant cycle and whether you care about water cost.

Resistance heated stills tend to be pretty expensive to run unless
electric power is close to free. Vapor compression or heat pump stills
would be better but still not good. A decent RO system will give about
10 PPM by itself, DI polishing seems unlikely to be useful in your case.
RO's by far the most cost-efficient, _provided_ your feed water doesn't
need a lot of pre-treatment, which depends on what's in it.

It'll be hard to give a useful answer without knowing a bit more about
the constraints you're working under.

HTH,

bob prohaska

On 4/18/2021 8:38 PM, bob prohaska wrote:
Bob La Londe wrote:
At no time since I have started using water soluble coolant have I used
tap water. I am on a private well here and have modest to high
dissolved solids.

Makes sense, but it matters what those dissolved solids are. Carbonates
aren't so bad, sulfates a little worse. Chlorides are probably much worse,
but what are you trying to protect?

I looked at DI, but then I either have to recharge the DI system
periodically or I have to hire a service to handle it. I don't like
being dependent, and I wasn't 100% sure DI would do the trick.


Did you consider reverse osmosis?

I bought a small distiller. Really intended for residential cooking and
drinking. It produces about 11 gallons per day and has a 4.5 gallon
reservoir. It has worked for several years, but the setup and
production marginal. I can go through 10+ gallons a day if all the
machines are running

Is that purely evaporation, or is there some carry-over loss?

Last week it died, and I have been shut down. Well I have been shutdown
dealing with some family issues, but the distiller probably kept me from
running some short jobs. Ok. I really didn't want to work anyway.

Hope that situation improves. It's way more important than the water!

Some time back I contacted Master Chemical and asked what level of water
treatment I should have and they were pretty noncommittal so I just
stuck with distilled.

Sounds a bit like they don't think it matters much.....

I have to ask. For those of you using water soluble coolant in a small
shop are you using for your water source?


I'm talking out of turn here. I'm no machinist and haven't used water
soluble coolants since high school shop class.

P.S. I just ordered a new distiller with a 25 gallon reservoir. The
one I have will go on the shelf as a backup when the new one arrives.

It'd help to know what's in your water supply, how the water escapes
your coolant cycle and whether you care about water cost.

Resistance heated stills tend to be pretty expensive to run unless
electric power is close to free. Vapor compression or heat pump stills
would be better but still not good. A decent RO system will give about
10 PPM by itself, DI polishing seems unlikely to be useful in your case.
RO's by far the most cost-efficient, _provided_ your feed water doesn't
need a lot of pre-treatment, which depends on what's in it.

It'll be hard to give a useful answer without knowing a bit more about
the constraints you're working under.

HTH,

bob prohaska




I always have mixed feelings when somebody says something like that. I
appreciate the sentiment, but it doesn't address the reality that the
rest of the world doesn't give a damn about your problems. The bills
still have to be paid and the chores still have to get done. Letting
yourself "fall apart" or not worrying about keeping the electricity on,
the bills paid, the family fed, tires on the vehicles or any of the
other day to day stuff because you have a "reason" is irresponsible and
juvenile. You can cry and change a tire at the same time. You can
worry and sweep the floor in the shop at the same time. When I have
weeks like this one were I accomplished very little in the shop I also
feel a little ashamed of myself. My customers are counting on me to get
their parts finished so they can take care of their families. Their
families are no less important to them than mine is to me.

Often the BEST way to help our family and minimize the fallout is to
keep doing the things that need to be done everyday.

I've had some pretty ****ty times in my life (and a lot of good ones)
and I got through them with this thought in mind. Step in and keep
swinging. It works whether you are backed into a corner by thugs,
digging a ditch, or paying bills. You may still get dragged down, but
you will leave it a little better for the person who has to come after you.

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On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 13:02:50 -0700, Bob La Londe
wrote:

At no time since I have started using water soluble coolant have I used
tap water. I am on a private well here and have modest to high
dissolved solids. I was buying 20-50 gallons at a time from the local
grocery stores of whatever their store brand was when I first started.
I didn't really want to be dependent on a water service to fill a tank,
and I'm not sure they provide distilled as a service anyway. I think
for those services its all RO filtered for drinking water.

I looked at DI, but then I either have to recharge the DI system
periodically or I have to hire a service to handle it. I don't like
being dependent, and I wasn't 100% sure DI would do the trick.

I bought a small distiller. Really intended for residential cooking and
drinking. It produces about 11 gallons per day and has a 4.5 gallon
reservoir. It has worked for several years, but the setup and
production marginal. I can go through 10+ gallons a day if all the
machines are running and the reservoir is about the right size to mix up
one bucket at a time. If I remembered to fill and premix buckets even
on days I am not running all the machines all day I had "enough" coolant
on hand. I've been using it for several years.

Last week it died, and I have been shut down. Well I have been shutdown
dealing with some family issues, but the distiller probably kept me from
running some short jobs. Ok. I really didn't want to work anyway. I
spent this morning cleaning it out, and replaced the fuse and it seems
to be working ok again. I need to clean out the evaporator tank more
often I think.

Some time back I contacted Master Chemical and asked what level of water
treatment I should have and they were pretty noncommittal so I just
stuck with distilled.

I have to ask. For those of you using water soluble coolant in a small
shop are you using for your water source?

P.S. I just ordered a new distiller with a 25 gallon reservoir. The
one I have will go on the shelf as a backup when the new one arrives.

Small shop, 30 gallons in Mill, about 35 in Lathe, 2 gallons in
horizontal saw.

I use tap water, the city sources its water from the river. I never
had any problems I could blame on the coolant or the water.

I never run any job long enough to test tool life, I can run SS,
aluminum and carbon steel all in the same day.

Randy
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Randy