Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
It's time to tackle the coolant problem in my shop. This is the brand that I am using. It came with the Tormach when I bought it, and I've done nothing aside from mix a few new batches from time to time to keep it up.
Coolant King, from I'm assuming KBC. It works well as a flood coolant, in that regard I have no complaints, but if it sits for a while (which it does often), it forms a gel like flubber in the tank, that then wraps around the pump shaft and the Tormachs weak little coolant pump cannot spin fast enough to get it moving again. I have to pull the tank out, pull the pump give it a good cleaning, skim the oil off the top, and we're good to go again. Not a huge problem if I used it all the time, but for my sporadic use, it's always an issue. Anyone that's had to do this on a Tormach knows how much of an afterthought the old enclosure and coolant tank is, and how much of a pain in the everywhere it is to get out when it's full......The flubber issue could most likely be solved with a skimmer, and aerator for this brand, and something I will probably do moving forward anyway.
The other, bigger issue, is rust. Short of spraying everything down after use with oil (even worse for the coolant health), this coolant tends to promote rust on every bare steel surface it touches. That for me is a far bigger deal than the flubber. I've been really wanting to clean up all the rust all over this machine, but there is really no point, until I solve the coolant issue. So I've just been turning the radio up and ignoring it, even though it bugs me greatly...
I realize what I want might be a unicorn short of going to straight oil (which I don't want), but I figured a few of us here probably have the same problems and maybe some have found a solution. I did find Mcgyvers recommendation for Trim Microsol 585. Looks promising, are there any others anyone can recommend that don't cause rusting, and don't go bad, or cause gumming up issues before I buy a few gallons of Microsol 585 (xt? what's the difference?) to try out? Will it cause rusting on bare surfaces if left on and left to dry @Mcgyver? I'd really like to not have to wipe down and dry the machine after every use....
Thanks, Dan.
Coolant King, from I'm assuming KBC. It works well as a flood coolant, in that regard I have no complaints, but if it sits for a while (which it does often), it forms a gel like flubber in the tank, that then wraps around the pump shaft and the Tormachs weak little coolant pump cannot spin fast enough to get it moving again. I have to pull the tank out, pull the pump give it a good cleaning, skim the oil off the top, and we're good to go again. Not a huge problem if I used it all the time, but for my sporadic use, it's always an issue. Anyone that's had to do this on a Tormach knows how much of an afterthought the old enclosure and coolant tank is, and how much of a pain in the everywhere it is to get out when it's full......The flubber issue could most likely be solved with a skimmer, and aerator for this brand, and something I will probably do moving forward anyway.
The other, bigger issue, is rust. Short of spraying everything down after use with oil (even worse for the coolant health), this coolant tends to promote rust on every bare steel surface it touches. That for me is a far bigger deal than the flubber. I've been really wanting to clean up all the rust all over this machine, but there is really no point, until I solve the coolant issue. So I've just been turning the radio up and ignoring it, even though it bugs me greatly...
I realize what I want might be a unicorn short of going to straight oil (which I don't want), but I figured a few of us here probably have the same problems and maybe some have found a solution. I did find Mcgyvers recommendation for Trim Microsol 585. Looks promising, are there any others anyone can recommend that don't cause rusting, and don't go bad, or cause gumming up issues before I buy a few gallons of Microsol 585 (xt? what's the difference?) to try out? Will it cause rusting on bare surfaces if left on and left to dry @Mcgyver? I'd really like to not have to wipe down and dry the machine after every use....
Thanks, Dan.
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