I just moved some machinery to Mass from AZ and want to start using a water based coolant. I was using Hangsterfer's Hardcut #5618 when I was in AZ to avoid the water evaporating rapidly. I have drained the machines and cleaned them up as best I can. Is there anything else that I need to do before I start adding water based coolant? I have never used water based coolant so any suggestions on what kind work best would be great. I am normally cutting some steels, aluminum, brass and occasionally plastics.

Thanks,
Marc

It's really a personal choice what coolant people use- I use Rocol Multisol, 10 parts water to 1 Multisol, but others will have their own preference.

Aeration- get a small air pump like used in fish tanks. That will pass air into the coolant sump and lessen the growth of bacteria which will cause your coolant to smell and can be a health hazard.

Another thing: you can get a skimmer to get rid of any tramp oil that will float on top of your coolant or just get a big bit of airfilter foam and drag it across the coolant surface- it'll "wick" up the tramp oil.

I just moved some machinery to Mass from AZ and want to start using a water based coolant. I was using Hangsterfer's Hardcut #5618 when I was in AZ to avoid the water evaporating rapidly. I have drained the machines and cleaned them up as best I can. Is there anything else that I need to do before I start adding water based coolant? I have never used water based coolant so any suggestions on what kind work best would be great. I am normally cutting some steels, aluminum, brass and occasionally plastics.

Thanks,
Marc


Hello Marc,

Since you were using a Hardcut product initially, it really shouldn't be a problem. Hangsterfer's offers a very good cleaner de-greaser product that is used primarily to clean machines in between coolant changes and such. It's called "Clean-All", and is mixed with water at a 20:1 ratio. Once you have thoroughly finished rinsing the machine after the de-greasing process (sump included), you can mix up a solution of 5-7% solution of water soluble coolant and be on your way. In my personal opinion, after seeing the materials that you're machining, I'd say that if you were to choose from Hangsterfer's product line, to stick with the S-500 product. It's a very good all-around coolant for the materials that you named. If you are going to be doing lots of aluminum (example: aerospace jobs), you'd be better off with a chlorine-free product such as the S-500 CF.


If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. :)