Coolant stains on aluminum


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Thread: Coolant stains on aluminum

  1. #1
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    Default Coolant stains on aluminum

    Hi All,
    I am new to the milling world and have just completed my conversion of a seig x3. I have a flood coolant system on the mill. I am cutting aluminum (5052, 6061) and have a bad problem with the coolant staining the metal. I am using Koolmist formula 78 (which is a mist and flood coolant) can anyone help me with a better coolant for aluminum???
    Thanks
    JpBinc.

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    What kind of stain, color and all? I use Kool mist 77 and never had any problems.
    At work we use Trim coolants, they leave no stains or anything and work quite well. I know we order them from MSC in 5 gallon buckets



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    Default Coolant Prob (more info)

    The stains seem to be any place the coolant sits for a while. it turns the metal a light brown almost like tarnish on silver looks. In some places it turns white. I have been using mothers aluminum polish and the stains come out but I would like to try a different coolant.... So you have used koolmist formula 77 without getting stains on aluminum..
    Thanks
    JpBinc



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    Never have had a stain, and been using this stuff for 9 or so months. I diluted it before 1:32 like it said to, but this seemed to cause rust. Now I dilute it probably 1:20, no longer getting rust. And so stain



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    Thanks for the info.. Did you use tap water or distilled?? I used distilled and I too deluted more than 1:32



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    I just used tap water. At 1:32, did you ever get rust? I have a water filter, wonder if that would improve it at all?



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    No I did not ever get rust, and the stains are only on the alu not the steel.



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    Try an experiment, just wet some pieces of aluminum just with the distilled water you used, no coolant and see if you get any staining.



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    Default Good Idea

    Great Idea I tried it with just the raw coolant and it did not stain but I did not even think about the water. I'll try it tonight and see.
    Thanks
    Jpbinc



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    hey guys im having this same problem at work on a new machine we just got Mazak and when we take the parts out they are perfect all shiny but when they come back for the next OP they go in for like 4hrs and when we take them out they are stained we tested the water and seems to be coming from that its Deionized water but when its on a part and the stain is still under the water you can wipe it away but once it drys you pretty much polish it out any ideas?
    Thanks
    JM

    Last edited by 337MPH; 08-25-2008 at 04:49 PM.


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    Default Black brown stain with kool mist 78 and 77

    I have been using Kool Mist 78 and 77 on highly polished aluminum for quite some time. All of the sudden I am getting a black, brown or white stain on the parts if the coolant dries at all. I never have seen this until recently. I got concerned that the problem might be from the compressed air. Have checked the filtration, etc.

    Any ideas? This is ruining every part. Kool Mist people switched me from 78 to 77 and told me to use distilled water. This did not change a thing.



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    If you have been using the same coolant and have just now developed a problem, you might look in your resovoir to see what is growing in it?

    I hate deburring.....
    Lets go (insert favorite hobby here)


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    Default Compressor Oil

    It looks like the problem with the Kool Mist stain was compressor oil that had gotten by the oil traps. It is probably a mixture of oil and water that reacts with the aluminum. I had to throw away all of the mist lines to clean it up.



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    We had something similar to this on two of our machines and believe it or not - it was tied to the use of fres silicone sealant in the machine. Something in the colant/water reacts with the silicone caulk (especially when new) and causes black staining on aluminum parts.



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    Brown staining has nothing to do with whats in your tank(garbage oils) it is also hard to reproduce on a piece of alum that is uncut, it mostly shows up on alum when using a ball endmill and having step overs of .005-.020.
    i was using neosol 400 for a long time never had the problem, our supplier quit selling neosol and went to q cut. I cleaned the machine add'd qcut and all my parts had a brown tint. I am like WTF never in my 18+ years of machineing have I seen this, I put on my glass's and it stands out pretty good. Call the supplier and he's like WTF I will be right over.
    we changed coolants to a different qcut number. Same problem but not as bad.
    Of coarse we went through the thing of well tap water aint good. My responce BS, been using tap water for 18+ years and never had the problem.
    so since it was a weekend and I had some time. I started playing, ran another job and had no problems. I got to thinking maybe it was the lot of material or maybe it was junk in the oil. I cleaned the machine that weekend anyway and refilled the machine with fresh coolant. and finished the 40pc job parts were perfect no tint.
    monday comes I run another 40pcs job. again I find a very slight tint of brown. I try a different program with a different size material ( different lots also) had the same problem only heavier tints. q cut rep comes out I explain the problem, he can see the tint on the parts I saved. parts I dunked in coolant for a few days had no tint. after about 2 weeks I finally figured it out. depending on the step over and how thing the ridge was between step overs the more the tint would show.
    since teh first q-cut formula had tinted brown and the second one was less I figure its probally the q-cut and what they put in it(chemical wise). also my finish didnt come out as shiny and thats one reason I changed the step over in my program too allow for a better finish and the tint went away and it helped me figure it out.

    my next bucket of q-cut havent had any problems( they did say the made some changes in it. my finish is also tens times better and and I can go back to using the same step overs.

    the other option I was thinking and it would probally make a huge difference is grounding the machine to a ground rod which I normally do but this machine I forgot to do so. Electrolosis(right word?) can be a problem especially with aluminum and very thin pieces.

    Hope that helps a tad.
    Delw



  16. #16

    Default Re: Coolant stains on aluminum

    Hello guys,
    I recently noticed that the aluminium I milled gets some stain from place to place, today I made a new part and I carefully looked at it right after pocketing, it was perfectly clean, now when the part it's finished I see alot of spots inside and a few on the exterior.

    The machining of this part took 2 hours, this is the maximum time the part was wet while machining, I use only distilled water and a locally purchased emulsion, I can't find the specifications in english but I uploaded a photo of the can.

    What do you guys think ?

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Coolant stains on aluminum-aluminium-stain-1-jpg   Coolant stains on aluminum-emulsie-jpg   Coolant stains on aluminum-aluminium-stain-2-jpg  


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Coolant stains on aluminum

Coolant stains on aluminum