WTK: Trico "Micro Drop"

[Swede]

I am looking at shop coolant / lube options for light milling and turning. Does anyone have any experiences with "micro-drop" types of systems which thay would like to share? What do these do? Does it simply apply a drop of cutting lube every second or so? Or is it augmented with air blast?

I've heard good things in the past about these systems, just wanted to check before dropping $400+. Thanks!

[HuFlungDung]

Hi Swede,

Yes I use these systems. They do not apply a drop, it is a continuous "spray" but is totally non-misting from the nozzle. It is basically just a siphon, with all the "smarts" in the nozzle design: air flow around the outside of the oil nozzle induces the lube to flow.

[Swede]

Thanks Hu. Am I correct in thinking that this systems ability to clear chips is pretty limited? How close does the nozzle need to be to the cutter to get good distribution of lube?

And the obvious question - are you happy with the performance of the system? Thanks for your replies.

[HuFlungDung]

The nozzle clears chips quite well, but it does need to be within 4 to 6 inches of the cutter, I would say, to be effective at putting the lubricant where it is needed.

Don't count on this type of system for supreme cooling efficiency, because it doesn't cool any better than a very small air line would. But it's good for aluminum milling. It will move the chips from steel milling, too, but the oil does create smoke on really hot chips.

[mdoan]

Does this thing provide it's own air supply or do I have to have a seperate shop compressor? And, at $400, does anyone know a good source for this beast?

[Swede]

You need a compressor. I bought mine on eBay. So far it seems pretty nice. If you can, get the model with solenoid valves, allowing for remote on/off.

[mdoan]

Sorry. Did you mean you got the compressor or the md-1200 on ebay?

[kong]

Swede, I bought my Trico unit on ebay for around $250. Nothing wrong with it at all, except for the smell of old oil! They are few and far between, but it may be worth a quick look before you fork out for a new unit.

[Swede]

Sorry, I bought the Micro-Drop on eBay, NIB, for something like $250. As Kong says, they are scarce. Set up a search for "Trico" in the Industrial section which will deliver about 30 to 40 Trico products, and scan them for the micro-drop system. Air consumption (relative to a home shop) is not low, so it's best that you have a pretty stout vertical compressor or you'll cycle your smaller compressor frequently.

One objection - the lube is nearly invisible; it's hard to adjust it on the fly. I think it's best to preset it by spraying at a plate or table, noting the lube delivery, then not messing with the air and lube knobs, just turn it on and off.

[HuFlungDung]

One thing I've noticed, too, is that after a time, the old oil may clog the nozzle ( I use the vegetable oil product). You need a tiny drill to drill out "the cheese" (by hand) and then it should work okay. I generally use the unit at a very low drop setting (2) and that seems like lots of oil, AFAIC. Any more gets to the point of becoming a mess.

[mdoan]

Okay, here's some fresh information for anyone looking to go this route.

The ebay offering for these units is very slim indeed. I set a search but still no hits. Finally ordered from http://www.jtsmach.com/jtswebshop/Fluids/FC068.asp. They have the best price I could find on the net but their service was... let's just not go there. Ask for drop shipment right off the bat AND the tracking number because they don't stock the units.

The unit comes with a pint of vege-oil lube which is more than enough to test and run. Shop around for fluids later (only comes in gallon size).

Some things to get while waiting for shipment are:
1) 1/4" npt air hose.
2) misc couplers since unit's air port is a female 1/4" npt nut.
3) air filter, if you are worried about your compressor's air quality. I got one since I don't want to clog the tiny jets with gunk. The filter may have female ports which don't leave enough clearance to your compressor output so get a 2-3" 1/4" pipe from the plumping dept.
4) Teflon tape to make all your connections leak free.
5) Air compressor. Now here's the tricky part. The trico is $400. If you don't already have a compressor, figure in another $400. I have a dewalt 4gal (D55152) which will work but not recommended because the motor will cycle every 2-3 minutes with a 15 sec recharge time. Ideally, you'd like to cylce less than 20 times per hour for good compressor life. The trico is pushing it. Swede was right about having a stout compressor. More to come on this one.

Jet placement is easy using the included magnet support and snaplock nozzle. The cuts I've made are a lot smoother than without cooling. I have an issue with the fluid wanting to drain back into the unit overnight but it's still early on that one.

--Michael

[Swede]

Good observations Michael, I concur. May I add, you might want to include the following between the compressor and the Trico...

- A manual ball valve for easy shutoff overnight rather than keeping the line pressurized
- For automation, a 24V (or whatever) solenoid valve AFTER the compressor output filter and ball valve, and just PRIOR to the Trico. The Trico on/off manual switch can be left on in this case, and the solenoid valve operated via CNC.

So far I like the unit. The compressed airflow alone helps cool and clear some chips. Definitely very miserly with the lube, and ZERO fogging. But it is a bit of an air pig, relating mainly to a typical home shop compressor. A "professional" AC in a bigger shop won't have the slightest problem. But if you have a pancake compressor or similar, you'll need to upgrade. I wouldn't try it with anything less than about 6 CFM at 100 PSI, just a WAG there.