Coolant leaks


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Thread: Coolant leaks

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    Default Coolant leaks

    Anyone have any issues with their machines leaking? What machine model and where?

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    '06 VF4

    2 places I have found.
    One is that the slide-up flexan sidecovers should be made 1 or 2 inches longer. As coolant splashes on and dispurses, it tends to go up and over the slide and thereby dripping all ove the outside.
    The other is in the corners. Whenever I fill up or wash with the sprayer, there seem to be a nice puddle of coolant under both corners.
    I have not found the exact source yet, but once I do it will receive the plumbers putty treatment.

    The MiniLathe, MiniMill and the '01 SL10 seems to be airtight.



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    I have seen many leaks on different models. Not sure if you would call this a leak per say but my favourite way of coolant getting out of a machine is on the Mini Mills the top doesn’t come right to the top of the door so if you have a cutter that splashes a lot it comes right out the top in to your head. Gone home many nights with coolant filled hair because of this.

    I'm not lazy..., I'm efficient!


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    Default Coolant leaks

    1999 VF-3 ...I think I have found every way possible to leak coolant. I have made cardboard covers for the top to cure coolant hair. One of the best things I did was get a chiptrap...has stopped a lot of early morning mopping after a lights out run.

    I also have a SL-20 with a conveyor....lots a leaks on it to...mostly door seals.

    Swain



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    2006 SMMill. In the back under the toolchanger 'hump', a line of coolant will often start dripping out. Also, the area between the bottom casting and the cabinet will occasionally splash out and dribble onto the floor. A few restaurant trays keep things pretty clean. The machine came with a top cover which comes in handy when using a 1.97" facemill at 1939 rpm. The issue is now that the coolant drips on my head when doing a part change.

    I have a story involving that cover...

    Last year, a construction company was blasting foundation excavations across the street for a condo development. Even though the shop is in a sturdy 1950's-era building, those explosions still felt like a kick in the gut. Nevertheless, their contractor was very professional and always gave timely audible warnings. One time I was wearing ear protection with my head in the machine, and they set off a BIG blast right next to the road. I hit the back of my skull on the cover so hard it's amazing *something* wasn't broken.

    Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.


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    My SL10 leaks a little at the door. Not really anyhting to snivel about though. Just a dribble. But the chip trap by the auger is ealily clogged and will overflow the coolant pretty quickly. Then you're down to using the mop.
    I have a 2000 Minimill that has never had a leak.
    But the Mini's coolant drain design is such that if clogged with chips, you'll find yourself mopping. Other than that, it;s been leak proof.



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    I have a TM-1P that has several leak issues. From the size of the coolant tank shipped with the machine (5 gallons), I don't think the enclosure was designed for flood coolant. However, I fabed up a 30 plus gallon tank and have lots of leaks for my efforts. The chip auger channel leaks at several places. It will fill a coffee cup in a day at two places. Coolant leaks out of the openings in the enclosure designed for the Y axis chip shields to protrude through. The hanger for the air hose which bolts through the front of the enclosure also leaks. The hole for the X axis servo cable to come through leaks badly. There is a plastic plug in the hole but it's about a quarter of an inch too short leaving a gap about 2" by 1/4". This is only a problem with the face cutter.

    I was fore warned about this and sealed every seam I could find on the inside of the enclosure with silicon before I started using the machine.

    Vern



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    I have an 06 VF6SS that's leaked since the day I got it. Service guys came and caulked it but it still leaks and is out of warrenty now. Also Haas needs to give a chip conveyor option. I can't stand these augers.



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    Ok, who started this thread????
    My VF4 musta heard you dammit. All of a sudden the waste way oil catch bottle started filling up with coolant. I have to empty it every 2 hours or so.
    Hopefully I'll find some time next week to figure out how it gets in there.



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    Default waste oil bottle

    I just had to fix this on my mini, took the waste oil trap thing apart and just cleaned it out, there are no moving parts, seems to work fine now, but was full of nasty stuff.
    takes 5 minutes, there is a quick release tubing on the inlet side.

    The minimill is a great machine but coolant and chips can be an issue, you must keep the bottom cleaned out to prevent overflow and it is very difficult to access the coolant tank to clean everything out. I sacrifice compactness for ease of cleaning but I still like the machine, it does dribble here and there, this is with the regular pump, the high pressure pump is probably worse.

    joev



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    One location that leaks badly on the MiniMill is low on the side of the column where the sheet metal butts up. There is a gap here that is not visible from the front; we filled it with caulking. Also behind the tool changer there are gaps we packed with foam.

    An open mind is a virtue...so long as all the common sense has not leaked out.


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    My SL10 leaks a little at the door. Not really anyhting to snivel about though. Just a dribble. But the chip trap by the auger is ealily clogged and will overflow the coolant pretty quickly. Then you're down to using the mop.
    PB they have an updated drain for the SL-10. Do you have this installed?



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    TM-1, non-full enclosure, new machine 2006.

    Coolant leaks-

    Between the front sheet metal trough and the face of the base casting. The sheet metal is attached to the face of the base casting with no gasket or sealant. Coolant running down between the Y-axis ways, runs down the front face of the casting, hits the leading edge of the sheet metal, and then seeps behind. From there it continues down the face of the casting to drip to the floor at the front of the machine. Cure- remove trough and apply a thin bead of sealant behind, and re-attach sheet metal. I have seen several other TM-1s where the opperators just applied the sealant to the surface without removing any sheet metal, and it seems to work just as well (even if in some cases it looked like someone sneezed on the machine with a caulk gun!) If the front trough were to back up with coolant (it is not very deep) I would expect them to leak at the joint with the side aprons, as there is no gasket there either (this is a continuation of the joint mentioned above.) But I keep the drain strainer clear (manually, no chip auger) so it has not been a problem.

    Coolant running down between the y-axis ways, and even though in not great volume, hits the front batter of the coolant trough and splashed forward over the lip and onto the floor. I have seen and read of several other TM-1 where the opperator added a rubber sheet ‘cat-flap’ to stop this, yet allow the chips to be mucked out. Temporarily I just leaned a 12x14”piece of sheet metal up against the opening to the chute till I got around to making my own ‘cat-flap’. That is what I have been using ever since!

    Where the vertical rear splash apron wings meet the lower side winds, is a gasket between the flanged joint. Unfortunately they used hydroscopic gasket material and it wicks coolant through to the back of the joint. It then collect along the edge of the flange, runs towards the machine base (it seems to be sloped slightly that way) till it reaches the end at the inside corner where it drips off to the floor. Best fix would be to replace the gasket with something better, but I got lazy and since the machine was new and relatively clean I was able to lay a neat bead of sealant in the corner. Also do the vertical four inch seam at the inboard end.

    Rear end of the y-axis ball slides. You will see a notch here in the base casting at the end of the slide, and a coresponding notch in the side sheet metal panel. There is a gasket or gasket sealant behind this panel, but it is not very good or was not applied completely, as I had a leak on one side. Again, coolant leaked behind the sheet metal, down the side of the base casting, to the floor. It looked like a bother to remove all this sheet metal, so again a surface applied bead of caulk did the trick.

    Just to the rear of this notch mentioned, is a hole in the back wing apron to allow the Y-axis way cover to pass through. Between the casting and the sheet metal that forms a tunnel for the way cover is a 2x3/8” gap open right to the elements. There does not seem to be much of a problem with coolant splashing out this opening, but coolant collecting on top of the casting runs off the back edge and right out of the machine. There was no easy way to make a tin patch for this, so again the gap was filled in with caulk. By using latex, there was the opportunity to smooth it out a little with one’s finger so did not look too cheesy. It is considerably more difficult to smooth out silicone. The tunnels that these way covers project into are not in themselves sealed in any manner. Indeed they are just channels with the side facing the base casting completely open, meant only to protect the operator from moving parts, should they be hiding under the back of the machine, as they are want to do. This looked like a major potential leak too, but has not been a problem in practice. Little coolant seems to get back into the tunnel, either by splash or runoff from the way covers. Since the floor of the tunnel is about a 1/8” above the casting, the caulk spanning the gap diverts the coolant collecting on top of the base casting to the side.

    So now the only leaks are what simply splashes out of the machining envelope, being as it is a non-enclosed model.

    -Doug



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    Quote Originally Posted by Edster View Post
    PB they have an updated drain for the SL-10. Do you have this installed?
    I'm guessing not. Do you have any idea when it came out? this is a 2004 machine. Then I have to ask...Got any idea how many dollars?



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Coolant leaks

Coolant leaks