Hard water and coolant question

[l u k e]

We have fairly hard water locally should I be concerned about using it to mix with my coolant? Would it be worth while to filter the water first or am I over thinking it?

[HuFlungDung]

I like to use reverse osmosis purified water, as our local community water is also hard.
Since I might use the same batch of coolant for a year or more, and have to top it up fairly often (due to evaporation), I can only imagine that the coolant would otherwise get very much harder, quite quickly, as the mineral concentration would keep going up.

[l u k e]

I dont have access to reverse osmosis water, I wonder if setting up a simple filter system would do me any good?

[Karl_T]

I tried a batch of distilled water right after coolant change on my Hardinge lathe. It foamed up like a bubble bath, So, you can go too far also.

[MadMax]

Most filtration does little to remove dissolved mineral content. You could get a water distillation doodad though:

MIDI STILL SS-5 WATER DISTILLER FREE SHIP - eBay (item 250773944807 end time Mar-16-11 16:59:08 PDT)

This one processes 8ga per 24hr day which isn't too bad. How many machines do you need to make up water for? I find I go through 2-3ga for each of my machines per day.

[Geof]

Collect rainwater or get some 20l bottles of water for a water cooler and use that.

[l u k e]

Originally Posted by Geof Collect rainwater

lol, I live in the Arizona desert. If I start now I might collect enough water in two years to get my 50 gal coolant tank filled up.

[l u k e]

Is there any adverse affect to the machine itself using hard water or is it just a coolant issue?

[Geof]

As far as I know there are no adverse effects on the machine, it is just that heavily mineralized water does not mix with the coolant correctly.

I think you need to take my second suggestion, get water cooler bottles; this is probably less expensive than installing your own reverse osmosis system.

[HuFlungDung]

It might be a minor issue, but hard water stains can appear on your parts unless you diligently dry them or rinse them immediately. Seems like a small issue until you have to resort to polishing them all up before you ship, then it's just a PITA and steals a few more minutes/hours from your life.

[Ydna]

Originally Posted by Geof Collect rainwater or get some 20l bottles of water for a water cooler and use that.

Would water extracted by a dehumidifier be comparable to this? Thats a water source we have in abundance here...

[Matt@RFR]

Call your coolant manufacturer and see what they recommend. They are, after all, the experts. When I first got my mill, I got together with Blaser, who requested a tap water sample sent to them. Once they tested it, they recommended a coolant (and would have recommended corrective action with my tap water if I needed any), and I couldn't be happier with what I have.

I don't know what coolant everybody else is using, but after a lesson from Blaser about the coolant I'm using, extremely soft water is actually BAD, so all the talk about distilled water would not work for me. Point being, these guys are telling you what works for them, but there's been no mention of what coolant they are running and I have a hunch that that makes a world of difference.