Bacterial infection of Coolant

[ImanCarrot]

I've just cleaned out the sump of a mill machine of around 10 gallons of coolant. Should I be worried about bacterial infection?

The only reason I'm asking is that the coolant had been lying in there for about 5 years and I noticed some kit in a nearby drawer which are basicaly culture slides to test for bacteria that you're meant to incubate for 24 hours at 30 deg C for 48 hours.

Once I get it clean (hopefuly in the next hour) I'll stick an aerating pump in the sump so that the anerobic thingies dun multiply, but how concerned should I be about this? is it a real health hazard or just crap?

How often should I be changing the coolant totaly please?

The testing things, if it helps, mentions Bacteria, Yeast and Fungis and has a 5 scale comparison for Slight, Moderate and Heavy infection.

Oh, the machine was left in this state by my predecessor and I wasn't too worried about coolant since I mostly machine plastics and ally, but I got this stainless job to do now and I assume I need coolant cos everyone says you do.

[MazakMikeO]

As long as you don't have any open wounds and used reasonable protection i.e gloves, I think you should be ok. Just be sure to get scrubbed when you're finished. I have done similar in the past and not suffered.

Coolant will usually last about a year I think? But I don't know of many companies that change coolant in a machine yearly due to the cost of disposal. It usually gets done when it really needs it. It also depends how often it is being used. If it is left to sit, then the bacteria gets a chance to grow.

[cam1]

Hi:
The way lubricant of the machine ends up in the sump.The bacteria in the cutting fluid thrive on the lack of oxygen. I've gone through this before.
1. If you envision using coolant more often, invest in a skimmer, to remove the tramp oil.
2. There are lots of coolants out there that are excellent at combatting this issue. 2 companies/products that we deal with are Fuchs ecoccool and Trimsol. The Trimsol is a really good all arount coolant, that is exceptionally good for it's longevity.I run a Test and Eval shop where sometimes a month or 2 go by without using a particular machine.
We check the coolant (make sure to top it up) once or twice a month.

regards

[carcrazy666]

I've used regular household bleach, about 2 cups for 10 gallons.
It will kill anything in the sump and get rid of the stinkies.
I've never had a problem doing this.
Just be careful you don't get any on your clothes.

CC

[svenakela]

One of my old working mates got really bad from coolant. Keep the tank clean!
CC:s tips is new to me, got to try it out!

--S

[Karl_T]

Gat a cheap aquarium pump and air stone. I put one on a timer and run it 1/2 hour per day to keep coolant aired out. I also run a skimmer off the same timer.

Then coolant lasts forever, just add new when low.

Karl

[MFassler]

yeah we use bleach in our machines too.it works fine and doesnt seem too bother any materials we machine.

[scuba840]

I used to work in a factory that had coolant hanging in the air. It can cause a very, very rare fungal infection of the lungs. The stats were something like in the entire US there were 6 reported cases in any given year, and something like 4 came from our factory.

Anyway,some coolant is intentionally infected with oil eating bacteria. They use the filter medium as a means to continuously inoculate and repopulate the colony. The result is that they only have to remove one haz mat truck a year of sludge instead of many.

[mc-motorsports]

Pine-Sol work too. Or just use synthetic coolant and don't worry about it. Oil skimmers are nice too, kind of a maintence thing.

Years ago I worked at a shop which used a coolant that formed HUGE mold looking spore things, NASTY! That was short lived, onto synthetic, Castrol made it I believe, no problems since.

[ImanCarrot]

Bleach? never thought of that... will that be ok on my mill? won't eat anything will it?

[MFassler]

I dont think it will hurt anything, like I said we use it in our 6 mills at my shop,some people say it will mark materials and what not,we machine everything from aluminum too most exotics and plastics and have no issues,it doesnt take much.I would suppose if you did something silly like add half the bottle or more it
may eat paint or something,but it hasnt affected any of our machines.

[#.0]

Originally Posted by ImanCarrot How often should I be changing the coolant totaly please?

You should change your coolant every two to three years or 30000 miles.