just my luck Set up a coolant tank

[Rainman229]

finaly got arround to setting up my coolant tank to my shoptask. wouldn't it figure even after going over all the obvice spots the table would leak. it still leaked like a sive. tube of silcone later leaks are down to 1 small leak.

wish i found info on this earler. but also still trying to figure out how i'm going to get the milling table itself to leak on the bench rather then on the floor. was thinking of a drip tray extention.

has anyone found a good sulotion or is that the only one

[CNCPlastic]

If your on a budget, try Lowes home improvement. They carry a 4x8 foot by 1/8th thick sheet of fairly rigid fiberglass. Line your enclosure with this and calk with silicone. For the bolt holes to hold the mill in place, I used some long 3/8 bolts pushed up from underneath. I used a nut, steel washer, and rubber fender washer and cranked them down tight to the fiberglass sheet. It hasn't leaked a drop. But you could of course then seal that with silicone just for added protection. I lowered the mill base down over the studs and secured. Drill a good sized hole at the low corner of the enclosure base, silicone a drain pipe to the hole and feed to your coolant tank.

Turns out my enclosure was not large enough once I added the cnc gear, so I'll be building a larger one in the near future, but for now a couple shields and half a shower curtain liner keep it all contained.

[JFettig]

Good luck having that silicone stick after the coolant has already touched it make sure to clean it really good with rubbing alcohol before applying the silicone.

Jon

[CNCPlastic]

Well so far its holding up quite nicely, I use a high volume flood coolant pump and the enclosure has seen 50+ hours of flood coolant operation with some way oil contamination thrown in with no leaks. You make a good point though, I wiped all joints down with alcohol prior to applying the silicone which is a good idea for any silicone application. It sticks to the fiberlgass like a weld, I don't see it failing.

I use Tri-Cool 1 synthetic water based coolant, maybe some of these other coolants would attack the silicone, I can't speak to that.

[Rainman229]

was running it today no leaks for now. if i have a problem in the future i'll have to clean it all down and start over again. also made a removable drip try so the milling table don't drip on the floor when it hangs over the front. but for now looks good.

thanks guys you made a couple of good points.

[Rainman229]

well the leaks are all gone form the table. now to make better shields for the dro.

[jdclark]

Originally Posted by CNCPlastic Well so far its holding up quite nicely, I use a high volume flood coolant pump and the enclosure has seen 50+ hours of flood coolant operation with some way oil contamination thrown in with no leaks. You make a good point though, I wiped all joints down with alcohol prior to applying the silicone which is a good idea for any silicone application. It sticks to the fiberlgass like a weld, I don't see it failing. I use Tri-Cool 1 synthetic water based coolant, maybe some of these other coolants would attack the silicone, I can't speak to that.

The Patriot seems fairly well sealed from the factory, but I went ahead and did the silicone thing anyway. My machine came equiped with a nice drain tube which matches a hole near the center of the table. However, a test with some water showed this point not to be the low spot. It looks like a forklift got under that point and raised the sheet metal. I put a big socket over the hole and used a long bar under the edge of the machine casting to pry down on the drain hole. It now has a nice little " dimple" and the water drains right to the hole.