[zephyr9900]

I guess I might as well show my entry in the "size does matter" category.

I acquired a liking for working with PVC during the building of my several spray etching tank prototypes, and when I became dissatisfied with many aspects of the stock coolant tank, I went right to PVC.

My tank is a slice of 18" diameter low-head (irrigation) pipe, with a thermoformed endcap forming the base. The net volume of the tank is about 11 gallons.

I made a separate return sub-tank of 6" diameter low-head pipe, with its own endcap and a standpipe coming out near the bottom, that comes up just short of the bottom of the lid. This causes the return tank's level to always be the height of the standpipe. Because the standpipe's intake is at the bottom of the return tank, I thought that this might trap the floating tramp oil in the smaller tank and reduce contamination in the large tank. This has not been as successful as I'd have liked.

To utilize the maximum fraction of the coolant, I extended the intake of the stock pump with some PVC pipe and a reducing fitting. The pump's inlet is within 1/2" of the bottom of the tank.

I bought some small-diameter clear PVC pipe to use as a sightglass.

The lid of the tank is 1/2" gray PVC sheet, with the half mounting the pump glued into the main tank (sitting on a perimeter band sliced off the main tank, sectioned to reduce its circumfrence and glued inside the main tank) and the other half removable for cleaning.

I found a stainless-steel kitchen sieve that just fits in the opening of the return tank.

I made a platform from a scrap piece of MDF and glued on little cleats to restrain the tank and put it on small casters. I painted the wood with a couple of coats of porch paint to liquid-proof it.

Overall I'm really happy with the tank. I can roll it about easily, being plastic it will not rust, and it is easy to clean, having very few corners. On the other hand, the return tank doesn't do a good job of containing the theoretically-floating tramp oil, and large blobs, with the consistency of very soft gelatin, develop in the tank and every once in a while I fish them out by hand.

Randy

[R.DesJardin]

It seems that a lot of the built it myself mods have fadded away, glad to see this post too, very ingenious.

Who else has done something like this, hello???????????

[zephyr9900]

I like the fact that you can easily fill your tank without moving it from its operational position, R. Even though mine is on casters, I usually top it off from a 3-gallon bucket since that is all I can fit under the driptray. Otherwise I need to wait for the return to stop running or it goes on the floor when I move the tank. But I guess some more PVC pipe and fittings would solve that...

Randy

[rowbare]

Tormach sells a tramp oil pillow. Maybe one of those in your 6" tube would do the job.

bob

[zephyr9900]

Thank you, Bob. I didn't know those even existed. It does sound like just the thing.

Randy

[David Bord]

Randy, really really creative. I like it!

David

[MFchief]

Has anyone tried the tramp oil pillows?

They seem a little pricey, I see others on line for less than $3.00 if purchased in quantity.

Terry

[SteveKoerner]

.... I see others on line for less than $3.00 if purchased in quantity.
Terry

A while ago I searched for cheaper ones online and couldn't come up with anything. Where have you seen $3 pillows?

[MFchief]

This is the one I saw, have no idea about the quality or effectivness, just saw it in google.

Terry


Oil Only 8" x 11" Mini Pillow Absorbents, Spill Kits, Spill Control & Facility Management Products Breg Environmental

[zephyr9900]

From the reading I've been doing since Bob's message, the pillows are just polypropylene batting in a slipcover. Polypropylene is definitely hydrophobic, but I didn't realize it was oil-philic. Breg is also the company I've also found to have the cheapest pillows. For my tank, I'll try subdividing a larger pillow into smaller ones (run a double row of stitching and then cut between) since my intake tank is only 6" diameter and I haven't found any pillows that small.

Randy

[SteveKoerner]

I probably don't want to buy 30 pillows at $2.53 ea but if somebody wants to be an order spliter, I can take 10 or 15 at that price. I can pay by paypal if that helps.