[Donkey Hotey]

I've got two ideas / questions for the Haas coolant system. I would have posted this in general machines but some aspects of these ideas might be only be applicable to Haas equipment.

1) Filtration of fines and contaminates:
I tend to take shallow, high speed cuts in aluminum. This produces all kinds of small particles of aluminum. I find that these make it through the 'Chip Trap' prefilter I have on the machine. They also stay suspended in the coolant and many make it past the labrynth in the coolant tank only to be recycled by the pump where they get recut on my parts. It's not good for the pump and it's not good for my parts.

My idea is to purchase a 'whole house' water filtration system and plumb it into the pump outlet, before the washdown hose or coolant feed lines. Whirlpool sells a huge, whole house filter with a see-through case for about $60 and an inexpensive pleated cartridge for about $15 (local Lowes store).

For drinking water, that particular cartridge doesn't look like it would do much but it looks like it would be a perfect filter for a CNC (they do offer better cartridges for drinking water but they'd probably inhibit the coolant flow).

It could either be plumbed to only the coolant feed, the wash hose or both. It'd be an easy way to capture those fines before they get sprayed at the part and endlessley recirculated. Yeah, the stuff would go through the pump once but that would be the end of it.

2) Automatic Shutoff Valve for the Washdown Hose:
Again, the pump has a standard 'hose bib' thread. Every time I use the washdown hose, I am forced to shutoff all the taps in the cabinet or walk around behind the machine to shut off one of the lines (not easy to get to in my case).

My idea here was to purchase a household sprinkler valve to switch the outlet to the coolant nozzles on and off. They do sell sprinkler valves which don't have the anti-siphon valve. That's the kind you'd need or risk it belching coolant every time the pump shuts off.

A few plastic pipe fittings, some wire and maybe a relay and away you go. The idea is to shut off coolant flow to the spindle area any time the doors are open (or maybe when the spindle isn't running). You could open the doors after a cycle and just spray away with the washdown hose without having to shut valves off.

Now the question is: how would you activate the valve? I was thinking of finding a 'door open' trigger somewhere on the I/O board and tying in to that logic. It seems there isn't anything 'easy' to give that signal. If I had the high intensity lighting option, that switch would be perfect to tie into the system.

Any other tinkerers have an opinion on interfacing such a valve?

How about the coolant filtration idea? Any pitfalls that I haven't anticipated?

[duenow]

How about the coolant filtration idea? Any pitfalls that I haven't anticipated?

I put one of them on my Haas mini mill & it works great, before the locklines would
plug up.

[Donkey Hotey]

Did you buy the 3-4" diameter filter or the smaller 2" diameter variety?

How often do you have to clean / replace the element?

[duenow]

3-4" one. Clean about every two months, I just rinse it off (but I stock extras).

[Geof]

Go through this thread, I posted a picture of what we use.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14837

We find the filters need replacing every three to six months. One thing we did discover is that some filters are made from a synthetic materials that swells with the coolant and blocks the flow even though the filter is not clogged with particles. You may need to experiment and find out which cartridge is best.

[Donkey Hotey]

Hey Geof, that's a great thread--exactly what I was thinking. It's good to know that somebody has already been there. I'll pick up a filter on my next Lowes run.

My biggest concern was things like coolant flow and possibly clogging the filters from tramp oil collecting in the media and getting gummy.

[jlembas]

Be careful with the "sprinkler" valves as they require a high PSI to operate correctly. They are also very restrictive when it comes to low PSI high volume pumps.

[djr76]

I built a screen out of wood and some steel screen material that fit in the front of the reservoir that fit in the tray to capture any chips. It looked like a shallow box with a screen bottom. If you have an older machine, you can just take the bottom skirt off the side to access it better.

If you got a few buck to throw around, check out this site http://www.kellerproducts.net/, they make filtration systems for metalworking fluids. I have them mounted on all my Haas machines. Im sure you can buy most of the stuff through Grainger to make essentially the same thing they have going.

[lovell110]

I went a real low buck way. I was machining plastics and I stole my wife's vegtable strainer. The screen had a fine mesh that allowed the coolant through but caught all the chips. Shame I didn't think of it before I had to unclog all my coolant lines. I also found out she wasn't real happy about it but I sure like the outcome.

[Edster]

Haas uses a strainer on the SL-10 lathe. It's about the size of a large coffey can and sits under the pump. I have the high volume pump on that machine, which looks like the standard mill pump, so it will fit your vf2. Plus I think it's stainless and it will stop the chips from entering the pump. Ocassionally I have to clean it, when I hear the pump sucking air.

I was thinking about picking one up for my Fadal too.

[HelicopterJohn]

Hi Greg,

Well, I finally got my new HAAS TM-1P and I am getting everything set up. I have attached a few pictures of the Filtration and Wash Down System I am hooking up to my high output 3/4 HP coolant pump. I also make a bracket to hold the filter and added some piping so that I can have more options on the coolant nozzle selection. I will post some pictures of that tomorrow when I get finished with that part of the installation.

I have also included a strainer to catch the big stuff and the filter to catch anything else that may get through.

John

[Donkey Hotey]

Hey John, that looks great. So you're using a pre-strainer to keep the big chunks out of the filter cartridge? Good idea since that'll be most of it anyway. It'll save the mess of getting that big filter loose just to clean out big chunks.

BTW: I noticed you're using a barbed fitting on the inlet. Did you look at washing machine and dishwasher hoses? They're 3/4 female hose thread on both ends.

If you dig in the sprinkler aisle, you'll find the plastic fittings to go from 1/2 or 3/4 NPT to hose thread.

In other words: you should be able to stub right out of the pump and the strainer with a male plastic hose nipple and connect them with a washing machine hose.

[HelicopterJohn]

Hi Greg,

I purchased the Strainer at Grainger, the Filter and cartridge at Lowes and got the fittings at Home Depot. I don't shop at Lowes too often so I had some trouble finding stuff and couldn't find a sales associate so I went to Home Depot.

I was also looking for some 1/4" pipe fittings and Lowes doesn't stock them. I had every intention of getting the garden hose fittings but forgot about that idea when I arrived at Home Depot.

I may revise my plan and get a couple of the 1/2 MPT to Garden Hose male fittings and the washer double female garden hose. That way I can disconnect it easily if I ever need to service the coolant tank.

Thanks for giving me the wake up call. With that 3/4 HP pump I will be :drowning: in coolant.

John

[Geof]

On the topic of Coolant Tricks I suppose most people use LocLine; anybody who uses an el cheapo rip-off should hang their head in shame. Locline is the best but sometimes it cannot be bent around tight enough to get the coolant just where you want it. My solution is to use hydraulic brakeline tubes; these can be bought at any auto parts place in various sizes along with adapters to fit pipe thread. The tube is soft, can be bent on very tight curves and is small enough you can actually lay it alongside a boring bar on the lathe or right up against a milling cutter interpolating a hole. If it gets caught up in chips and gets eaten by the tool or gets smunched by the toolchanger that is no problem because it is so soft and cheap to replace.

[HelicopterJohn]

Hi Greg & Geof,

Thanks for the tips.

This is what I finally came up with yesterday. I took the barbed fittings back to Home Depot and got a couple of 1/2' pipe thread to 3/4" pipe thread male adapters and used the washing machine hose (double female) connection. It should make it easier if I need to remove the coolant tank for any type of maintenance.

I also revamped the coolant nozzle installation to give me more options of coolant direction selection. I will see how this works. I can always revise it as the fittings are 1/4" pipe thread.

The last thing I did was make a little magnet hanger bracket for the white coolant filtration bowl wrench which is used for installation and removal of the bowl. That way I can basically put the wrench anywhere on the metal cabinet without drilling any additional mounting holes.

I have attached a few pictures for your amusement.

I anticipate working on sealing (caulking) the enclosure today to prevent as many leaks as possible in the enclosure.

I have also ordered an aquarium air pump to aerate the coolant fluid and will install it. I will mix the coolant and then I should have it pretty much complete.

I also ordered a refractometer for verifying the coolant concentration.

The only other thing I may look at is a skimmer. I would appreciate any input on what you guys have used and associated links that I could look at.

Just trying to get all these details out of the way prior to using the machine.

Any other comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

John

[l u k e]

I was wondering how these systems are holding up for you guys?

I picked up the GE GXWH04F today, but Grainger has since discontinued the strainer. I did find one at Drillspot with larger in/out ports.

I see you guys are using standard washing machine lines, I was wondering how the coolant flow worked out with the smaller lines? Those are considerably smaller than the lines Haas plumbed my system with.

[HelicopterJohn]

Hi Luke,

I should have posted something about this earlier. I had 2 of the clear housing water filter housings bust on me. I guess the acrylic can't stand the sudden pulse of coolant that the 3/4 HP pump puts out. I finally took my back for a refund. They cracked down the side and leaked coolant all over the floor. Glad I wasn't running unattended or the whole shop would have been covered with coolant.

Another friend of mine had the same issues and broke a couple of the same clear plastic housing water filters. He took his back for a refund and then purchased another brand that had an opaque housing. To the best of my knowledge is is doing o.k.

Presently I am using just the strainer that I purchased at Grainger.

This has been my experience and your mileage may differ.

[Donkey Hotey]

John,

What brand / type of coolant were you running? I'm sure it has something to do with the chemical make-up of the coolant and the shell not liking each other.

I'm running Vasco 1000 in my VF-2. The problem I had was the O-ring swelled from the coolant and I couldn't get it back in. I need to order another one but, haven't been running that machine much lately. I think the shell is still fine.

The other problem was that after some time, the coolant would clog the filter media with its buttery residue. After that, it barely flowed.

[Matt@RFR]

The other problem was that after some time, the coolant would clog the filter media with its buttery residue. After that, it barely flowed.

Yep, I just got done with a cast iron job in my mill and I was having to swap coolant filters (and strainer) every 15th part or so. 250 parts, and that got old fast. I found that you can just spray the filters off with a garden hose and put them back in service. I have pressure gages on both sides of the filter, and by re using the filters, I only lose about 1/2-1psi. Anything besides cast iron and brass should be much better than that.

And as a note to others, I have the clear can on my filter (bought from McMaster, I believe), and it's been playing nice with Blaser BC20SW for about 2.5 years now.

I also just got a Zebra coalescer with filter, and man did it catch some cast iron in the past 5 days! It will be interesting to let the coalescer run over the weekend and see what it comes up with.

[HelicopterJohn]

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the input on the type of coolant you use in your machine.

I am using Castrol Hysol MB50 (Fomerly (WS3-177D) Coolant. My friend also uses that same coolant so it could possibly be a coolant issue.

I am very satisfied with the coolant performance and it doesn't stain the interior of the cabinet or remove any of the paint.

Just thought I would give a heads up to Luke in case he incountered the same issue after usage if he purchased the clear acrylic type filter housing.

Of course the filters were designed to filter water and not a combination of water and coolant. That may??? be the reason you have flow problems after a certain amount of usage.

I would like to install another cartridage type filter. I am waiting to see how long my friends new opaque filter housing lasts. Maybe that will help with the coolant makeup issue. The filter element makup may be another issue to get more input on.

John