[JohnJW]

It's my fault. I was cleaning out the coolant tank and instead of using a milder cleaner, ie simple green, I went at it with engine degreaser and about 15% of the coolant tank surface is showing bubbles and a few areas are peeling.

Is there anything I can do about it? touch up paint? or just chalk it up as an experience learned, not to treat the dirty coolant tank differently from the rest of the VF2 and just pour in the new coolant?

thanks,

John

[plasmator]

Krylon.

[Donkey Hotey]

I really doubt the degreaser did the damage. It was probably your coolant. At this point, all you can do is refill and move on. Nothing is going to stick to that metal unless you get it all sandblasted clean, then repainted.

[JohnJW]

I want to think it's the coolant, but the side that I really went at it with the degreaser bubbled the worst. The paint look and felt normal before I sprayed on the degreasing foams. . . .

but it's good to know there is nothing much I can do Refill and move on

[Donkey Hotey]

What the heck kind of degreaser were you using? I'm thinking of Gunk engine foam or something similar. That doesn't damage paint. Heck, I use that stuff to clean road tar off of motorcycle body paint with no ill effects.

If you think it softened the paint, that must have been pretty aggressive stuff.

[JohnJW]

I was using Gunk foam. While trying to get the stick residue line on the coolant tank wall I used multiple applications and let it soak instead of wiping it off after 5~10 minutes.

Maybe it's just coincidence that the bubbling occurred at the same area that I left the foam to soak, but I think I'll stick to simple green from now on.

Should I use a high pressure washer to remove all the paint bubbles and flakes?

[gonc]

I had the same problem on a brand new Super MiniMill 2. I changed coolants and with a few weeks the paint started to peel. It also started to peel in my VF-0E but I changed to a different coolant before it got too bad. BTW, the mystery cooland was Blaser. Never again will i use that. I actually called them about that and some other issues I was having and they basically said it was something i did wrong. Kinda hard to screw up mixing water with a coolant concentrate when you have a mixer and the percentage is exactly what they recommend. But evidently I did wrong in their opinion. I changed to Koolrite, no more problems of any kind, good stuff.

[HuFlungDung]

I wonder if powder coating would be the answer to a permanent paint job inside a coolant tank? My Haas VF3 was badly peeled when I got it, too. Mind you, the coolant keeps the bare metal from rusting, so it is really not a problem to lose the paint, once you get all the loose paint off and out of the system.

[Edster]

I had my 94 fadal's coolant tank powdercoated black a few years ago. It's holding up fine. The tank isn't that big, maybe 40 gallons, so the powdercoater was able to bead blast and bake it no problems.

[DingoHammer]

JohnJW, would the Gunk have removed the paint if it had not already been softened by the coolant? You could try it on a small painted area that has not been exposed to coolant and see.

The Hangsterfers coolant that I am using, I don't remember the number but it is the vegetable oil based coolant, softened and blistered the paint on my Haas mill. The coolant was mixed to manufacturer's recommendations. I don't see how diluting the coolant more would have prevented this, it would have only made it take longer for the blistering to occur.

The paint on the Haas appears to be powder coat. If a coolant does that to paint, I wonder what it does to skin. Coolants have analogies to the snake oils of old, who knows what they contain. It is a business that seems like it would attract unscrupulous characters.

Surely there is a way to make coolants out of common ingredients that will work acceptably well as a lubricant, not peel paint, not rust metal, and not cost so much. I tried Murphy Oil Soap as a mist coolant and it worked well on the small parts I was machining. I didn't test it for paint peeling and rust prevention. If I come up with a good coolant recipe, I will post it here.

[Machineit]

JohnJW, would the Gunk have removed the paint if it had not already been softened by the coolant? You could try it on a small painted area that has not been exposed to coolant and see.

The Hangsterfers coolant that I am using, I don't remember the number but it is the vegetable oil based coolant, softened and blistered the paint on my Haas mill. The coolant was mixed to manufacturer's recommendations. I don't see how diluting the coolant more would have prevented this, it would have only made it take longer for the blistering to occur.

The paint on the Haas appears to be powder coat. If a coolant does that to paint, I wonder what it does to skin. Coolants have analogies to the snake oils of old, who knows what they contain. It is a business that seems like it would attract unscrupulous characters.

Surely there is a way to make coolants out of common ingredients that will work acceptably well as a lubricant, not peel paint, not rust metal, and not cost so much. I tried Murphy Oil Soap as a mist coolant and it worked well on the small parts I was machining. I didn't test it for paint peeling and rust prevention. If I come up with a good coolant recipe, I will post it here.

The post is over a year old!

[DingoHammer]

I know