[turbo2ltr]

I don't use coolant very often (I only use my machine 0-2 times a week, and coolant even less that that). But when I need coolant, I'd like it to be there without having to remember to go out and buy 10 gallons of distilled water. The hot and dry weather in AZ cause my water based coolant (Koolmist 77) to evaporate quickly from the sump, even with the cover on it (it's far from a close fit as it has a skimmer on the cover). The bubbler I had in the tank just made evaporation that much worse.

Has anyone ever made a "two stage" sump that would allow the majority of the coolant to sit in a sealed container when not in use?

I'm thinking some sort of scavenge pump at the bottom of the machine that pumps to a sealed container which has the main coolant pump... Of course this would render the skimmer useless. It would also require some sort of decent filtering or the scavenge pump wouldn't last long.

Or any other ideas to fix this problem?

Thanks,
Mike

[Algirdas]

first idea is to keep Your machine running.
next is - pumping. Use sludged water pump

[underthetire]

No good way to fix it, but a swamp cooler in the shop helps a lot. We had the same thing in Nevada during the summer. If you have AC running, it's even worse. People who don't really know DRY heat, just can't understand how quick it happens.

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

Any body with a grinding shop knows about coolant evaporation. I live in not all that dry Wisconsin and it's a problem here too.

I like your separate reservoir idea. Kinda like a dry oil sump in a race car engine.

You could use the reservoir to separate the tramp oil when the coolant isn't in use. Be sure to watch the coolant for biological problems (bugs feeding on oil).

Dick Z