[TXFred]

The boss has asked me to look into oil skimmers for our machines. I searched around and read old threads, but I still have some questions.

We have a VF-2, a TM-3, a SL-20 and a TL-3. The TM-3 has a tiny coolant tank, so probably won't get a skimmer. All four machines use Liquid Ice coolant.

What is better, belt or disk style? In my research, one 'zone poster claimed that disk style skimmers drag out a lot of coolant with the oil, but that belt style skimmers don't do this.

Are there any particular brands that are better?

Is there any way to plumb the output of the skimmers into the breakroom coffeepot? I'm hoping to kill two birds with one stone by cleaning up our coolant and improving the quality of the coffee.:devious:

Has anyone tried the $50 skimmers that are available on MSC? Part number is 02036655. I'm not clear if these come with a belt, so that could be a hidden cost. The price is attractive, but only if they are decent machines.

On a related note, I've been thinking about ways to limit bacteria growth. One idea that occurred to me was to use a UV unit from a fishpond to sterilize the coolant as it circulates. I'd like to know if anyone has tried this.

I look forward to reading your replies.

Sincerely,
Frederic

[underthetire]

1st, only use belt skimmers. We use Abanaki, Oil Skimmers - Removing Oil from Water | Abanaki Oil Skimming they are more, but last for more than a year. Plus you can get the ones with the built in timer, thats a nice feature. For the small tanks, someone posted here a few weeks ago about a O-ring skimmer, was able to run in only a couple inches of coolant. We are supposed to be ordering one for a small Okuma we have. The UV lights have been done for years, there was a company that made them for machine tools. Personally, I didnt see much difference with them. If you keep the oil off the top of the coolant, it can get more air and doesn't seem to grow so bad. Fish tank bubblers help with machines that sit. And most important with ALL coolants, add coolant to water, not water to coolant. The biocide in the coolant will cook if you add water to the coolant when mixing.

[haastec]

The best I have seen is a product called a skimmerator. A bit pricy but works better than anything else I have seen.

Regarding coolant, another thing that will go along way is to use good water such as reverse osmosis. If you are in an area with hard water (who isn't anymore) then the hevy minerals will break the emulsion process of the oil and shorten the life of the coolant tremendously.

Good luck!

[cnc_toad]

Just to add my 2 cents. I run a Haas MiniMill and had some thick sludge appear after introducing and anti foam agent to my coolant. After searching around a bit I settled on the tubetastic tube skimmer made by Abanaki. I was lucky to locate a like new machine on Ebay.

It works a lot better than I thought it would. First I ran it with the coolant running and doing that pushed the sludge towards the tube which pulled out enormous amounts of the sludge.

Then when the sludge got to a level where the current would not focus the sludge far enough to the tube I shut down the coolant and kept the skimmer running. Doing this generated its own current and in two hours my coolant tank was sludge free.

Great product for a comparably small price.

[Frirreety]

I heard someone on the radio explain that the skimmer just uses various tanks to let the oil/water mixture settle and separate. Then the water is pumped back into the ocean.But these oil skimmers are available in a range of sizes and in pneumatic or hydraulic drive for oil spill response or industrial use.
Oil Spill Skimmer

[wcbob]

goggle coolant maintance.com good info. I use the tube type skimmer from Zebra because its small and works, here in the haas showroom in anaheim.