Shoutout to the guy on the shop floor who said coolant concentration doesn't matter much

I was topping off the tank on our Haas VF2 and another operator said he just adds water to keep it full. I always stuck to the 8% mix, but figured he had a point about saving money. Then last week, I saw his machine's way covers were all rusty and the finish on his aluminum parts looked terrible. My boss told me his tool life was half of mine. So I'm back to checking concentration with a refractometer every Monday. Anyone else have a simple trick to keep up with coolant checks without it being a whole thing?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_amy13d ago

Can you believe some people still think that? It's not just about rust, it's about protecting the whole machine. That water will ruin seals and bearings over time. The small cost of proper coolant mix is nothing compared to a major repair. I keep my refractometer in my toolbox so it's always right there.

emma_lee2213d ago

Wow, that's wild! Did your boss ever make him pay for any of the damage?

finleym3713d ago

Heard about a buddy at another shop who ran straight water for months to save a few bucks. His spindle bearings started making this awful grinding noise, and the repair bill was more than a year's worth of coolant concentrate. Now I keep a little refractometer right on the coolant cart next to the machine. Makes it easy to do a quick check while I'm filling up, takes like 30 seconds. That guy learned the hard way that the cheap way ends up costing way more.