Tormach Coolant

Space Teams Machining Shop
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I have added around two gallons of distilled water over the past 5 days and the overall volume is still low enough that pressure goes down during longer sessions/cuts.

Yesterday I thoroughly cleaned the chip trap and the reservoir looks clear. Overall level was low, maybe 1cm. So I’m thinking it just needs a larger refill. Google says it should be able to hold up to 12 gallons.

Would a steward let me know what coolant is currently loaded and if there is available stock? I’m familiar with using the refractometer to check that it’s 5%.

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I’ve had to add another gallon in the middle of my last session that was about 3 hours long. I don’t remember having to do this before.

I wonder if we can add an external coolant level monitor, I’ll be honest, the get-down-and-open-the-door-and-poke-a-finger-into-the-tank step is very cumbersome and I think this as well as a more accessible light switch would be some good quality-of-life Tormach improvements.

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It seems newer Tormach models have a sight glass for coolant, which wouldn’t be too tricky to retrofit. e.g. Tormach Approved: Coolant Sight Gauge Kit

somebody suitably inclined could probably rig up a remote level display with a float sensor, but that might be more trouble than it’s worth (unless someone just finds it a fun project, in which case don’t let me stop you :slight_smile: )

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The Tormach coolant is the Fusion brand; there is a big bucket of the concentrate in the bottom of the machine shop cabinet. If you want to mix some up, I’ll DM you info about the tools you’ll need.

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That would be great, thank you.

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This lidar fuel level sensor could also work with pretty minimal modification

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Info sent. @EricP , are we mixing the Fusion coolant according to directions, or are we aiming for a target Brix?

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Mixing via the instructions should give you a brix of 5 , this is roughly where we want it to be.

As Matt has said before its best not to put direct DI water in but premix in the 1 gal or a bucket before hand.

Unfortunately an additional reservoir or a replacement tank to bring the coolant up to 20+ gallons is probably the only solution to not having to add coolant on longer runs. 12 gallons is simply not big enough.

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vented backup tank gravity fed to a toilet float valve?

Whether topping off with mix or water we’d have to keep an eye on the tank concentration.

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We can get a bucket to keep premixed coolant in if it’s needed.

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Ok, some findings:

  1. The capacity is actually 7 gallons, not 11 (11 is the newer model). Ref: Tormach PCNC 1100 Technical Specifications
  2. The volume was OK, I estimate it at 6 gallons.
  3. The mix was very light, just around 1.
    before
    before1920×2550 74.6 KB
  4. I added 1 gallon, premixed in a bucket at 35%, resulting in a little above 4:
    after
    after1920×2550 96.8 KB
  5. I cleaned the chip tray, confirmed there were no clogs of chips in the reservoir, and ran without losing pressure for ~40 minutes. This was with nozzle pointed straight at the drain.

I have several sessions planned for the next couple of weeks and will re-adjust after there has been some evaporation and there is room to add more fluid.

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I’ve gotten a couple of additional buckets and lids, which means we should be able to store more pre-mixed lubricants of both types and still have a spare mixing bucket.