Here you will find tips on how to avoid problems with your coolant.

Water-miscible cooling lubricants such as FUCHS ECOCOOL require a certain amount of attention when production is shut down on the affected machine tools in order to avoid problems during the downtime and when restarting later.

These measures are for water-containing metal cutting fluids, but similar guidelines should be followed for other metal processing fluids. Straight oil systems should be fine without any additional treatment with the exception of dealing with fines/swarf/chips settling in tanks that could cause start-up issues with pumps.

FUCHS product management experts recommend the following measures:

1. Check the age of the system. If it is near a normal dump and recharge condition that would be the preferred activity. It is ok to leave systems empty, but recommend coating all metal surfaces with either an acceptable rust preventative or spraying a 3-4% solution of an ECOCOOL fluid prior to shutting down.

2. Ensure the pH of the system is above 8.5, but preferably between 8.8-9.2. Exceptions would be for pH neutral fluids like ECOCOOL SYN 2175 with a range of 7.0-8.0.  If the pH is below recommended range, add pH Conditioner #4 until the pH is acceptable.

3. Ensure the concentration of ECOCOOL is within normal operating range. In general, a minimum of 3-4% should provide adequate biological and corrosion control, but higher concentrations would be preferred.

4. Test the system(s) for bacteria and fungus. If bacteria is above 10^3 or fungus is above 10^1 a treatment with appropriate biocide is recommended prior to shutting down. The use of RENOCLEAN SGC 62 or 72 at 1-2% in systems during operation prior to shutting down will assist with biological control and removal of residues without detriment to tooling, foam or operator environment.

5. Monitor tramp oils. When possible, remove all surface tramp oils or other contaminants to ensure that the coolant is not cut off from the environment since this can lead to increased biological activity and odors.

6. Attempt to provide some circulation to the systems daily, even if just on a timer or dropping an air hose to provide some movement of the fluid. Recommended circulation is 4-5 hours per day if possible.

7. If the system is to be down for more than two weeks, a treatment with a biocide and 3-4 hours circulating time is recommended weekly or at least every two weeks.

8. Melchem C 80 can be used to boost rust protection for sensitive systems.

9. Optional, but the use of RENOSTAT L at 1:1000 dosage prior to start-up of production will reduce odors for operators. This additive contains copper, so please verify that it’s use is acceptable for waste treatment and water discharge considerations.

10. Supply of system samples to our TS lab prior to start up (after circulation) can ensure the fluid(s) are ready for the performance required.

If you have any further technical questions please contact our product management team at  (442) 238 9100.