Serious question, has anyone else been totally wrong about coolant ratios?

For years I ran my coolant at a 10% mix because an old boss in Dayton swore by it, said anything more was a waste. I was sure he was right, even when guys talked about running it richer. Then about six months ago, I had a string of parts coming off the VF-2 with a weird, almost sticky film. Tool life was dropping fast too. Out of ideas, I bumped the mix to 15% on a hunch. The film vanished overnight, and my last set of end mills ran for three weeks straight, way longer than before. It turns out our water here is harder than I thought, and the extra concentrate just works better with it. I feel dumb for sticking to that old rule for so long without testing it myself. What's the one shop 'truth' you guys found out was totally wrong for your setup?

3 comments

3 Comments

xenaf511d ago

That old rule is kind of funny... we had the exact opposite problem. Ran a 12% mix for ages, but the shop gets so cold in winter the stuff was practically jello in the sump. A guy from the coolant company finally told us to drop it to 8% for the cold months. Less concentrate actually stopped it from getting so thick and gumming up the pumps. Sometimes the "right" mix is just what works for your building.

annaw731d ago

Wait, doesn't that depend on the type of coolant too? I read some of the newer synthetic ones act totally different in the cold. Your fix makes total sense for your old shop setup.

willowh201d ago

We had the same jello problem in our unheated garage. Dropping the mix a few points made all the difference.