Recommissioning and operating at colder temps

I'm getting back into the shop after a long hiatus (6+ months) and am wondering about two things. First, any special things I should do when firing the machine back up after a long rest? My thinking was to run the oil pump for a cycle before moving the axes at all as the ways are pretty dry, and then giving it another cycle or two of oil while moving them around to give it a good wetting. Anything else I should check or do to avoid damaging anything? Visible surfaces are as rust-free as when I Iast ran it.

Second, my unheated space is down to the high 50s (F) and will likely be there until March or so. The manual says normal operating range is down to 45F so I'm assuming there's nothing special I need to do. I'm not worried about holding tenths so any movement of the machine over 20 degrees will be a non-issue.

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Originally Posted by sansbury

I'm getting back into the shop after a long hiatus (6+ months) and am wondering about two things. First, any special things I should do when firing the machine back up after a long rest? My thinking was to run the oil pump for a cycle before moving the axes at all as the ways are pretty dry, and then giving it another cycle or two of oil while moving them around to give it a good wetting. Anything else I should check or do to avoid damaging anything? Visible surfaces are as rust-free as when I Iast ran it.

Second, my unheated space is down to the high 50s (F) and will likely be there until March or so. The manual says normal operating range is down to 45F so I'm assuming there's nothing special I need to do. I'm not worried about holding tenths so any movement of the machine over 20 degrees will be a non-issue.

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I have auto oiler pump and noticed when its cold the oil system seams to not function well. I try to oil z ways from top before doing much when shop hits low temps. That's about it. Maybe put some never seize on the r8 tts holder as per directions and check pdb and adjust.

Check that the coolant pump hasn't clogged up. If there's chips in the tank, the metal ion esthers in the coolant will want to create residue on the walls of everything that is wet. This may be enough to clog the cooling pump.
Also, coolant may go bad after a while, if you are unlucky and get bacteria or other microbes in it.
If you know it's going to be parking the machine, it may help to fully drain and flush/clean it before you do so.

Good thing I don't use flood coolant :cheers: - I do everything with a Fogbuster because I don't like the mess and difficulty of disposing of spent coolant.

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difficulty of disposing of spent coolant

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That just gets recycled and re-used, until it evaporates and you have to re-fill, right?
At some point, the ester-ion-soap build-up will need to be scrubbed out, for sure, but that's part of yearly maintenance (or whatever your interval is, depending on how much you use it.)
Also, the esters in the coolant aren't toxic, I don't think there are any regulations against just pouring them down the drain, if you really need to. No worse than pouring out a bottle of vodka.
Nothing wrong with fogging, though -- just interested in what the problem you're anticipating.
(Of course, if you don't have an enclosure / collection pan, it gets harder. I used a 1100 and 1100 S3 with the foot-high side shields only, and it at times led to wet floors...)

I suspect that spent coolant is not a good thing to dump down the sewer! I'm on a septic tank so definitely not a good idea. Around here there are "toxic waste days". They'll take most anything liquid and without charge.

I’m in an industrial building in Boston, and while I could probably get away with flushing stuff, I’d prefer to go out of my way to minimize any chance of getting a call from the environmental police. And given my irregular schedule, a tank of mist spares me a lot of other trouble. I am thinking though of upgrading to a dual head Fogbuster for better chip clearing. Aside from trying to machine deep pockets unattended, fog does everything I need.

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I suspect that spent coolant is not a good thing to dump down the sewer!

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It just isn't that bad. The active ingredient in coolant is, AFAICT, esters, because ester plus metal ion makes what's effectively a pre-cursor to soap.
The job of the ester is to pick up on metal ions before they can oxidize and cause rust.
The actual lubricating and cooling qualities come mostly from the water itself.
Most chem labs will tell you that flushing esters down the drain is totally safe. It really is chemically not much different from flushing down a bottle of vodka, or even a bottle of soft soap!

The material safety datasheet of the DuraKut 4010 that Tormach sells (the blue stuff) states that the only environmental hazard is that, if there's a large spill on a road on a rainy day, it may cause a slippery condition.

I'm all for not ruining your my creeks and lakes, not to mention municipal sewage treatment facility, but science says that this stuff is no worse than soap.
Then again, I can't prevent you from doing what you're gonna do :-) Also, for me, I've never had to flush it, because it evaporates. My problem is re-filling often enough to not run dry in the middle of a heavy run ...
Not trying to be difficult in any way, just sharing what I know about this particular fluid. (So the greater internet can correct me when I get it all wrong ;-)

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Originally Posted by jwatte

It just isn't that bad. The active ingredient in coolant is, AFAICT, esters, because ester plus metal ion makes what's effectively a pre-cursor to soap.
The job of the ester is to pick up on metal ions before they can oxidize and cause rust.
The actual lubricating and cooling qualities come mostly from the water itself.
Most chem labs will tell you that flushing esters down the drain is totally safe. It really is chemically not much different from flushing down a bottle of vodka, or even a bottle of soft soap!

The material safety datasheet of the DuraKut 4010 that Tormach sells (the blue stuff) states that the only environmental hazard is that, if there's a large spill on a road on a rainy day, it may cause a slippery condition.

I'm all for not ruining your my creeks and lakes, not to mention municipal sewage treatment facility, but science says that this stuff is no worse than soap.
Then again, I can't prevent you from doing what you're gonna do :-) Also, for me, I've never had to flush it, because it evaporates. My problem is re-filling often enough to not run dry in the middle of a heavy run ...
Not trying to be difficult in any way, just sharing what I know about this particular fluid. (So the greater internet can correct me when I get it all wrong ;-)

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The federal EPA has lost its teeth, but your state EPA might have something to say about flushing used coolant down the drain. If nothing else, it will be mixed with tramp oil, which is definitely not good for landfills or groundwater, there will also be small particles and possibly dissolved metals from whatever you are cutting.

The oil is a good point!
That being said, the University of California documents esters as drain-safe, and I think CA is generally on the leading edge there...
Then again, pouring it down the drain isn't something I run into, because it all just evaporates and I keep having to add more. It's like a thirsty animal.

The one time I tried flood coolant, years ago, it started turning funky before it evaporated. I think it was WS-11 soluble oil. Maybe that's not the best choice but I had some left over and figured to try it. I can go weeks or months without running so having to worry about coolant going bad is another issue where the fog wins.

One thing I didn't mention when starting back up.
Last year about this time I got real sick and was not able to do anything for months. When I did get shop time, I was all thumbs. Haimer probes and other delicate tools were all at risk from my machine control and setup skills. Even some of my cam work had to be redone a couple times because of dumb mistakes caused by not using it for months.