Question about using WD-40 as coolant in my Kool Mister instead.

I’m running hardened steel about 50 Rc in my little modified CNC and the standard water soluble coolant just wasn’t cutting it. So I devised this plan to run treated WD-40 in my Kool mister instead! Treated I mean adding about 5% tapping fluid mixed into the WD-40 just to enhance the lubrication properties thus gaining some tool life. Low and behold it worked and it worked quite well!! Then after about 40 minutes of cycling she stopped drawing anything out of the tank at all. Instead my Kool Mister just started blowing bubbles out of the pick-up hose down in the tank. Crap, what did I do wrong…. So I tear the unit apart swapped out the O-rings made sure everything was tight and still nothing. My question: has anybody ever tried this concept before? And my bigger question is was it working for you.
Thanks in advance.

The tapping fluid may have clotted with the WD40, causing a plug up in the mixing head. Either is NOT good to run in a spray mist.

http://www.wd40company.com/files/pdf...d447382569.pdf

Try veggy oil next time. Lubes well and is a little safer.

Was thinking of categorizing WD-40 in a spray mist as Bad. Then I thought maybe Bad Bad. I've decided to put in Bad Bad Bad.

Spend a day breathing the fumes, and you'll spend a week hacking. Maybe longer. Great cutting fluid for aluminum, great for wet sanding aluminum. Works great in a spray mist,,,, but don't.

WD-40 has some volatiles with low flash points. I would not advise to atomize WD-40 beyond what pressure and volume comes out of a typical WD-40 aerosol can. Can you say, "Am I missing an eyebrow?"

Ooh you-guys are over thinking this…. 1st I’m not atomizing the WD-40, it spits out in droplets! Much more dense then what would come out of a can. Also I’ve been using WD-40 for over 25 years as a lubricant during my machining and I’ve put the stuff through the ringer in some extremely hot situations and never came close to sparking it up. Made a lot of smoke but no fire. Lastly I never use the spray can variant I buy it in bulk 1 gallon cans and use an acid brush to apply typically.
But thanks anyway.

Well, there is cost to consider. You are probably paying around $23 per gallon of WD-40. A gallon of KoolMist at 20:1 mix makes 21 gallons of coolant for about $40 (plus cost of 20 gallons of water). $23 times 21 is $483 for equivalent volume. I would go with the coolant and not the WD-40.

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Originally Posted by txcncman

Well, there is cost to consider. You are probably paying around $23 per gallon of WD-40. A gallon of KoolMist at 20:1 mix makes 21 gallons of coolant for about $40 (plus cost of 20 gallons of water). $23 times 21 is $483 for equivalent volume. I would go with the coolant and not the WD-40.

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The cost factor to consider is the hardened 50Rc steel and also the coated powdered cobalt drills & coated carbide center drills (all specials). The costs for WD-40 becomes secondary. Besides, as I stated water solubles can't do the job in this situation and the manufacturer recommendations are to use oil. Really my only dilemma is why did my Mister stop working, could be time to just replace it.
Cheers!

Did you disassemble it and try to "back flush" it?

Yes I did, at least 3 times plus I replaced the O-rings. It's crazy the darn thing is like new! There are no holes in the siphon hose nothing that I can see that would cause it to start blowing air back down the siphon hose into the tank. Shoot it was working perfectly and being honest it was awesome to watch these tools working hardened steel like it was nothing. No smoke no sparks just nice quite machining & increased productivity vs everything else I've tried. But the question still remains am I over-reaching a Kool Mist coolant units capability or is it just my unit now shot and it's time to replace it.

Have you tried lower air pressure? Bubbles is usually caused by the air tip blocked causing back pressure.

Yeap sure did nothing has worked so far. I think I'm calling Fastenal in the morning and buying a new one.
Hay thanks for all the help, have a good one!

It sounds a lot like classic "foaming". My guess is that the liquids came with some kind of de-foaming agent in them, and after about an hour of use (per your post) the anti-foaming agent evaporated.

Foam can be a challenge to solve, but the most common methods are to search out a de-foaming agent, or add a bubble breaker to the tank.

Take a look at the MSDS sheet for WD 40 and your tapping fluid, and likely it will list the contents, or close enough.

Ok after yesterdays & last nights discussion I came up with an obvious plan. 1st thing this morning I’m grabbing a bucket of water and drop the siphon hose in then fire the system up & see what happens. If she draws plain water through the system and works fine then chances were she isn’t able to draw the light oil based solution and my idea is basically expecting too much out of a misting system. Or in short, no you can’t run WD-40 thru a Mister. But the flip side is if she didn’t draw any water thru the system either then the unit it self has to be tired and it time to replace it. Well this was exactly what happened. I messed with it for 20 minutes and she just sat there blowing bubble in the water so I jumped online and bought a new one. Yes I’m going to run my highbred WD-40 mix thru the new one when it shows up as well. So in conclusion I have no idea what’s wrong with my old one she looks like new but I’m tired of messing with it so out she goes.
Thanks you guys.
Have a good one!