and you can get all the parts for Little Giant Pumps. ( rotors, seals, brushes, motors.) That makes any investment easier to swallow. tomp tjtr33 Merry Merry! Happy Happy!
On Mon, Dec 24, 2018 at 1:28 AM Gene Heskett <ghesk...@shentel.net> wrote: > On Sunday 23 December 2018 09:10:50 Bruce Layne wrote: > > > On Sat, 22 Dec 2018 at 23:50, Gene Heskett <ghesk...@shentel.net> > wrote: > > > The only thing I could not find with any > > > search terms was a 1/2 to 1 gallon water tank to bury the water pump > > > in. > > > > I have a Chinese water cooled spindle on two different home built CNC > > routers. I used a 5 gallon plastic bucket for the coolant tank on > > each. They were free with a cat litter purchase. The plastic snap on > > top is hinged. The back 1/3 stays snapped in place and the front 2/3 > > can be hinged open in case I ever need to dump the coolant, add to it, > > etc. The lid keeps dust and debris out of the closed loop coolant > > system. A small pump is submerged in the coolant and the power cord > > for the pump and the coolant inlet and outlet hoses are routed through > > the back third of the lid that remains snapped onto the top of the > > bucket. > > > > You don't need a big pump regardless of the size of the spindle > > motor. I use a small Little Giant pump that's often sold for > > fountains, hydroponics, etc. I get the best version they make and > > it's still inexpensive. Good brands include Superior and the upper > > end versions of Little Giant. Here are a couple of possible examples. > > > > https://www.ebay.com/itm/362400850664 > > > > https://www.ebay.com/itm/233055122922 > > > > I like the magnetic drive submersible pumps for reliability. I'd pay > > a little more for a long power cord to get any electrical splices well > > away from the coolant and a pipe thread outlet port so you can easily > > find a fitting to connect to the weird metric sized very flexible hose > > that connects to the spindle motor. > > > > These small pumps don't produce much head pressure (aka "lift"). On > > the larger CNC router, I tried to hide the coolant pump under the > > enclosure and route the coolant lines on top of the enclosure and then > > down to the spindle motor. That didn't work because the pump couldn't > > push the coolant that high. I tried a much larger pump trying to > > power my way through the problem and the head pressure was marginal. > > It barely worked, most of the time, but the pump is cooled by the > > coolant and the coolant temperature rose quickly. The coolant was > > cooling the pump more than it was cooling the spindle. I finally gave > > up, went back to the smaller pump, and put the coolant tank on top of > > the CNC router's enclosure so it was pumping down to the spindle motor > > and back up to the coolant tank. The pump only needs enough head > > pressure to clear the top of the coolant tank. A possible down side > > is that a coolant leak could siphon most of the coolant out of the > > coolant tank, but I used good hose and it hasn't been a problem. On > > the small CNC router, I placed the coolant tank on a shelf behind the > > CNC router, and it also pumps down to the spindle motor. > > > > I continue to be impressed with the Chinese water cooled spindle > > motors. The quality is very good. They brag about the precision > > "German" bearings and they are very smooth and have a very precise > > feel, certainly much better than a Porter Cable or Bosch wood working > > router, even though I suspect that "German" is the deliberately > > deceptive name of a company or town in China. Still, good is good. > > > Like comparing a Portor-Cable 692 to a Hitachi MV12, The Hitachi is about > another 50 bucks, and worth every penny. Soft start, dead smooth at any > speed. Too much gingerbread on its outer though. > > > Using four gallons of coolant allows the larger CNC router to run > > pretty much indefinitely now that the garage shop is air conditioned. > > When it was hot in the summer, the coolant would get a bit warm in the > > summer after five hours of hard use of the spindle motor. > > Which is probably 4x longer than it would get run here. This panel with > all the bells enabled is 66 minutes on the 5 to 10 ipm HF toy. With a > faster spindle 30 minutes. > > > Less coolant means it will get hotter sooner. More coolant is an > > easier and cheaper solution than adding a radiator. > > And I have one or two of those buckets. The square ones I might be able > find room for, behind the mill, but will probably have to make a > table/cabinet for the whole thing as I'd think its too tall to fit under > the operator console as it only clears the floor about 48". Somebody > mention 55 kg but I've not been able to find the weight. With free > shipping, ebay doesn't tell you. 55kg = 121lbs. I'd best put castors on > the back and and levelors on it, the shop floor sags with nearly half a > ton in the middle of the floor now. And its been there close to 20 > years. Only treated 4x4's on 24" centers, with 2 layers of 3/4" osb for > a topping. Been tempted to build a better one, but theres not enough of > me left to get it done. I'd start with a much better foundation, filled > with foam and 18" sq pads for support posts down the middle, and maybe > another 4' each way. Structural Foam panels for walls and roofing. Maybe > then I could heat and cool it. That 14x24 garage? One two speed electric > heater keeps it toasty, or a 5k btu AC keeps it comfy in the heat of the > summers. I have an old old steel skinned garage door one of the > neighbors gave me when he saw I was building it. I glued another 2" of > R11 styro to the inside face of 10 years ago, and with the 6" walls > filled with cocoon, and another foot on the ceiling, keeping it T shirt > comfy is not a problem. > > > I use the pink RV safe antifreeze as the coolant. > > Thats propolene glycol, same as KY or wet divers suit lube. And a good > idea. One I hadn't thought of yet, thanks. > > > I don't think it will corrode metals as readily as water and it won't > > freeze in your unheated shop. > > Unheated is relative, I have enough electrical heat to keep it above the > dew point most of the time. Otherwise everything is bright red quickly. > Definitely not "slow rust". :( > > > Unlike some automotive coolant, this is used full > > strength. > > > Yup, its already diluted. > > > I buy liquid LCD thermometer strips on eBay and I'll wrap one around > > the spindle motor and I'll stick another in the electrical panel so I > > can see the temperature at a glance. These are passive thermometers > > with no electronics. They're sold for use in pet terrariums for > > lizards. Direct reading with no batteries to replace. Be sure to get > > one that goes as high as 40C or 104F. The selection isn't as good as > > I remember. > > > > https://www.ebay.com/itm/253864383162 > > Thanks. > > > I wanted to measure the spindle motor temperature rather than the > > coolant temperature to catch a fault where the pump stops pumping. I > > still need to install a thermal switch on the spindle motor to E-stop > > the CNC router if the spindle motor starts to overheat. I wired the > > gantry for the thermal switch but never installed it... or I installed > > the switch but never wired it into the E-stop circuit. These projects > > all blur together in my old brain. > > LMAO! I have half done similar projects too. We must have grown up next > door to the University of Hard Knocks, which I'm an official graduate of > since its just over in Philippi WV. About 30 miles from here. Its > basicly a student loan fundraiser operated by Alderson-Broddus > University which is a Methodist operated school specializing in the > nursing arts with a heavy emphasis on music and the Faith. They graduate > RN's and Nurse Practitioners & music teachers BoA's. The missus has a > Batchelors in music from there. Until the missus started to fade > (copd), I used to try and make the annual Alumni dinner with her. > > Cheers, and a joyous Christmas Bruce, Gene Heskett > -- > "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: > soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." > -Ed Howdershelt (Author) > Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> > > > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
