Staining on Aluminum 6061-T651

[Guess_who]

On 8/11/2017 at 3:54 PM, Matthew Hajicek™ - Conventus said:

Try putting a crystal pyramid on top of the machine to purify it's chi.

And if that doesn't work I'm going with a Makino Voodoo doll and pin it until it does what I want. 

 

We are currently draining and cleaning out the coolant reservoir. I'll let you guys know if that fixes it. 

[Ewood42]

If it doesn't, try leaving a sheet of cardboard on the table over the weekend to see if you have anything dripping in the machine. I know you said it's a new machine, but just because a machine is new does not mean it has no incontinence issues. Our brand new NVX5080? Ways leak like a sieve. Our fanuc robot for material handling? Pissing oil within the first 6 months. You never know.

 

Hopefully it's just contaminants in the coolant, because otherwise you might be looking for a new oil that will not stain or leave any residues, and still meets machine spec so you're not voiding your warranty. We made a ton of parts for Intel there, so I too spent a good bit of time chasing my tail on contamination issues. I feel your pain.

[DavidB]

Did you find the colprit or a solution?

Cheers Dave

[Guess_who]

15 hours ago, DavidB said:

Did you find the colprit or a solution?

Cheers Dave

I wish I can say for sure. But after cleaning out the coolant tank, the staining went away, We will see if it stays gone. 

[htm01]

we had a problem with molds made from QC7 aluminum, corrosion was like a bacteria infection that followed the grain of the material eating it away, we ended up switching to another material

[Mike@Lustre]

If the machine is a box way design I bet it's way oil mixing in with the coolant  . We run 6061-t6 on our lathes and if a part gets any way oil on it mixed with coolant we get similar staining . Seeing that you have swapped out the coolant and cleaned the system and the problem disappeared I suspect it's tainted coolant with traces of way oil . We have a coolant supplier come in every few months and take samples , they send a report on what they find in the coolant .

[mkd]

i get this with 7075 but not 6061. make sense since corrosion is a drawback of 7000 series.

 Always wanted to attach a sacrificial piece of Magnesium to the fixture to see if it would prevent oxidation/staining.

[Guess_who]

I convinced the building manager to start a bi-monthly PM to completely clean out the coolant tank. So if it's trace oils, or the "mud" created from reaming the .016 holes, It should keep it gone.  

[Cannon]

I had the same problem of staining and we machine cast iron and many other materials with this machine. When I start aluminium job I will top out the coolant tank with high concentrate coolant and it has solved my problem for now.

[Leon82]

9 hours ago, Cannon said:

I had the same problem of staining and we machine cast iron and many other materials with this machine. When I start aluminium job I will top out the coolant tank with high concentrate coolant and it has solved my problem for now.

Yea, cast iron will make a coolant tank nasty. 

 

We had a long run of invar on our MX 520 which uses way grease and the coolant became vile. Had to do a full cleanout