Noticed a shift in how shops handle coolant maintenance lately

Three years ago, the place I worked at in Dayton just topped off the sump and called it good. Last month, a new foreman started a weekly pH and concentration check with a refractometer. The parts are coming out cleaner, and the machines smell better. How often does your shop actually test the coolant?

3 comments

3 Comments

bailey.xena2mo ago

That "special, rusty perfume" just means the coolant is working hard and saving you a ton of time.

jackson.wesley2mo ago

Weekly checks? We're lucky if someone remembers to add water when the tank starts looking like a science project. Maybe that's why our parts always have that special, rusty perfume.

adams821d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you're saying nobody checks the coolant levels on a regular schedule... that's insane to me. Rusty perfume is a dead giveaway that things are getting ugly inside that tank. That stuff eats away at the passages and seals over time, I've seen it turn a decent machine into a constant headache. You'd think after the first few times of pulling parts that look like they've been sitting at the bottom of a lake, someone would make a checklist. Sounds like the kind of place where the "special" part of that perfume is the cost of replacing everything sooner than you should.