That week I flooded my shop with 50 gallons of coolant

Last Tuesday I was running my old Bridgeport and the pump seal just gave out. Coolant went everywhere across the concrete floor before I could hit the kill switch. Took me two hours with a wet vac and kitty litter to soak it all up. The worst part was the smell of tramp oil that lingered for three days. Has anyone else had a coolant pump fail on them suddenly or did I just get the bad luck card?

2 comments

2 Comments

quinnm903d ago

Kitty litter is a LIFESAVER for coolant spills, I keep three bags in the back corner of my shop specifically for this reason. The tramp oil smell is brutal because it gets into the concrete pores, so hit it with some degreaser and scrub before the litter goes down next time. Also check the o-ring on your pump's discharge line, that's usually what fails before the seal does in my experience. If you run that Bridgeport daily, swapping the pump seal every 12 months is cheap insurance compared to a surprise 50 gallon flood.

the_sandra3d ago

Whoa wait, 50 gallons?! That's insane! I spilled maybe half a bucket once and thought I was gonna lose my mind cleaning it up. I can't even imagine what fifty gallons would look like, that's basically a whole bathtub of coolant just flooding the shop floor. You'd need a shop vac the size of a car and like twenty bags of that kitty litter. Makes my little puddle problems feel like nothing!