Keeping your coolant system clean absolutely extends the life of valuable fluids. You'll also see better tool performance
and lower overall operating costs, because you won't be dealing with rancidity and the other issues that crop up when
systems aren't up to par.

A good cleanout makes lots of things go away, including high bacterial counts, strong odors, swarf, slime and
build-up from hard water soaps. Cross-contamination, especially where different biocides are in play is avoided,
and the clogging of nozzles and pipes that often signal a cleanout is needed, are eliminated. Productivity and
worker satisfaction both improve, too.

To begin, choose a good cleaner. If you simply dump and recharge, the average time for bacteria to happily return
to their original levels is just 4 days. Here are 8 excellent cleaners we recommend.

A good cleaner accomplishes several things. It will:

• Remove swarf, chips and spent coolant
• Provide rust protection for machine surfaces after the cleaning is complete and before rinsing
• Be compatible with coolant you'll introduce into cleaned equipment
• Not corrode the equipment it contacts during the cleaning cycle

Here's how to prepare:

• Remove foreign and loose materials from the central system's tanks and flumes,
  including welding rods, and anything caught in the dragout conveyors.

• Inspect the flumes and tanks for seams, cracks and other areas that provide pockets for
  spent coolant to hide: these are potential sources for contamination of fresh coolant.

• Turn on the central system to assure it functions properly before adding fluid to the system.

• To clean individual sumps, use these same procedures, except the note regarding flumes and tanks.
  Contamination levels build more quickly in sumps, so these should be cleaned more frequently
  than central systems.

For best results, we also suggest:

• 24 hours before dumping, add 1% concentration of cleaner and operate the system normally.

• When normal operation stops, but before dumping, boost cleaner concentrating to 4% and circulate
  for 2-4 hours, during which time the manual scrubbing can be done.

Now, you can dump, then rinse and recharge.

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