A coolant line burst on my old Mazak and I had to think fast

I was running a batch of 50 aluminum parts on a Mazak VTC-200C last Tuesday afternoon. Halfway through, I heard a pop and saw coolant spraying everywhere from a line near the spindle. The machine was still running, so I hit the feed hold and the emergency stop. I grabbed a roll of Teflon tape and a wrench from my toolbox, shut off the main coolant pump, and got the fitting sealed up in about 20 minutes. Lost about 15 gallons of coolant on the floor, but saved the parts and the spindle from running dry. Anyone have a good source for those braided stainless coolant lines that last longer?

3 comments

3 Comments

paulb982mo ago

Ever check the line crimps themselves?

theas942mo ago

Found a loose one last week, fixed it with a new crimp.

richard1379d ago

Checked the crimps on my trailer brake lines last fall and found two that were barely holding on... looked fine from the outside but when I squeezed them with pliers they just crumbled apart. Replaced the whole section with new crimps and heat shrink, been solid ever since. Really makes you wonder how many are just waiting to fail out there.