Water Cooled Spindle - Water Pump

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Leo
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Water Cooled Spindle - Water Pump

Post by Leo »

I am finding that the water flows through only at a trickle. It was better than that when new.

I have cleaned with CLR, blown out with air and even disassembled top of spindle to clean out passages.

I am suspect of the pump, loosing it's newness.

Has anyone run into this situation and how did you solve the issue.
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Re: Water Cooled Spindle - Water Pump

Post by bravesoul »

Leo,

If it is similar to an aquarium pump, you might want to take the front of pump apart and check that the body that is attached to the rotating vanes are clean. I have to take mine apart and clean out that area with a small round brush and be sure that the vanes are clean too.

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Re: Water Cooled Spindle - Water Pump

Post by garylmast »

On one of the machines I bought, they forgot to send it with a pump. I first tried the 264 GPH submersible pump from Harbor Freight, and all I got was a trickle. I changed it to the 620 GPH one and it worked good. The pump is 120 volt and my cnc is 220 volt, so I wired the pump to one of it's legs, so it turns on when the machine is turned on.
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Leo
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Re: Water Cooled Spindle - Water Pump

Post by Leo »

I did take the pump apart and pulled the magnet shaft out. I cleaned inside the pocket that the magnet shaft fits into and I cleaned the vanes. I also lubed the shaft ends.

Gary, yes like an pond pump. I went to Home Depot and got a couple of small pumps, but they were too small. The bigger one was around 450. I could try a bigger one, but I am hoping to find an impeller pump or a much better centrifugal pump.

I don't think anything is blocked or clogged, just need a little pump pressure.
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Re: Water Cooled Spindle - Water Pump

Post by martin54 »

How have you got things set up Leo ? Don't forget as well as a decent flow rate you will need a pump that is capable of a decent lift if your set up is anything like mine. I have a 25 litre container that sits on the ground so I need at least a 4 foot lift from the pump to the actual spindle :lol: :lol:
I just bought a pond pump that supported a water feature to ensure I had sufficient lift.

I don't actually get a huge flow rate from my system but temperatures here are not generally that great anyway so it hasn't been a problem, even on a very long job the spindle has never really got hot regardless of the speed it has been running at.

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Re: Water Cooled Spindle - Water Pump

Post by Leo »

Perhaps a decent pond pump would be sufficient. I am just a little perplexed that I had some relatively flow in the beginning but not now.

If I put air pressure in the lines to blow out the water is blasts out.

I found a diaphragm pump on Amazon that cane pump 100PSI
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0166UVLKU/_e ... K6C5BK5JZQ

It's NOT a lot of money and if I am going to get a pump anyway it seems to be a good direction to go.

There was one occasion where my spindle got a little warm, certainly not hot, but I was in a many many hours long run.

Maybe the diaphragm pump will lot stand the longevity of time, but it's a worthy test.
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Re: Water Cooled Spindle - Water Pump

Post by 101179567skltd »

How did this pump work?

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Re: Water Cooled Spindle - Water Pump

Post by Leo »

At the end of the day I decided that the pump was not the issue. Well now I have a few pond pumps for when I make a pond.

The problem was that the water passages in the spindle were plugged up and restricting flow.

I ended up taking the spindle apart. It was NOT an easy task - not at all. There were 2 tiny "O" rings that got distorted and blocked flow. I replaced the "O" rings and the flow returned to normal. The spindle works but it's not as quiet as when new. I may have damaged the bearings a little. I don't really have the "right" equipment to disassemble and reassemble.

I also bought a new spindle. I now have the new spindle on the machine and the original spindle as a backup.

I am still using the original Chinese pump - it's actually a pretty good pump.

Moral of story and a couple of take aways

1) KEEP THE WATER ABSOLUTELY CLEAN - even filter it.
2) DO NOT use caustics - CLR - Drain cleaner - Draino - anything like that. The spindle is aluminum and those things are not good for aluminum.
3) a little automotive antifreeze is a good thing
4) Use distilled water
5) KEEP THE WATER ABSOLUTELY CLEAN - even filter it.
6) KEEP THE WATER ABSOLUTELY CLEAN - even filter it.
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