I bought my mill fully assembled and I’m now regretting my decision. I’ve had to redo all the drains and cut in new ones but a problem I’ve been running into (prior to cutting in my own drains) is there is obviously a leak somewhere. The coolant drips pretty badly out of the base itself and the concrete in the base is wet. I cannot find where it’s leaking. I’ve decided to seal everything up best I could and now I’ve poured a new layer of epoxy over it all to hopefully, fingers crossed, seal up the leak. My fear is ruining the base pan and/or the concrete if I let it continue.
I have not noticed any increase in coolant leakage after I cut in my own drain in the front so it seems to be factory. Wondering if anyone else has been fighting with this issue.
This mill has been an issue from the start. First it was a bad mother board, then the limit switches went out (prior to the waterproof ones sent to me) then the computer crashed. The new version of cut control caused my computer (a gaming PC) to have the blue screen of death and shut down while the mill was still running. I lost the placement on my material and lost the progress, approx 2.5hrs of cutting. I switched back to the v22.1 of cut control and it worked fine.
Sorry for the long post everyone. Just thought I’d reach out for advice/opinions on the leak and got carried away.
Best wishes all!
I don’t have a mill (so I am talking out of my hat) but I would say that the best way to tackle a leak is from the top down. So I would clean all the fluid out to the point the the metal is squeaky clean. The apply some of this to every seam:
It is probably a dumb idea, but that is what I would try.
I had a massive leak in the enclosure when I first got it because the walls were not sealed when installed and the water poured out of all the bolts and seams. I fixed that and thought it was either a missed step in production or untested in the design. I siliconed all the bolts and joints and fixed the water pouring out the door with a shower curtain. Took the idea from the forums.
This is an issue with the coolant leaking internally someplace. Not sure how to find the leak. It may be inside the Y-axis rail assembly.
I’m hoping pouring a new layer of epoxy over the old one will help.
I’m filling in the factory rear drain because it’s 3D printed from Langmuir. I think it may be contributing to the leak. The layer lines on 3D prints aren’t water tight. I run a print farm and this is pretty common knowledge in the printing community so, either knowledge was ignored when designing, or someone didn’t know this and still designed a water drain without really knowing what they are doing.
Also the epoxy around it wasn’t done well. There were gaps and un-level areas.
Anyway I digress.
You’re going to want to make sure it’s seriously dry before doing that. Concrete can absorb a lot of moisture. I’d probably put a heat lamp over it for a couple of weeks.
I’d also “paint” the 3D printed drain with epoxy as well. Everywhere you can squeeze a brush into.
Could maybe try leveling the facrory drains with the current epoxy, disconet the drain bottoms and then pour a new top coat, just let it flow out the drains. I have not seen what the new printed drains are like, so donno if that would work. I printed my drains and did the epoxy that way. It worked out good.
Welcome to Langmuir. I feel for you, but the good news is a few more $$$ can fix the issues.
The drains on these are just horrific to say the least. There are a few guys on here that have just bit the bullet and plugged them up and cut holes in the concrete then ran new ones. I have learned not to fight it just fix it.
I used the newest one downloaded directly from LS website. I assume it’s V24 because it was only a couple days ago. Once I went back to the older version I had used before it worked fine but no “run from” feature.
My new epoxy layer seems to be curing okay finally. After 48 hours it was still a bit soft but now it’s starting to set up ok.
Somehow the mold I made to keep the epoxy out of the corner drains failed so now I only have my new drain I cut in the front. I’m hoping it’s enough.
I was threatening to buy a new base pan, and Y axis rails to redo the base myself and make the drains I want and to make a better “build plate”
The aluminum one is thin and the holes are barely threaded. Plus the bolt down holes are only about 1/2” deep. So most of my bolts are too long.
If I were to redo it I would have a base plate made out of harder material and go 1” centers on the holes, and much deeper.
Also the base being 2 pieces I think is dumb. You can’t seal between them so water/coolant can get down into the concrete with no issue.
I feel like the “design” was made with no coolant or water in mind.
Attached is my new epoxy layer after I poured it. You can see my new drain in the front, which is now my only drain at all. This worries me and makes me almost leaning toward calling Langmuir on Monday and seeing what my cost would be to redo the base.
Hello all, thought I would give an update.
Been working with Jake at Langmuir. He’s been super helpful and is sending me a new base pan and Y-axis assembly’s to redo the bottom of the machine. It means more labor for me redoing concrete and such but it will be right in the end.
Not sure if LS reads the forum but special thanks to Jake over there for the help!
Plus now I can put in a slightly ridiculous drain system and I’m going with a 1-3/4” thick base plate for deeper threads.
Same issue here with all my leg bolts dripping. I flexed shielded/silicone the enclosure bolts/connections and around the drains. Still leaks. The issue has to either be the drains or the Y-steel supports not sealing well. The coolant is getting between the pan somewhere.
Ended up removing the bolts on the outside covers for the Y, used a flat bar to open up some space, poured some Flex Shield down and used an air hose to push it around and hopefully seal up that inside area a little more… I think those side covers should be omitted for a few reasons…
that large drain you added is all you need. the corner drains suck lol. i think next weekend i might just fill mine with epoxy since they are always clogged. i added a drain like yours in teh back and its perfect.
Well I had to end up redoing a whole new base. This time my own way instead of the way LS built it. I added more drainage, 2” drain lines. New baseplate in 1 solid piece that is 2” thick for extra thread depth, bigger y-axis motors. And crazy thick epoxy layer with zero path for coolant to get into the base pan. Also added a 1 piece front door so no coolant drips outside the front and a washout bin underneath that handles chip separation.
I wish I had more pictures at the moment. I’ll try to post some tomorrow. For now I have a pic once I got the epoxy poured.
