I’m using sterling cool and love it! It keeps the table rust free and the water clear as day. I have a tank under the table that it drains into then I use compressed air to push it out of the tank back to the table. Tons of examples/thrreads on this forum. I can’t be bothered with borax and the rest of it. This is a set it and forget situation. It’s not really that expensive if you think about how long it lasts.
5 Likes
I used a basketball hope base on my Pro to drain coolant into w/a harborcrap 110-volt pump to pump water back into table.
My XR I have 70-gallon tank that I drain into.
3 Likes
This is the answer back from Chem World:
“Our Chemworld 830 is not recommended for Plasma Cutters. It has been designed for closed loop water systems.”
Sterling Cool… Been using it for years… Works great.
5 Likes
I have it. I like it. Totally agree.
2 Likes
thank you for your help.
2 Likes
I’m a bit late to this thread but I was about to cook up a batch of this to try it out and was wondering if anyone has replaced the dye with copper sulfate pentahydrate? it should turn the fluid a deep blue and control bacteria. Copper Sulfate is a biocide that kills algae and plants. May not be as effective on iron loving bacteria, but I haven’t researched it.
1 Like
Are you sure you want to do that? Here is the SDS sheet:
And here are a few excerpts from it:
Sulfur trioxide will combine with H2O to form sulfuric acid.
1 Like
no, I am not sure at all. in fact, that’s a big reason for my post.
at the concentrations I’m thinking of it seems very unlikely to form SO3 in an aqueous solution. there’s a few other cupric compounds that i might try if I end up with H2SO4. I’ll give it a shot an report back. if it does form H2SO4 if might save me a bit of money on buying it for my electroplating bath.
Sterling Cool. Just buy some and be done with the science experiment. @ChelanJim is correct. It will make sulfuric acid gas during the cutting.
3 Likes
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Can’t stress that enough.
Just buy the proper additive - not worth risking your health to save a few dollars, especially after spending thousands on equipment.
1 Like
For years I have been using Plasma Green 1050 from KCI with the anti-freeze that they also sell for plasma tables. Works great!
1 Like
What state are you in ? We had well water in Oklahoma that was super soft it would take a ton to bring up ph
I was thinking 
this would make a great YouTube episode of what not to use
A very simple thing to use is borax. It works and it is what I use most of the time. The one draw backs is that the metal starts rusting in mere minutes as it is drying off the table.
1 Like
Wonder if upping the borax content would help?
Ahh interesting!
Never heard that about Borax, then again I’ve never used it. I’ve only ever used plasma cutting fluid and I can leave cold rolled steel on my table long after it’s been soaked (and dried up). Zero rust whatsoever.
1 Like
The rust doesn’t happen with Sterling Cool either.
My guess is that there is something about the harsh pH environment that accelerates the rust. I will say that the rust is very superficial and rubs off with your hands. I haven’t really been scientific about it.
1 Like
Correct Jim. When I pull a piece out of the vinegar bath I use to remove the mill scale, it will rust in under 5 minutes if I don’t rinse it off immediately.
AI agrees with us:
Rust forms more quickly on steel when the pH level drops below about 8.2, as lower pH levels increase the corrosion rate due to the presence of acids. At very low pH values, the rusting process accelerates because the oxide formed can dissolve, exposing more metal to corrosion.
1 Like