SFA: What's the Answer?
Which Water for Which Function?
ryanberglind Premium Member
Hello Everybody, As mentioned in a previous discussion. we just purchased our first router (Park 3700) and Park is asking that our halo is fed with recycled clear water and spindle with city water. I'm curious if that's really required. We are using a press with the grey-tech system on the side. I'm hoping to add one more filter after the grey tech and use that for the halo. Seems like we'd be cleaning the press daily if the router is running most of the shift. I do plan on running city water to the spindle if necessary. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Ryan Berglind Scan-Top Inc. Redwood City, Calif.
Dave.Scott Premium Member
Seems reasonable;we ran recycled clear water in the halo and had the water enter our closed-loop water system through the CNC spindles and the waterjet. You will always need to add water to your system due to evaporation anyway-- the amount will vary due to a number of variants in your particular situation. David Scott At large Warrenton, Ore. What we leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, what is woven into the lives of others. -- Pericles
STEVE NY Premium Member
We run grey-tech water through the halo and recycled clear water through the spindle. Whatever you decide to do just make sure it doesn't void your warranty. Finger Lakes Countertop LLC Geneva, N.Y.
ryanberglind Premium Member
Thanks, that's what I was thinking. We've run grey-tech water through our Marmo lcv711 and never had polishing issues, but i was a little worried about tool life on the CNC polishing wheels.
Dave.Scott Premium Member
I was more concerned about the spindle life rather than the tool life. We are not talking about a ton of water, 2 gal/min or so. You can lose that much water a day through evaporation in some parts of the country with low humidity.
ryanberglind Premium Member
I do plan on running city water to the spindle; it was the halo I was concerned with. I do run recycled clear to my spindle on my 5-axes saw in the winter, but in the summer city water because of evaporation. With the router I'm thinking I'll stick to city on the spindle. I could see the halo draining our clear water way too fast, in turn cleaning the press and adding flocculent. We are in California, so water is an expensive and limited resource. I was told when we started fabricating stone in 2005 water will be your biggest headache, and that was not far from the truth. Although the press system puts out immaculate water, it is labor-intensive and eats a ton of space.
gssfabrication Premium Member
Heed Park’s advice about running city aka clean water through your spindles. It will prolong your spindle/motor/bearing life in your machines. You mention you have clear recycled water and grey-tech water? If you have a rapid-settling system like the HydroClear. that should take out more than enough particles for your Titan halo if you have a bag filter as an extra stopgap. You can run a 10-micron bag filter, and the filters are pretty cheap. We changed to running a 2-micron bag filter just to catch a little more junk coming from the HydroClear settling system before it goes into the Titan vacuum pump/halo. If you are having to clean your press daily after using a rapid-settling system, something is not working right before it enters the press unless you are pushing a TON of water through your shop (i.e. multiple routers, polishers, saws, etc.) Presumably your setup looks like: (Grey-Tech/Settling system) ---> Filter Press ---> Storage Tank ---> Repressurization pump --> Machine The cleaner the water running to your machines, the longer they will hold up. The inline polishers are a bit of an exception; they tend to polish a little better with dirty water, because the fine particles act like polishing powder with the pads. Congrats on the new Park Titan. Rick Graff. GSS Fabrication Inc. Richland, Wash. estimating@gssfabrication.com 509-375-1960
ryanberglind Premium Member
The grey-tech system filters to 25 microns. It's from Water Treatment Solutions and runs out of our cone bottom tank to a cylinder with a 25-micron filter in it. I was thinking of adding another filter somewhere before the router and possibly bring it to a 15-micron, again just for the halo. City water to spindle. Our recycled clear comes out at 2 microns (according to Water Treatment Technologies) but I don't want to take the risk with the spindle. System goes: Pit ---> cone bottom tank ---> exit pipe at 4' up from bottom of cone bottom to pressurization pump ---> grey tech filter to machinery. Bottom of cone bottom goes to press then to clear-water storage.
Andy Ross Premium Member
I've been running straight up grey water through our halo for 8 years ... no issues. Polish is fine. I use city water through the spindle. Andy Ross Rock Solid Surfaces Kalamazoo, Mich. 269-372-1777
mattj34 Premium Member
For what it's worth at this point, we have the same Park 3700 machine. We use Water Treatment Solutions press filter, and we have to clean ours out once a week. Our CNC runs 5 days a week, roughly 7 hours a day. Matt Stone Shop Manager Robert F. Henry Tile Co. Montgomery, Ala.
gssfabrication Premium Member
Ahh, I did not realize you have a two-stage filtration system. Taking the grey-tech water at 25 microns and putting a bag filter to 10 microns or 15 microns before the halo is the same setup we have. That will work all day long and should not cause long-term issues. Eaton, I think, makes a nice poly one with a screw top that makes changing filters out quick. Should be able to go a few weeks maybe more between bag-filter change outs. Your filter-pressed 2-micron water can be used for something else (polishers, etc). Definitely want to run fresh water through the spindle. It will give you the most longevity.
Camzl1 Guardian of the Alliance
The cleaner for the internal spindle, the better. Four gallons a minute for the internal at 5 microns or better, and then the EXT Halo you will want to get around 17 g/min with 25 microns being perfectly fine. However, the cleaner the better for your machine and cleanup. You are focusing on the cleanliness, but also the amount is very important for today's ultra-high-speed tooling.