My mister has a cold

(...)

Get thyself to yon local beauty supply store and buy the largest bottle of "40 volume liquid developer" you can. Liquid, not creme type.

Handle with care. Wear eye protection. The stuff will burn you chemically.

Dump a little in the tank, swish it around and check it 24 hrs later.

Cautions listed: strong oxidizer, causes irritation, effects may be delayed, not for medicinal use, avoid contact with eyes or skin. If irritation occurs, flush with water. In case of eye contact or ingestion, get professional medical help. Store in a cool place out of sunlight. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN.

--Winston

Try a small ultra-violet light.

Harold

High frequency UV, not the inexpensive black light type. These lamps can be found in sterilizers and pond pumps. Steve

Stick a fish tank bubbler stone in there with an air pump from the 2nd hand store and run it a few hours a day.

Most coollant bacteria is anerobic and the bubbler kills it dead

Gunner

On Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:51:31 GMT, the infamous "Harold and Susan Vordos" scrawled the following:

Yeah, man. Get a blacklight and watch the cool patterns in the mist. Oops, I'm back. What was it you were saying, 'Arry? ;)

Are you talking about the UV lights like they use to purify spas?

-- Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely. -- Rodin

--Getcher self some antibacterial tablets. They're huge so you'll want to crumble off a corner of one and chuck it in your coolant tank. I think I got mine from DoAll. One tube of tablets will last a lifetime.

What's that going to do to aluminum and steel?

(That is, if you happen to expose broken skin to it. otherwise, normal precautions are sufficient.)

I'm guessing, not much.

If you dose conservatively, the liberated oxygen will be spent in converting the organics to ash. For example, I spray full-strength 12% H2O2 in my shower from a bottle. The aluminum door track remains shiny.

The term 'strong oxidizer' is advice to folks who haven't used a 'smoke wrench'.

--Winston

Yep! The air bubbler Gunner mentioned can be a good idea, too, assuming the growth is anaerobic. Could probably control it with silver, too.

Harold

The air bubbler is found in a shitload of machine shops. Since I service machinery for a living..and I tend to get covered with coolant at times...how "buggy" it is is important to me. Some of the stuff on shops that dont use any way to control bugs...its eaten the skin away on my arms, top of my head etc.

I wear a hat a lot, or a "do-rag" when going into these machines, because I really hate open sores on the top of my head...makes the barber recoil a bit......

Gunner

"Obama, raises taxes and kills babies. Sarah Palin - raises babies and kills taxes." Pyotr Flipivich

snip-----

Assuming I ever get my house finished, I intend to get my Overbeck universal grinder in operation. Coolant isn't a luxury with a grinder, it's mandatory. I've heard a great deal about using a bubbler for coolant, and intend to do just that----plus use Hocut for coolant. I figure that will solve the riddle. I'm way familiar with stinky coolant.

Chuckle!

So the barber is a light-weight? :-)

Harold

I'm using the little unit that only holds a half-gallon. I will order some of the tablets. It sucks when the mister doesn't. Thanks,

I used to use one of those things-----but the damned residue would make the quill on my Bridgeport so sticky it became hard to move. I'd drop it full length, spray it with a chemical cleaner (industrial 409 type of stuff) and run the quill up and down, dissolving the film. A good wipe down with a clean cloth, then generous oiling would restore the feel of the quill. I finally abandoned using the damned thing-----didn't like the deposit it left on everything in the shop.

Harold

i only use it on steel, it makes the tools last longer. I use Kerosene for aluminum, that cleans the machine up nicely.

I saw a lot of answers, but I never saw a mention of ozone. It's used in hot tubs, aquaria, for washing vegetables and fruits... well, this is probably the easy way:

If you do this, keep your skin & eyes away from the UV - some (maybe all?) short wavelength UV germicidal lamps will cause mutations / cancers.