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Tips & Questions about the Coolant
What is the best way to test the newly assembled water-cooling system?
Fill the tank with just 2 gallons of water - then run the pump and check for leaks before you add coolant.
Do I need that much liquid in the tank?
If you are not a heavy user, you can fill your tank with 3 gallons of water then slowly add a little coolant
and then check with the refractometer to hit 3 BRIX.
The amount of liquid in the tank is your cooling “battery” as you sharpen the liquid will get warmer from
taking away the heat from the blades you are sharpening. If you are not sharpening constantly for hours
you can use less total liquid in your tank, and therefore use less coolant if you like.
Why is the BRIX concentration value important?
If you drop below 1 BRIX you will loose the rust prevention benefit of the coolant, this will result in all the
metal you are cutting from the blades to rust. The sharpener will have rust metal shavings all over it, and
the coolant will turn orange. This may lead to early pump failure and seizing of other moving parts.
How to Measure Concentration of your Coolant
1. See instructions in the refractometer case for calibration of the
refractometer.
2. Cycle the pump and let the coolant circulate through the system and cycle for 30 seconds
3. Use the pipette to draw some coolant from the orange nozzle.
4. Open the slide cover of the refractometer and put one drop of
coolant on the blue surface.
5. Close the slide cover.
6. Look through the eye glass of the refractometer.
7. You can use the focus ring of the refractometer to see the scale more clearly.
8. Read the BRIX side of the scale.
9. The desired concentration is 3.3 BRIX (+/- 0.2 BRIX)
Balancing Coolant Concentration
If less than 3.3 BRIX add coolant (TRIM C270CG fluid)
If greater than 3.3 BRIX add water
Repeat above steps to test until you are within range.