Vent: That time a coolant line sprayed my whole station during a rush job

Honestly, I was running a Haas VF-2 in a shop outside Cleveland about two years ago. We had a huge order for some automotive brackets, and the foreman was breathing down my neck to hit the deadline. About halfway through the third part, I heard this weird hissing sound and then a spray of coolant hit me right in the face. I panicked at first and hit the feed hold, but the line was busted near the back of the enclosure. I had to shut everything down, grab some rags, and clamp off the line with a vise grip just to stop the flood. Took me 45 minutes to swap out the hose and clean up the mess, and the foreman was not happy. Has anyone else had a coolant line blow on them during a tight deadline?

3 comments

3 Comments

riverh491mo ago

Holy crap, you actually kept running after getting sprayed in the face? I would have hit the floor. I can't believe you stayed calm enough to grab a vise grip and clamp the line while the foreman was breathing down your neck. That takes some serious nerves. I would have just stood there dripping coolant and swearing until maintenance showed up. You're a better man than me.

ross.lily1mo ago

Hit the e-stop myself once and still got soaked trying to patch it.

phoenix_lewis1mo ago

The vise grip trick is solid, I used a C-clamp once when I blew a 2-inch line on a press. But hitting the e-stop first and still getting soaked, how did you manage that? Did the pressure dump out somewhere unexpected or did the residual line volume just get you anyway? I'm trying to picture the sequence in my head and it sounds like you got caught in a backflow or something.