MIster question

[mickeyf]

I have never used a mister. The one in the picture came with a lathe I got. I have submersed what appears to be a pick up tube with a filter on the end in a container of coolant, and attached the air hose to lowish pressure air. The valves do work, but it appears to be blowing air back into the coolant rather than sucking it up. I'm missing something simple and obvious? Do I need to somehow prime the line first? Or what? Thanks!

[chipmaker4130]

On the ones I have you need to twist the end of the nozzle to allow liquid through. If the nozzle is 'open' and there is a blockage in the tip or if you put your finger over the nozzle it will blow back into the reservoir. Mine are Noga, yours looks a bit different but I'd start by making sure the nozzle is clean.

[mickeyf]

I feel air coming out, so it does not seem to be blocked. And I can adjust how much air/pressure with with the valve(s). Just no coolant, and bubbles coming up in the coolant tank instead.

[redlee]

Coolant is nasty stuff to breath, flood is better for your health.

[Doozer]

Flood oil is better for your health and the health of your machine.

-D

[mickeyf]

I do have a pump and tank for flood (not yet hooked up either) but I'd like to know that this thing works even if I don't end up using it.

[garyhlucas]

I have a Fog Buster copy I made and I am quite satisfied with it. It puts out relatively large drops not fine mist and does a very good job on aluminum and ok on steel.

[The Artful Bodger]

I The valves do work, but it appears to be blowing air back into the coolant rather than sucking it up. I'm missing something simple and obvious? Do I need to somehow prime the line first? Or what? Thanks!

If it is like mine the nozzle for the liquid can be moved in and out to 'tune' the spray. You may need to play around with the nozzle assembly until you get the spray you want.

[LKeithR]

I've got one of the Noga misters and, now that I've figured it out, it works great. When I first got it I ran it
through a regulator with quite a low pressure and with a high intake of the coolant. It created a lot of
mist that hung in the air--you could really smell it and feel it when it was running--didn't like it at all!

After a while I figured out that it was the blast of air that really mattered. I now run the thing on full pressure
(around 100 psi) with a very small intake of coolant. The blast of air blows the chips away really well and
does a surprisingly good job of keeping the tool cool. The tiny bit of coolant that it uses is just enough to
"wet" the tool so it's not running dry. The odd time I'm running something hard like SS or 4340 I'll adjust it
to use a bit more coolant but for most stuff it needs very little...

[mickeyf]

Well, I may try it as a "air only" nozzle then, but so far I am getting NO COOLANT AT ALL and that's what I'm scratching my head about.