Waterless coolant prevents engine boilover

Modern Materials Handling - October 2, 2002

Lift trucks rented or leased from Nashville Welding and Equipment Rental frequently perform heavy duty, continuous handling for their operators around Wilson, N.C. The trucks' four- and six-cylinder engines run under severe conditions in the area's cotton and tobacco warehouses.

These conditions are a natural for engine boilover.

But Nashville's forklifts keep right on working now without boiling over, saving rental customers from headaches-and saving Nashville a bundle on radiator repair costs. The secret, says Larry Pearce, general manager, is use of a waterless coolant instead of the traditional antifreeze and water mixture.

Forklifts from Nashville run an average of 25 to 30 hours per week. 'Tobacco warehouses are hot and close, with no air moving,' Pearce says. 'A boiling radiator makes handling tobacco messy at best. And cotton warehouses are simply murder,' he adds, with cotton fibers and dust everywhere. Boilover was a common, almost daily occurrence with many of these trucks previously. Now, with the waterless coolant, 'we are saving hundreds of hours in repair costs,' Pearce says.

The Nashville manager personally learned about the coolant's performance while racing a Camaro auto at a local drag strip. He then tried it on lift trucks.

Besides freedom from overheating and boilover, the coolant's use offers other pluses. There are no coolant changes for the life of the vehicle. Because there's no water in the system, there's no electrolysis. And the cooling system runs at low or no pressure.

Based on propylene glycol, the coolant is said to be non-poisonous, moreover, and poses no threat to humans, animals, or plant life when handled or spilled, according to its manufacturer.