Oil Skimmer Blog

1. Oil Boss

Abanaki's Oil Boss is an innovative tool for keeping coolant free of oil. The patent-pending design allows for easy visual inspection of your coolant’s condition; and will also help extend tool and coolant life. It will decrease loss of production and maintenance time. And it will allow for easy cleaning of various sumps or tanks around any plant or shop due to its portability and magnetic base. The Oil Boss has a small footprint that reduces the amount of clutter and equipment on the shop floor.

2. Mighty Disk

Mighty Disk is the inexpensive way to remove unwanted tramp oils from coolants and parts washers, but with all the quality that you expect from Abanaki! Removes up to 1 ½ gallons of oil or more of medium weight oil per hour. Use it almost anywhere a flat surface is available for mounting. Weighs less than 10 pounds, installs in no time, and runs on 110v power.

3. TubeTastic

The Abanaki TubeTastic! oil skimmer can be used on machining centers with little or no access to the coolant sump from above. This unit can skim oil from chip conveyors or even totally enclosed machining centers. The TubeTastic! can be easily mounted on the side of virtually any machining center coolant sump. By use of an existing opening or by making a small access cutout, the collector tube runs through the surface of the coolant and collects the unwanted oils. The oil then flows out the discharge tube into any waste oil container for easy disposal.

4. Mighty Mini

The stainless steel Mighty Mini is a compact belt skimmer designed for parts washers and machine tool coolant sumps. With its large discharge trough and small operating space, the Mighty Mini fits almost anywhere. The stainless steel construction resists rust and corrosion in harsh environments. It is lightweight and requires minimal assembly. With its durable stainless steel construction, it is built to give long lasting performance. The removable trough makes cleanup fast and easy.

5. Lil Blue

Lil Blue is the economical solution to remove unwanted oil in coolant sumps and machining centers! Removes one gallon or more of medium weight oil per hour. Use it almost anywhere, even through a 2" diameter bunghole in a drum. Use it here today, there tomorrow. Weighs only 6 pounds, installs in seconds and runs on 110v power. Constructed of tough engineered plastic and includes long life fan-cooled motor.

6. Ultra Mini

The Ultra-Mini is a lightweight, compact belt oil skimmer that can be used with 12v power allowing the skimmer to be wired directly into machining center control panels or plugged into a 110v wall outlet. The simple design means very little maintenance and requires few replacement parts. The cogged belt coupled with the weighted tail pulley prevents the belt from slipping during operation. Its compact design requires very little mounting space.

No two skimming applications are perfectly alike and require forethought as to collection conditions. It is interesting to know that using different types of oil skimmer belt materials may improve the performance of an oil skimmer. In a parts washer application, temperature and pH levels may cause the need for a different type of oil skimmer belt so that the oil skimmer can work more effectively.

There is a great deal of variance in applications where belt skimmers are present. Figuring out what would be the best belt material for your belt skimmer will depend on a few factors. For the most part, belts pick up the oil in the same fashion so the big difference is finding what will give you the longest operating life. The two factors that play into your belt choice the most is your combination of temperature and pH levels.

Temperature provides a textbook example of these changes. Boiling temperatures can be catastrophic with the wrong skimmer belt type. The chart below indicates the appropriate belt for the most common applications.  The guidelines below are general, actual performance of belts will depend on the variables of each application.  Heat, for example, increases a belt's sensitivity to pH levels. To help choose the right belt for your application, Abanaki offers free samples of the available belt material for testing.

For more information about our oil skimmer belt selections, please request our oil skimmer belt guide by using the button below, or contact us via phone at (440) 543-7400 or via e-mail at skimmers@abanaki.com

Also read step by step guide to choosing an oil skimmer

Multiple options exist for the collection of tramp oils. Two of the most common are oil skimmers and coalescers. Both offer unique advantages and disadvantages in certain applications.

Coolant Coalescers

Coalescers focus on collecting oil into larger droplets. Using a filter medium, the oil is gathered into one place and combines into a larger oil droplet. heightening the differing densities of oil and water. The oil then floats to the top of the coalescer, allowing removal by other means. 

Coalescers have an advantage in specific coolant-related applications. Coalescers cover a bigger collection area than oil skimmers, speeding recovery and reducing need for moving the oil collection device.

Unlike skimmers, coalescers have no need for a collection container, preventing the potential for spillage. Abanaki's Oil Boss can also be hung from a metallic surface, preventing the floor space footprint of other coalescers and skimmers.

Oil Skimmers

Oil skimmers focus on removing tramp oils using oleophilic belts. These belts attract the tramp oils and drag them up to a trough where they are scraped off, removing them from the water or coolant. Different belts have different specialties, such as steel belts being suited for LNAPLs and tramp oils.  

Oil skimmers have an advantage in more varied conditions. Able to be used in high temperature applications where plastic coalescers might face pump failures, skimmers can withstand more extreme environments.

In addition, oil skimmers do not have to worry about pumps clogged by shavings or solid byproducts like coalescers might. Dirty oil can also go back into the sump in coalescers, while oil is completely removed by a skimmer.

Oil skimmers also have more applications than coalescers, such as environmental remediation. 

For more information about our line of coalescers and skimmers, take a look at our product catalog, or contact us via phone at (440) 543-7400 or via e-mail at skimmers@abanaki.com.

Recently, one of our sales team attended CARS Complete Automotive Recycling and Secondary Materials show. Focused on the waste and oil byproducts from old cars, Abanaki made a strong impression with their oil skimmers.

Abanaki recently evaluated what it holds near and dear. The answer: our Core Values. Our four pillars of No Waste, Trust & Respect, Can Do, and 3D define Abanaki’s methods and interactions with customers, which are now being released to the public.

Abanaki Corporation, the world leader in oil skimming technologies, announces the addition of the Oil Boss® Oil Skimmer to its extensive coolant maintenance product line. The Oil Boss solves problems that have plagued regular skimmers in machine shops.

Oil Skimmer Keeps Auto-Dismantler in Compliance and the Cows Happy
Environmentally Sound Solution to Unwanted Oil Reduces Disposal Costs

A belt is to a skimmer like wheels to a car’s chassis: although the latter is the most identifiable part, it needs the former to actually run. Just like tires, belts are not one size fits all. Just as there are snow tires, street tires, year-round tires, and more, so too are there a variety of belt materials. So what purpose does each serve?

Here at Abanaki, we take our core tenets seriously. Abanaki’s day-to-day processes involve cleaning our world, often in small, sustainable ways that can be adopted by multiple businesses. Today, I’d like to share a few ideas that your company can implement to make our world a little cleaner.