False Alarms from Fancu VCU's

We've had a rash of nasty problems on various Fanuc controls lately that defy repair. The alarm we see revolves around intermittent over-current alarms on various types of Fanuc red cap servos. Two of these have been on Fanuc OTB controls (Absolute Tecnologies and Weldmac), one on a Fanuc 18MA control (Roc-Aire) , and I believe one was on a 16 control.

In each case we started out replacing or swapping the VCU, then put in outside cabling, then changing out or removing the motors for testing, only to find out that it was the CNC all along feeding bogus commands to the VCU/Motor.

The one at Roc-Aire last week was just the latest one. In this case, the small two axis snap in board caused all of the above actions, and actually damaged the VCU eventually.

Be on the lookout for this type of scenario. They seem to begin as highly intermittent alarms that can be easily reset.

No one is happy after this is over.

RefreshYourMemory Update

Last Friday, we completed a monitoring installation of four machines at Sonic Industries in Torrance. This was a pilot project for what should become a much larger monitoring project at their Torrance and Ontario facilities. As we do more and more of these, we are beginning to see other uses for remote monitoring. In Sonic's case, they are going to use the reports to schedule Preventive Maintenance inspections. One of their large customers in France is pushing this.

My point of all of this is to be on the lookout for:
1) Refresh Your Memory remote monitoring opportunities (NOV (Varco) is coming on board already).
2) RYM DNC systems (and RS-232 to Ethernet upgrades).
3) Combined RYM Monitoring and DNC together.

Check out http://www.rym.com/cncmonitoring/. This is their demo monitoring site.

We will be in their booth at Westec. Travis is becoming very proficient in this product line.

Warren

Bad, Bad Chemicals

Greg Rockwood sent this link over last night. It concerns off the shelf brake cleaner when it gets hot. I urge you all to read it, discuss it, and let us know if we have any problems in either of our facilities. Of course, keep it in mind at home too.

http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm


Warren

Fanuc's Universal Threading Encoder

Greetings everyone,

Well this week finds us in the enviable position of having a little more work than we can do. Keep looking for opportunities. 

Gilbert ran into a unique problem this week and I wanted to share it with you all. He was working on a Daewoo that had a Sumtak threading encoder on it. There was no Fanuc number on it like we usually see with the Tamagawa or Nikon units. Since we didn't know the specs on the RPM, I suggested that he just get one from the Daewoo dealer. It turns out that they want an outrageous amount of money for theirs ($1,400 I think).

Here below is what I call Fanuc's Universal Threading Encoder replacement. It is good for all RPM ranges and is very reasonably priced. 

I know this has been out for awhile, but, in our system of inventory, once an item is sold and disappears from our list, the cross references disappear too. We're fixing that. 

Note also, the much higher price for the older part numbers below the picture. 

Warren

eParts Home A860-0309-T302 Item Description : POSITION CODER 10000RPM WITH 68MM SQUARE FLANGE Exchange Credit : N/A Remanufacturing Fee : N/A Related Products   A86L-0027-0001#002 Item Description : POSITION CODER 6000RPM *N/L/A SEE A860-0309-T302* List Price : $2,323.18 Exchange Credit : N/A Remanufacturing Fee : N/A     A86L-0027-0001#202 Item Description : POSITION CODER 8000RPM N/L/A - SEE A860-0309-T302 List Price : $2,119.10 Exchange Credit : N/A Remanufacturing Fee : N/A

Easy way to shop List Price:  $482.00   Each Quantity:  Add to Cart

Fanuc MMI controls

I've been working today at the ITT Fiber facility in Salt Lake City. They have the Komo router that was the subject of a previous blog/video here. Studwell refurbished and re-machined the A and C head on this 5 axis machine. The topic of tonight's blog is the Fanuc 150iMB control, which, unfortunately is a pathetic excuse for a high performance control. The unique thing about these controls is the Pentium III (yes III) PC with 640 K of Ram, running Windows 2000. Today, Greg Rockwood and I were adjusting the Home position of the newly re-installed A and C axes. Setting the grid shift is a tedious process, as most of you know. Every time a new grid shift amount is entered, one must power down and power up. On this machine that takes TEN MINUTES!!!  I lost count after about 15 re-boots, but I could be slower and denser than most. ( In my defense, I had no books, dual feedback, a mis-adjusted Renishaw exposed optical encoder and other problems).

As with any PC, it must be sequenced down and up. This one has been abused by their IT department, and is just awful to work on. Screen updates are very slow.

My point to all of this is that, although these controls are a pain to work on, nearly NO ONE understands them. I think they could be unique opportunity for us. These controls include the 210i, 180i, 160i, and 150i.

If you see one, offer to be called for ANY problems including backing up the hard drive, hooking up the Ethernet, or just changing the CMOS batteries. They tend to be on high end machines.

See you soon,

Warren

Manufacturing Index for November has biggest growth since April '06

This seems to be good news. I especially like the part where is says Machinery is one of 18 sectors that is growing.


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-factory-index-rises-to-nearly-4-year-high-2010-01-04?reflink=MW_news_stmp


Warren

CNC Grounding

I just came across this excellent 10 year old article on CNC Machine Tool grounding this morning. It confirms my long standing belief that ground rods are usually a waste and, in some cases, a serious contributor to problems in our industry. 

Please read it if you can:

http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/pes/cleveland/Papers/cnc-isa-icps.pdf


Warren