When it comes to maintaining your CNC ball screws, you can find yourself needing a repair even if you are diligent about lubrication and inspecting your lines, seals, and fittings. Here’s why.
As ball screw repair service experts, we often encounter customers that don’t regularly inspect their lubrication system as part of their preventive maintenance schedule. Others do an excellent job of lubricating their CNC ball screws, yet they still find that over time, their cuts become less accurate and have even reduced their feed rates to make up for these accuracy issues. That’s when we’ll get the call.
Nine times out of ten, that pesky problem of a contaminated ball screw assembly is the culprit. Particularly if your CNC cutting machine has a broken cover, or is missing one altogether, dust particles blown around end up settling on your assembly. Once they “mix” with the lubricant, they’ve essentially created a paste that will grind and wear your screw with each pass. As your screws become worn, there is more play in the screw. If you require tight tolerances, you’ll quickly find you can no longer cut a quality part. This is not good for your production schedule, your customer, or your bottom line.
The good news is this is completely preventable. In addition to regularly inspecting your lube lines, a complete clean and flush removes build up, so your motion system operates smoothly. For most customers, this means scheduling an annual clean, flush, and inspection. Adding this service into your PM schedule helps you to keep your laser, water jet, router, or other CNC equipment operating at peak performance. With this type of regular service, you are much less likely to find your CNC ball screws needing an emergency repair. Ultimately, this extends the life of your ball screw – saving you time AND money.