My CNC requires air?

[Chris64]

I guess I'm really looking for a second opinion on this.

My CNC (which I still haven't gotten started yet...but I'm close) has an air line that MUST be connected for the mill to start. Apparently it powers the lube system that injects all the joints (etc).

In a production environment, this would be very helpful but this is just a home garage mill that will only see activity on occasional weekends (unless I can get some task that pays). I'm tempted to bypass this so that it will be manual just so that I don't need my air compressor running while I use my mill. It seems that it only actually fires on power up for just a second...but if I disconnect the air the spindle and servos won't turn.

Any thoughts or anyone familiar with these type of systems?

I've got the 3-phase about half installed and just need to run some conduit so hopefully I'll be able to fire this thing up tomorrow.

[Al_The_Man]

Find out just what the duty cycle is, how many shots/run time and do it manually as needed.
All you will probabally need to do is jumper the air pressure switch out.
Al.

[Chris64]

That's what I was thinking. Thanks.

[HuFlungDung]

What kind of machine is this? If it happened to need air to provide an air/oil mist for the spindle bearings (like Haas does) then you need continuous air.

[ctate2000]

I would suggest connecting as instructed. The machine probably needs air for many other functions like tool changes and spindle blow out. Not a good idea to go without.

[cdlenterprises]

Run the air. It's better to be safe than sorry. You might want to look into hooking another tank up to your compressor so that you can have more air volume. This should help the compressor 'keep up" with the machine demand. It will run longer initially until it fills both tanks up but the added volume should help keep it from running as often..

[Chris64]

Well I haven't disconnected it yet. It's a wells index. It doesn't have any fancy features...it's real straight forward. The air feeds into the flood coolant and the oiler...that's it. In line with that it has a small black box with a couple wires running into the computer box - this seems suspiciously like the shut off.

It's fine to leave on there and my compressor doesn't run that much with it on (unless I had the flood coolant on I expect). The "joints" all seem a little over oiled in my opinion. I may just bypass the connection and connect the air when needed.

All this is up in the air (no pun intended) until I can answer a more important question...new thread to follow in a few moments.

[larrycoyle]

Just to be on the safe side you need to check the manual and find out exactly what the air requirements are for this machine. When I bought my machine I was un-aware of the air requirements and that is when I found out that it needed a minimum of 50cfm (volume) constant air supply at 9 BAR.

My machine literally will not run without the air running at the required pressure and volume.

Larry

[Chris64]

Originally Posted by larrycoyle Just to be on the safe side you need to check the manual and find out exactly what the air requirements are for this machine. When I bought my machine I was un-aware of the air requirements and that is when I found out that it needed a minimum of 50cfm (volume) constant air supply at 9 BAR. My machine literally will not run without the air running at the required pressure and volume. Larry

You're right...and I don't have any idea where I can get that info. I'm just using my normal pressure (80 psi). As far as volume goes...well now I'm just lost. I don't think volume is an issue. The compressor is way more than the CNC needs to run. I can get away with running the CNC late at night but the compressor is too loud so I was just looking for an easy way out. I did just run it off the tank for a while and it barely affected it (the guage barely moved...mostly probably do to leaks). I think it's a 30 gallon tank. Really the only thing I'm worried about hurting is the flood/spray system...but it's needle didn't go into the red so I think I'm safe.

[ajl6549]

Originally Posted by ctate2000 I would suggest connecting as instructed. The machine probably needs air for many other functions like tool changes and spindle blow out. Not a good idea to go without.

I'm with 2000 on this. Does it have an ATC? if so you'll need air for it as well.

[HuFlungDung]

I forgot what machine Chris was referring to. The Wells Index, if it is anything like the one I have, does not require air for anything except perhaps the one shot lube system. That might be on an adjustable timer and only need operate once an hour or so, when the machine is actually running and moving its axis.