Spindle is dripping a small amount of oil.

[l u k e]

My ’08 VF2 seems to always have a drop of oil on the bottom of the spindle, is this normal or do I have a bad seal?

Also, where do I check the oil level at?

[mactec54]

l u k e

I hope it does have a little oil coming out, because if it does not it will not last very long, The oil reservior is on the back of the machine, the air/oil mist is feed through the spindle bearings, so there will be air coming out as well when it is running, & when it stops few seconds

[Geof]

A drop, and only a drop, is normal. So normal that in the literature about the GR machines Haas mentions this. They must have had complaints from people who got oil drops on their woodwork.

Incidentally have you been running the machine much? Did you do the Run In program or the Warm Up program? Do you know about these? Does your spindle nose get at all warm when it is running?

[l u k e]

Originally Posted by Geof A drop, and only a drop, is normal. So normal that in the literature about the GR machines Haas mentions this. They must have had complaints from people who got oil drops on their woodwork. Incidentally have you been running the machine much? Did you do the Run In program or the Warm Up program? Do you know about these? Does your spindle nose get at all warm when it is running?

Yea, just a drop.

I wasn't real worried just mainly concerned about the oil level. I didn't know the oil reservoir was on the back of the machine, so I didn't know where to check it. (I knew there was a tank there but wasn’t sure what it was for just yet)

I haven't cut anything, but I did run the spindle warm up program when noticed it.

What is the 'run in program' for? I did see it in the list on the control but haven't looked it up.

I think I have as many bases covered as I can so barring any unforeseen hurdles I will give the green button a go.

[Machineit]

The "run in program" is for the initial breaking in of the spindle. That was done a long time ago. Only needed on a new spindle and hopefully you will never need one!

Mike

[l u k e]

Thanks.

[Donkey Hotey]

Originally Posted by Machineit The "run in program" is for the initial breaking in of the spindle. That was done a long time ago. Only needed on a new spindle and hopefully you will never need one!

Not exactly. You should use that program after a long time of inactivity (more than 2-3 weeks). It's there to purge extra oil from the lower bearing that may have settled. If you don't run it, the theory is that the lower bearing could overheat from the drag of the extra oil.

[Geof]

According to what I was told by a Haas technician the Spindle Run-In program should be run if the spindle has been idle for a long time, with long time being anything over two weeks.

The purpose of both the Warm-Up and Run-In programs is to purge out the oil that drains and collects in the lower bearing assembly. If you run a spindle up to 10,000 rpm after it has been stationary for a day or so it will almost certainly get very hot from the oil being stirred up. This can even happen just by running the Warm-Up because there is too much oil to get it out before the program gets up to the higher speeds. The Run-In program cycles the speed high then low over a long period to purge the oil more effectively. According to my manual, and also the technician, during Run-In the spindle temperature should be checked and if it gets hot, too hot to hold your hand firmly against the spindle nose, it should be stopped and restarted. If it keeps on getting hot then an added solution is to increase the spindle air purge pressure to around 30psi. This is the little regulator and gauge on (or near) the oil tank that is normally set to around 18psi.

I went through this whole procedure with the 15,000rpm spindle on my gantry router because I did not run it for several months after it was installed. When I did start it up and ran the Warm-Up it got really hot, too hot to hold a hand against it for even a second. This prompted a panicky phone call to a contact I had at Haas and his advice was to increase the purge pressure and keep restarting the program until the spindle stayed cool. It worked.

Obviously I am much more long winded than my Donkey friend :-)


Second Edit:

Here you are an entire thread on the topic. See Post #23 for pictures showing the regulator and gauge for adjusting the air pressure.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/haas_m...t_touch-2.html

[Machineit]

Geof,

You from Chicago? Wind is a good thing. I stand corrected so good thing my machine does not stand idle for too long!

Thanks--Mike

[l u k e]

Mine has set for 3 years so I'll go ahead and run it. I checked the temperature throughout the warm up program and it never got past 90* and that reading was inside the spindle itself.

[haastec]

+1 for what Geof and Donky said. Good stuff!!

[l u k e]

Originally Posted by Geof This is the little regulator and gauge on (or near) the oil tank that is normally set to around 18psi.

Geof, I started the run in program and went around to check the gauge on the spindle oil tank and it's reading 0 (zero) how do I adjust the pressure?