Need Help!- Excessive Way Oil Consumption

[JoBwan]

Good morning to all!! I have a 1997 VF - 4 that never stops running the way oil lube pump. I have also noticed that the air/oil valve to the spindle is always on??? I have 30+ Haas units and have never seen this before. We purchased this machine back in June 2010 from a company that went under. When I say excessive...It goes through a tank of oil every 8-10 hrs. (machine setting idle.) I have way oil overtaking the coolant as it runs out of the machine. Can anyone give me an avenue to start looking. Where might there be a switch that cuts power to the unit when the spindle is not running? Thanks in advance!!!

[Geof]

I had a look through one of my older manuals and found these parameter descriptions.

Parameter 57 Flag28 Enables oiler power when servos or spindle is in motion.

Parameter 117 Lub Cycle Time Is the cycle time for the lube pump in units of 1/50seconds

I guess Flag28 should be 1, and I think the normal lube pump cycle time is 30 minutes so Parameter 117 should be 1500.

[JoBwan]

Hey Geof,
I looked at parameter 117 and it was set at 10800. I have also noticed that the spindle fan is always on. I am starting to think that someone from the previous owner has sabataged this machine by moving some of the wires on the I/O PCB. Just a hunch to this point. I have also set P-57...flag 28 to a 0 and the oiler still runs with the spindle fan on all the time.? Thanks for your inputs!!!

[haastec]

Parameter 57 Flag28 Enables oiler power when servos or spindle is in motion.

Parameter 117 Lub Cycle Time Is the cycle time for the lube pump in units of 1/50seconds


Just double checking here, but do your parameter descriptions match what Geof listed? Just making sure you are comparing the same parameters.

Also, do you see any jumper wires on the I/O board that may suggest somebody has tampered with it? I am looking at a manual newer than your machine, but P41 is for the Sp Fan/Oil Pump.

Does your lube system hold pressure properly? Could be if there is a leak somewhere, previous owner may have altered the circuit so the pump runs all the time to keep lube going. Or alternately, they may have made it so the spindle fan runs continuously due to a overheating condition.

Just throwing things out here.

If you don't see any obvious signs of tampering, my bet is bad circuitry within the I/O itself. Seen it happen with other circuits.

If you have another machine of the same vintage you could always swap the boards if you feel confident in you skills.


Good luck.

[JoBwan]

Ok guys, I think it is fixed. I found P10 and P42 are both for the spindle fan and gear box uotput # 300. Someone had plugged the gear box/sp. fan cable into the P10 output. I moved it to P42 because the fan is connected to the gearbox wiring in the head. This machine DOES have a gearbox. P10 had power all the time and P42 only has power when the spindle is turned on. If I turn the spindle off, the fan shuts off from a timer, as it should.
Now, to Parameter 117. I found that it should be set at 108000 (according to the other machines I have) and found it to be set at 10800. I will keep an eye on the consumption and hopefully, won't have anymore issues. Thanks You to Geof and Haastec both for your assistance. You guys ROCK!!! Keep up the good work!!!