When I set mine up, the instructions said to do 12 seconds every 4 hours. I did that and I have no mechanical problems at all.
I read the auto oiler installation sheet the other day and it kind of raised my eyebrows.
I seem to recall it said after purging the oil lines to set it for 5 seconds every 4 hours. I've got four other (non-Tormach) machines with auto oilers and all of them oil much more frequently than that and for a longer interval. Even my one industrial grade machine was originally setup to automatically oil every fifteen minutes with an electro-mechanical clock timer. That machine shows little way surface wear and it was originally put in service in 1984. Two of my machines have cast iron ways with little or no signs of wear and two have square linear rails. All have ballscrews.
Now I would have just ignored that setting and set something that made me feel more comfortable, except the installation sheet seems to indicate that excessive oiling can CAUSE damage.
I tend to do a lot of complex 3D work that will have a lot of short axis reciprocating moves. I've read that can result in oil being "scrubbed" from those areas. Since Tormach's documentation seemed to conflict with the operation of my other machines, and I might have a specific issue related to the previous sentence I contacted Tormach.
I asked Tormach Tech Support and I did not receive a comprehensive answer. I received... "Its just a starting point."
So I am still left trying to decide how much and how often to set the automatic oiler for to ensure minimal wear over time.
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Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
When I set mine up, the instructions said to do 12 seconds every 4 hours. I did that and I have no mechanical problems at all.
You can buy GOOD PARTS or you can buy CHEAP PARTS, but you can't buy GOOD CHEAP PARTS.
Does your machine operate for hours every day doing complex 3D machining which results in localized reciprocating motion over a very short span of the ways?
Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Not 100% certain but I think the main thing is to not run the oiler pump too long--I think there is a risk of the pressure blowing out a seal or overheating it. I can't see why running it for 12 seconds every 30/60/whatever minutes would do anything worse than possibly go through oil faster than needed.
Computer on time or spindle on time?
It can be a big difference. More than you might think.
Even if it is all actually running time its still only 144 working days a year. In terms of work days, that's only 9-5 M-F for half the year.
Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
If you connect the automatic oiler as instructed for a 770 (I suspect that the 1100 is the same) the only possibility for oiler setup is VFD on time. The VFD will be on from spindle start until you activate the PDB or open the spindle door. This is a problem for me because I do drag engraving and the spindle is off for considerable time.
I have thought about this and I am considering switching to cabinet power later on. For the most part I'm trying to stay with recommended setups until everything is installed and tested.
The oilers on all my other machines are switched on with cabinet power.
Anything that strikes me as odd does get questioned though.
"Because they said so," isn't good enough for me with things that don't add up. I might be wrong, but until I get more information... question question question
Switching to cabinet power is trivial. However, I often leave my machine on for lengthy periods while considering the next step or even overnight in order to retain exact setup (not relying on home switch repeatability). Connecting to cabinet power would consume a lot of way oil! If I expect to be away for a while I press/release the PDB foot switch to power off the VFD.
I hear you. I'm about 3/4 of the way through a stack up assembly where all the pieces (11 pieces) have to be machined on both sides. One of the advantages I guess of Mach 3 not forcing me to home the machine every time is I can hit the e-stop and power down the machine overnight or even for a couple nights. I could relocate the part, but running it without rehoming works out better. These parts have thru holes that line up, and they look pretty darn good.
Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
It is not quite so simple. When you power off and then back on the current micro-step is forgotten by the stepper drivers. I believe that Tormach uses 10 micro-steps per step so power cycling could put you out by almost a full step (about 0.001 inch) each time. I strongly suspect that Mach3 has the same issue. If you think that things will be improved by not homing you can use the setup screen to disable the forced homing in PP.
I haven't delved into it yet, but yeah that would make sense. Your typical 1605 chinese ball screw and ten micro step controller gives you 10160 pulses per inch. You might argue that's slightly better than .001, but microsteps can be off by as much as 50-60% in step size depending on who you believe. Of course add on any backlash, stiction, machine rigidity, etc and it can be worse. I guess I've just been lucky. I may have to rethink this. A wiggler on a known good surface can get you within .0005 not accounting for the above factors if you step at below .0001 or on a manual machine. Of course microstep size can be an issue again. On things that have to be very good I do like to use a circular register or boss and center find it. Even that can have its issues, but atleast it accounts for backlash if you take enough approach to your touch off.
I feel like I've been able to do better than that, but I may have just been lucky. I typically see more difference on a larger part when I am using two machines on the same job, than I do from shutting down the machine.
Good response. Makes a person think.
Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com