Need Help! Manual oiler lines damaged - PCNC1100 S2


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  1. #1

    Default Manual oiler lines damaged - PCNC1100 S2

    All

    I recently got my hands on a used PCNC1100 from a friend. It runs fine but needed some cosmetic love - the coolant had been eating away at the paint. Also he had the S3 upgrade and had never installed it.

    In my cleanup process I caught the oil line that runs into the left side of the base casting with my wire wheel while stripping paint. Huge bonk. But need to move fwd. This is where I need your assistance please.

    I have been searching some of the oiler posts here and also looked at the oil diagrams in the manual. As I understand the line that enters the casting goes to a splitter. One side of the splitter goes to the Z axis distribution and the other to XY distribution. Prior to my mishap I had been over oiling because the machine had sat for a while. I was OK with cleaning up excess oil. I noted as many of you have the the Z axis appeared to be a bit light on oil...specifically the right side slide vs the left that had a small stream of oil leaking out of the slide.

    Based on my observations and the posts I have seen I was thinking that it may not be a terrible thing to move the splitter to the outside of the casting. Also possibly even move the oiler to a different location - perhaps even higher on the casting or on the enclosure. I dont really want to rent an engine hoist again to lift the machine off the base for a splitter that is not well placed for any maintenance.

    I figure move the splitter to the outside and run new 4mm lines to the Z axis distribution and the XY axis. This will mean removing the X table - but based on the mess I have been removing it probably needs cleaning. And that is much easier than lifting the entire machine...and gives me a chance to inspect all the oil lines and even set the gib.

    Where do you get your oil lines? (mcmaster, msc, tormach?) push to connect fitting OK for oil?

    Also I need to replace many of the wire conduits - I noted them to be metric. I haven't seen them anywhere but tormach. Any info there.

    Any feedback you can provide would be of interest and appreciated.

    Regards
    Dave

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  2. #2

    Default Re: Manual oiler lines damaged - PCNC1100 S2

    Can't really help for the oil lines but check out automationdirect.com for wire conduits. Their selection is sometimes a little lacking but their pricing is great and I've always had good luck with the customer service and the product.



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    Default Re: Manual oiler lines damaged - PCNC1100 S2

    Quote Originally Posted by dewing View Post
    All

    I recently got my hands on a used PCNC1100 from a friend. It runs fine but needed some cosmetic love - the coolant had been eating away at the paint. Also he had the S3 upgrade and had never installed it.

    Regards
    Dave
    You definitely must install the S3 upgrade!

    I bought replacement fittings from the UK (Arceurotrade) and while the plasic tube, tube protection sheath, and olive rings were all compatible the restrictor valves were not. They looked essentially identical but the flows from a #4 from Tormach and a #4 from Arceuro were different. It looks like the tubing and fittings are mechanically compatible (standardized maybe?) but I had to order compatible, additional restrictors from Tormach.
    Tormach sells all the parts so it's probably easiest to order from them if you're in the US.
    NOTE: be careful of the elbow fittings. The bolt is just made of brass, is hollow and has a cross hole. Don't tighten them any more than necessary to compress the o-ring or the bolt will pull apart. Don't ask how I know

    I'm not sure about using push fittings. I couldn't say whether the seals would withstand the lubrication oil.

    The Z lubrication has been getting some bad press lately but it's probably not quite as bad as reported. Obviously the Z ways are vertical so any applied oil runs off the exposed areas after a while. Oil applied to the X and Y ways will clearly stick around a while longer. That's just gravity.
    Also the construction is a little unfavorable, not a criticism, just the way (oh dear!) it is. The entire head essentially hangs off the ball screw. There will be a fairly considerable pressure on the lower edge of the flat way section (and top edge of the dovetail) which, in my opinion, behaves like a squeegee, clearing the oil away from the way as the head travels up. I would therefore expect to see less oil below the head than above it. This doesn't really say much about the quantity of oil actually between the running surfaces.
    As you have noticed the right Z-way receives less oil than the left Z-way. This is in part due to the fact that the left side has 2 restrictors (one for the way and one for the gib) but the right side shares one restrictor between the flat and dovetail surfaces. They might not even share equally. I added a second restrictor to the right side on my series 2 to increase the flow. There's a post somewhere on this forum - perhaps I'll be able to find it.

    I would recommend stripping down all 3 axes to clean all the ways and lubrication channels - but only if you feel comfortable with such a job. I know I didn't want to attempt this when my mill was new, but I did as soon as the guarantee ran out. Just a very small fragment between the running surfaces can play havoc with backlash.

    Step



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    Default Re: Manual oiler lines damaged - PCNC1100 S2

    I swapped to the push to connect fittings, work great, no leaking. Easier than the pressure fittings/ ferrule and you can pick whatever thread size on one end and push connect on other side. When I added the 2nd oiler, I could use 8mm thread to 4 mm push connects and also the 6mm thread for the Tormach stuff with 4mm push connect and not have to dink with different tubing sizes.



  5. #5

    Default Re: Manual oiler lines damaged - PCNC1100 S2

    Tigster

    do you see any harm in eliminating that splitter and moving it outside? Else I have to lift the machine off the base to fix my bonk. I can access the Z feed line from the back and the XY from the table. Seems straightforward. But being new to the machine I didnt want to run into unexpected consequences.

    I also like the idea of moving the oiler (or even using 2)....I mean coolant and other things are in the open to make maintenance easier. it seems logical to put the oiler in a place of easy access -- and perhaps also improve the flow/performance in the process.

    Thx for info on the push fittings - that is helpful. I most often see the fittings for air lines with either a zinc or brass body. or sometimes plastic like on the PDB. Do you age yours from a place like mcmaster?

    Thanks again!
    Dave



  6. #6

    Default Re: Manual oiler lines damaged - PCNC1100 S2

    Step

    Thanks for the input. I figure while im cleaning - pulling the table off the really clean the guts is worthwhile. A pain for sure...but all good.

    Any thoughts on eliminating that splitter and moving it outside?


    Thanks again!
    Dave



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    Default Re: Manual oiler lines damaged - PCNC1100 S2

    Plus 1 on the S3 upgrade.

    I posted some info on the x axis lube and the issues I ran into with moving the table to the side without pulling off the bearings and full table removal. I would like to do that, but that takes the work up another notch I think.

    I hated the oil splitter location so I helped that out by unfastening from the left base side. I have an 1100 S2 with S3 upgrade. I had to use a camera to see the socket head screw that holds the splitter to the casting. I tried a mirror but gave up after a while and used a camera scope. WAY better. I fastened the hex wrench to a flexible PVC pipe. I drilled a hole for the L leg and taped it with the ball end out front. Sighted with the camera and used another rod with a hook on it to provide vertical movement of the pipe. I removed the screw and let the splitter drop. I fished it out and put several inches of wire through the mounting hole so I could push it underneath, out of the way, but pull it out to check it. I put it up on a piece of delrin or HDPE, to keep it up off the base in case I wanted to run flood coolant. It was easy to pull it out and check it. I also used that to block off one side to check how much oil went each way with one pump stroke. I haven't liked that splitter location since I first realized where it was. I wasn't able to see the splitter mounting screw hole in the base until it was removed. It looked like the screw was installed, ground flush and painted over so no way to see it's location from the outside on my machine.

    That was an interim step before going to two pumps.



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    Default Re: Manual oiler lines damaged - PCNC1100 S2

    Dewing, I have a 440 and am pretty new to the Tormach family myself, don't want to give you bad advice.
    So the new oil pump I bought was 10mm threads to the the 4mm push to connect, the manifolds/splitters may all be different, I would check before you jump in. FWIW I bought this kit for the tubing and 2 different sized fittings...everyone's needs differ.
    Best of luck, but there is gotta be a better and easier answer for you than taking it off the base.
    https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1



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    Default Re: Manual oiler lines damaged - PCNC1100 S2

    If you want to add a 2nd oiler . you don't need to go undernearh to get at the splitter. just break the Z axis feed line from the access hole in the rear of the vertical casting, plug the end that goes to the splitter. That will isolate the origonal pump to all the X and Y nozzels. ....Then and hook the new pump to the line end that goes on up to the 4 way split for all z axis oiling .at the top



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Manual oiler lines damaged - PCNC1100 S2

Manual oiler lines damaged - PCNC1100 S2