CNC Maintenance: What You Need to Know

CNC Maintenance: What You Need to Know

A critical aspect of CNC machining is properly maintaining your equipment to keep it running well. CNC maintenance involves a number of preventative care tasks that should be performed at weekly, monthly, and yearly intervals. Performing these tasks can boost your output efficiency and even improve profit margins by preventing costly unplanned breakdowns.

While there are many steps involved with maintaining CNC machines, in general, a maintenance plan involves tasks like checking lubricant levels, changing the oil, inspecting spindle belt tension, and cleaning the coolant system. At Rubin Engineering & Sales, we keep CNC machinery of all manufacture, vintage, and design in optimal working condition with expert maintenance and repair services. This guide will cover everything you need to know about CNC maintenance, including why it’s important, common CNC problems, the benefits of partnering with a professional maintenance service provider, and more.

Importance of CNC Machine Maintenance

A properly maintained CNC machine will provide a longer service life with greater productivity and profitability than an unserviced machine. In fact, according to research, preventative CNC machine maintenance saves two to five times the cost of repairs.

There are two categories of maintenance you should be aware of, predictive and preventative:

  • Predictive Maintenance: A proactive strategy that relies on data-driven methods to analyze the condition of equipment and determine when maintenance should be performed.
  • Preventative Maintenance: Regularly scheduled tasks that keep machines in good working condition to prevent unplanned downtime.

At Rubin, we offer CNC maintenance services customized to your needs, including electronics servicing to resolve issues with servo motors, circuit boards, encoders, power supplies, spindle drives, and more.

Common CNC Machine Issues

If your CNC machine isn’t working correctly, there are several common issues that can be to blame. Mechanical, software, and power supply problems can all occur with CNC equipment, particularly if it hasn’t been regularly maintained.

Mechanical Issues

CNC machines can experience a number of mechanical problems, including:

  • Excessive Vibrations: CNC machines must operate with precision, and excessive vibrations will create errors in the final product. These vibrations are typically the result of faulty components or improper installation. To resolve the issue, unusual vibrations need to be investigated and repaired.
  • Overheating: When CNC machines are overworked or pushed beyond their capabilities, many internal components can overheat. This is typically caused by either an inadequate coolant level or a fault in the coolant delivery system.

Software-Related Issues

While there are many types of software-related problems that can occur in CNC machines, the most common issues are either improper software synchronization with the machine or alignment and indentation problems due to inaccurate software calibrations.

Power Supply Issues

A stable power supply is a vital requirement for trouble-free operations with any CNC machine. Dust buildup from heat sinks, fans that need cleaning or replacing, old pin connections, or cold solder joints that have lost their integrity are all potential sources of power supply problems.

CNC Maintenance Schedules

To keep the many components of your CNC machine working correctly, there are many maintenance tasks you should be performing at regular intervals:

  • Daily Maintenance: Tasks that should be performed most frequently include lubricant pressure and level inspection, coolant level inspection, coolant disposal tray cleaning, checking for moisture in the pneumatic air, and checking voltage stabilizer output. You should also be wiping down the machine to remove dust buildup and checking the machine’s operation for anomalies.
  • Weekly Maintenance: Weekly tasks involve a more thorough cleaning of the machine and its surrounding areas. You should also check for leaks, visually inspect the machine’s components, ensure cooling fans are working properly, lubricate tool changer parts, check electrical components, and check the tool heads in the tool changer.
  • Monthly Maintenance: Once every several weeks you should clean the chip collector, and inspect jaws, fixtures, and chucks and adjust as needed. You should also inspect the tool heads, oil, lubricant, and coolant logs, and clean radiator grills and fans. Air filters, chains, and conveyors should also be maintained on a monthly basis.
  • Annual Maintenance: On an annual basis, you should thoroughly clean and refill the lubricant housing, inspect and clean the coolant cylinder tank, consider changing pneumatic oil, replace oil filters, run software simulations to review tool alignment and indentation, and use software to check for backlash in the tool head.

Benefits of Outsourcing a CNC Maintenance Professional

Outsourcing your CNC maintenance to a trained professional can help you reduce costs and gain more time to focus on your business. At Rubin, our team is highly experienced in servicing and repairing CNC equipment from all major brands. We can properly maintain your equipment and provide any necessary repairs quickly so that you can get your business back on its regular operating schedule.

Choosing Rubin for your CNC maintenance delivers many benefits:

  • Expertise: When you work with us, your gain access to specialized knowledge about your equipment.
  • Budget Flexibility: Only pay for the services you need, without having to hire an in-house maintenance employee.
  • Improved Care: We have the capabilities to deliver better machine care, which translates to improved function and lifespan.
  • Quick Repairs: If maintenance reveals an issue with your machine, we have access to the recommended tools and parts needed to fix the problem.

Overview of Rubin’s CNC Maintenance Services

We offer an extensive range of CNC machine maintenance services, allowing you to select exactly what you need. Our most popular services include:

Partner with Rubin for Expert CNC Maintenance Services

Get more out of your CNC equipment with expert maintenance services from Rubin. Our team can keep your equipment in its optimal operating conditions and prevent more serious problems from occurring in the future. No matter what manufacturer or vintage you’re working with, we provide the preventative care your equipment needs and complete any repairs with short lead times. For maximum convenience, we also offer on-site maintenance and repairs.

If you have any questions about our CNC maintenance services, contact us. To get started on your custom maintenance solution, request a quote today.