Mitsubishi Electric Automation offers a variety of avenues to keep its customers' machines running at the highest possible levels and reduce downtime. It offers CNC Preventative Maintenance service that entails three main components: replacing control and servo position batteries, replacing control and drive fans and performing a machine inspection.
"Anyone who has had a battery fail on a machine knows the pain of trying to get the parameters, programs, tool data, etc. back into the machine and return it to the same working condition it was in before the failure," said a company spokesperson. "Regularly replacing batteries helps ensure that user data will not be lost due to a battery failure."
When drive or CNC control fans are dirty, clogged or simply not working, they do not do a proper job of cooling, which puts extra stress on the electronics due to excess heat. Regularly replacing the fans ensures proper cooling and helps prevent premature failing of the drives and control.
During machine inspections, power supply voltages are checked to verify they are within specifications. The loads on the axes and spindles are also checked to ensure they are within proper load tolerances. If they are outside of tolerance, the customer is informed about a potential problem early, before a machine downtime event. This service is tailored toward systems made from the last 25 years which are M3, M5, M6, M7 and M8 series controls, MRS and MDS servo drives and FR-SF and MDS spindle drives. Regular CNC preventative maintenance is recommended every 1-2 years depending on the shop environment and amount of machine usage.
Controls and drives made prior to the past 25 years qualify under the company's legacy products. Over time, control, servos or spindles may not perform as well as they did on day one. "Perhaps a control takes a long time to power up in the morning or it locks up in the afternoon," said the spokesperson. "Maybe spindle speed is becoming erratic or you are experiencing mis-positioning on one of your axes. Mitsubishi's service will help bring user's CNC, servo drive or spindle drive as close to day one performance levels as possible. During service we go through and verify communications, check motor health, verify and/or adjust voltage levels, check drive base components, replace batteries, check motor brushes (if applicable) and verify drive operations." This service is tailored to Mitsubishi's FX, GX, LX, LY, LA, LB, LC and SX controls, TRA and TRS servo drives and DL (Dialrol) and FR (Frequol) series spindle drives.
Mitsubishi's backup service, CloudCNC, is recommended to prevent a data loss event. A backup of pertinent files are made on the user's machine and uploaded onto Mitsubishi's server. The backup is available for download 24/7 from its website. This can save countless hours of inputting the parameters back into the machine and gets the user's machine back into production faster.
In the unlikely event of a machine failure, Mitsubishi provides on-site field support. Service engineers are strategically located throughout North America to respond to its customers quickly and offer a 24-hour arrival rate of over 95%. Its engineers arrive equipped with diagnostic equipment, tools and replacement parts to provide troubleshooting services as well as operations and programming support. "This encompasses Mitsubishi's continuous effort to provide its customers with the maximum uptime for its machines," said the spokesperson.
For more information contact:
Mitsubishi Electric Automation Inc.
500 Corporate Woods Pkwy.
Vernon Hills, IL 60061
847-478-2500
us.mitsubishielectric.com/fa/en