Chinese oil lubrication

[bobby milam]

Ok, now that after 3 months I have got everything switched over to Acorn and everything seems to be working correctly, I am looking at a little fine tuning. The machine is Chinese and uses oil to lubricate the bearings through a series of these brass manifold blocks.
oem-cnc-machining-brass-water-manifold-brass.jpg_350x350.jpg
oiler.jpg

I have two manual lubricators, One goes to a single brass unit that has 5 hoses on the Z axis. The other side goes to 3 different units in a series with the first lubricating the left Y axis (nearest to container) then thru the gantry to the other side of the table and lubricates 4 bearings there then goes back thru the gantry to another to the X axis. It is really a PIA to try to get these adjusted so that each bearing gets oil before the closer bearings in the series start dripping oil. The Z axis wants to drip with just one push down on the handle. Other than the Z, the other brass manifolds are all encased in the covers on each axis.

Is there an easy way to get the adjustment correct? I am thinking that having the lines from one transverse back and forth across the 5' width of the table isn't the best way to do this and am thinking about moving the X axis to tie in with the Z axis. I'm also thinking that maybe I should remove each of them from the case enclosure and mount them for external access.

Anyone care to share their experience on getting these all adjusted for a more even flow or what setup their machine uses to address oil lubrication. It can get pretty messy on the floor and I don't want oil dripping down on my work pieces.

[Mark Bolton]

Those Oilers always seemed like a nuisance to me though the single pump seems convenient our if the gate.

No first hand experience but my initial thought would be that every line from the manifold to the destination should be cut to the exact same length with any excess on short legs coiled to try to get flow restriction as close as possible between all legs. But in the and a little debris or crud in one leg or restriction on any single leg would effect them all.

This is often an issue with central lubrication systems even on heavy equipment. One leg of the system gets plugged and unless its spotted it's not found til wear hits.

[Gary Campbell]

Bobby...
If you look carefully at the lines going into the manifold there is usually an adapter with a tube fitting going into it. Those tube fittings have orifices in them, and you can purchase larger/smaller openings to adjust the flow.

What weight oil are you losing? You might want to try 140

[bobby milam]

I asked about oil when I got the machine and the general consensus that I received was to use sewing machine oil.

[Gary Campbell]

Sewing machine or 3 in 1 oil are not rated for bearings. The flow control orifices are for higher viscosity lube.

Even when used as a "rail wipe" I don't like the light oils. The film residue attracts dust. I prefer to grease with "red tacky" (type 2) lube with 140w-200w depending on pump, and wipe rails with WD40 (or similar) as it dries overnight and attracts far less dust, which can get compacted into the bearings, than light oil does.

[bobby milam]

Here is a picture of an actual part on my machine.
KIMG0600.JPG

So the screws on the right side aren't adjusted to control the oil flow and are just shut offs for that one orifice? Would this be acceptable oil?

6000215-24.jpg

[Gary Campbell]

Bobby...
That is the exact oil I used (because I had it for my mills ways) until I moved up tothe heavier bearing oil after reading HIWIN, PMI-AMT and HAAS lube manuals.

[Steven Wayne]

Funny, I have covers off mine tonight. Looks like we have the same style machine. I was wondering if I can setup an auto oiler. Found one of the two pumps never got any oil out.

[bobby milam]

Yeah, I have 2 pumps and they seem to operate a little differently. They both pump oil, I have them leaking all over to prove it. I'm looking for a good place to purchase a couple of the manifolds right now. I took the X axis manifold and put it in with the Z but one of the plastic pieces that holds the hose on, broke. I should have some oil in tomorrow so will drain and change it out to the new stuff and see if a thicker oil will help with the problem. I was thinking about the automatic oilers but I keep putting money into this thing so I think I will keep the manual pumps myself.

[Gary Campbell]

http://www.fluidlinesystems.net/

[bobby milam]

Great thanks for the link

[James Biddle]

I'm more curious than anything...where do you mount a central lube system (automatic or manual) on a CNC? My gut tells me that it would mount on the gantry to supply the X axis and tube through the tracks for the Y and Z. Do you run one tube through a track and distribute to the bearings via a manifold? So three tubes out of the pump to three manifolds for distribution?

[Gary Campbell]

James...
Your assumptions are correct. On my "Ultimate" ATC machines there are 4 distribution manifolds. Some fittings are full flow, usually feeding other manifolds, and the rest have differently sized flow fittings depending on what they are feeding.

I can also say that from the factory most Chinese machines do not adhere to the same flow principles that are in use on higher end machines. Often they are void of all flow control devices, which along with allowing full pump flow to the easy path, gravity flow is not controlled. So in effect, they build in some major drips.

[bobby milam]

Gary, got busy with other things and was a little confused on that site as to which ones to buy. I need to order some because some of my lines let the oil drop down and some hold oil so when I have to pump the oiler, it requires several pumps to get oil to the valve at some locations and causes others to just flood and it is really annoying trying to deal with. What output rate valves do you recommend going to? If I am correct, they are a one way valve and therefore the oil won't drain back down the tube when machine is setting, correct? I will still need to measure my tube and threads.

[bobby milam]

I haven’t gotten around to correcting the oil dripping yet but it has been annoying and I have to do something soon. It got me to thinking. Would it be possible to unscrew the inlets for the oil into the bearings and put in a zerk for grease and change over to grease for lubrication instead of wayoil or are the bearings for grease totally different inside?