Maintenance method of sfu ball screws
sfu ball screws as precision transmission parts, its performance and life are closely related to maintenance. Scientific maintenance can effectively reduce wear and tear, avoid precision degradation and prolong service life, specific maintenance methods are as follows:
Regular cleaning to prevent impurities from intruding into
Cleaning frequency: adjusted according to the use of the environment, ordinary workshop environment is recommended to be cleaned once every 200-300 hours; the harsh environment with more dust and oil (e.g. casting workshop) needs to be cleaned 1-2 times a week.
Cleaning steps:
Use soft brush or compressed air to remove floating dust, iron filings and other particles of impurities on the surface of the screw (avoid scratching the surface of the thread with hard brush);
Wipe the screw and nut with a cleaning cloth to remove oil and adhering dirt;
Wait for the cleaning agent to evaporate completely after cleaning to ensure that there is no residue before proceeding to the next step of maintenance.
Note: Prohibit the use of water or corrosive solvents (such as alcohol, strong acids and alkalis), so as not to corrode the screw surface plating or ball.
Reasonable lubrication to reduce friction and wear.
Lubricant selection:
Recommended lithium grease (NLGI grade 2), such as Shell Alvania EP 2, is used in regular working conditions (normal temperature, medium speed);
For high speed operation (speed > 3000r/min), it is recommended to use low viscosity lubricant (e.g. ISO VG 32 or 46) to reduce lubrication resistance;
Low temperature environment (<0℃) need to use anti-freezing grease, to avoid grease solidification affect transmission.
Lubrication method:
After cleaning, apply the lubricant evenly on the threaded raceway of the screw and the ball contact area of the nut;
manually rotate the screw for 2-3 turns, so that the lubricant fully enters into the internal raceway;
Wipe off the excess grease (to avoid adsorption of dust), to ensure that the lubrication is even and there is no accumulation.
Lubrication cycle: general operation 500 hours or once a month, high load, dusty environment needs to be shortened to 200-300 hours.
Avoid overload and abnormal force
Load control: strictly follow the rated load of SFU Ball Screws (refer to the axial load parameters in the product manual), avoid instantaneous shock load or long-term overload to prevent threaded teeth from breaking and balls from crumbling.
Installation check: Regularly check the parallelism and coaxiality of the installation of the screw, if installation deviation is found (e.g. the screw is not parallel to the guide rail), timely adjustment is required to avoid bending of the screw or wear of the bearings due to additional radial force.
Operation monitoring: Pay attention to abnormal noise (such as "jamming sound" "metal friction sound") or temperature abnormality (localized overheating) during operation, such cases need to be immediately shut down for checking, to exclude the problems of foreign object jamming and loosening of parts.
Storage and Idle Protection
For the idle state of SFU Ball Screws, it is necessary to take targeted protection measures according to the length of storage to avoid corrosion, deformation and other problems.
Short-term idling (1-3 months):
Thoroughly clean the oil and impurities on the surface of the screw, and after drying, evenly apply a thin layer of antirust oil on the exposed parts of the metal such as threaded raceway, outer surface of the nut and the shaft end (recommended to use dehydrated antirust oil with a thickness of about 5-10 μm); and then completely cover the exposed part of the screw with dust cover (such as a non-woven cover) with good ventilation to prevent dust adherence; the storage environment should be in a suitable place to avoid rust, corrosion and deformation. The storage environment should meet the relative humidity ≤ 60%, well ventilated, and away from water sources or humidifiers to avoid metal surface corrosion caused by humidity.
Long-term storage (more than 3 months):
After completing the short-term idle rust prevention and cleaning steps, additional attention should be paid to anti-deformation protection: place the screw horizontally on the special bracket, make sure that the two supporting points are located at 1/4 of the total length of the screw (instead of the end points), and the contact parts between the supporting points and the screw should be padded with 5-10mm-thick rubber or wooden pads to avoid hard contact leading to localized indentation; if it is necessary to stack and store, it is necessary to meet relative humidity ≤60%, ventilation and away from water sources or humidifiers to avoid moisture causing metal surface rust. If it is necessary to stack and store, it is necessary to put rigid partition boards (such as plastic boards) between each layer of screws, and the height of stacking should not be more than 3 layers, so as to prevent the bottom layer of screws from being deformed by pressure.
In addition, it is necessary to check the state of rust prevention once a month, if it is found that the rust prevention oil is dry and cracked or peeled off, it is necessary to re-clean and reapply; manually rotate the screws 1-2 turns every 3 months, so that the rust prevention oil can evenly cover the threaded raceway, to avoid the local corrosion caused by the long-term static.
Five, regular precision calibration
Every 1000 hours of operation or every six months, use laser interferometer and other equipment to detect the positioning accuracy and backlash of the screw;
If the precision deviation is found to be out of the allowable range (such as backlash > 0.01mm), it is necessary to repair by adjusting the nut preload or replacing the balls, etc., and if necessary, contact the manufacturer for professional calibration.
Through the above maintenance measures, the wear rate of sfu ball screws can be significantly reduced to maintain its transmission accuracy and stability, especially in precision machine tools, automation equipment and other high transmission requirements of the scene, the scientific maintenance is to protect the overall performance of the equipment is a key link.
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