Mazak Nexus ATC Arm

[Mjölnir]

Have a sticking plunger on the tool changer arm on a Mazak Nexus 510C causing it to throw tools and am in the process of disassembling and cleaning it up.

 

Anyone else had a problem with this, and did you add a grease fitting to lube it? Where?

 

Also, any ideas on how to install it in the right location since it's not keyed or otherwise positively located?

[Joe788]

Have you taken it apart yet? We had this happen on a 510 that had been sitting for a long time. I grabbed a wood 2x4 about 4 feet long, and put the end of it against the plunger, and leaned into it a few times (no prying or anything, just pushing straight into it. After a few plunges, it freed up totally, and has been flawless since.

 

Do it while the ATC is just in the normal resting position.

[Mjölnir]

Yeah, we took it apart.

 

It was corroded, outside and in. Coolant issues. Have complained loudly and often. Plus we have a blithering idiot who hoses down machines with straight tap water. Is a (mis)management issue well out of my control. :sigh: :banghead:

 

Anyway;

 

Apprentice is scrubbing corrosion off moving parts with scotch-brite as I type. Our new Mori and Mitsubishi mills have the same type of ATC arms and they both have grease fittings. This one, and eventually the other Nexus is getting them too.

 

If you ever have to take the arm off, it's held on to the shaft with an expanding mandrel / collet ring. Appears I need to manually jog the ATC to under the spindle and magazine, locate the arm using a tool in the spindle, and tighten the ring. Damn. I was really hoping it was keyed. The parts manual isn't that detailed.

 

Worst case scenario, call in a tech.

[Mjölnir]

FYI;

 

The ATC arm is cast iron with no coating or paint and there is no way to lubricate the moving parts without disassembling it. Ours corroded easily and quickly thanks to toilet water in the coolant tanks and condensation during our very humid summers. If yours is sticking I highly recommend taking it apart, say once annually, to clean and grease it. We added zerk fittings to ours and will give it couple pumps of grease every few months.

 

Re-installing the arm is as easy as manually jogging the ATC to 52° (maintenance menu) , sliding the arm on to the shaft, snapping it on to a tool holder in the spindle, tightening the collet, installing the locking plungers, springs, and bottom plate, then jogging it back to 0°.