Hi,
I have a new to me late 80's Kitamura Mycenter 1 I am slowly but surely becoming quite familiar. I have the manuals, but they are pretty bad and I can't find in them anywhere if this is normal operation or not... I don't think it is so that is why I wanted some feedback.
When you hook up air to the unit, whether it is powered on or off, you can hear a lot of air rushing through the spindle. If you put your hand under the taper you can feel it being expelled from the bottom of the spindle. It is not like a high pressure blast and but enough that you can feel it, but you can hear that a lot of air is rushing around in the spindle. It is still hard for me to say how much is coming through the taper and how much is coming out the nose. If you put your hand in between the spindle and clamp/unclamp it almost feels like a little air is coming out of the top of the spindle too, but it is hard to say... nothing like the bottom though.
I traced the source of the air to one or more of the 3 output lines on the NSK air/oil unit that go to the spindle for lubrication. This is NOT coming from the "tool blow off" during tool changes. I have specifically isolated it to the air/oil circuit that is injected into the spindle.
At this point I was thinking it was a stuck solenoid or something, because it seems like quite a waste for a machine to be consuming so much air when the machine is off or idle.
However, upon inspecting the air circuit for the air/oil system I found the only solenoid in the unit is to open/close the oil supply line. So unless there is a solenoid(s) in the spindle (doubtful), it seems like this would be normal operation unless someone removed a solenoid in the past because it was broken, or perhaps there is supposed to be a seal or something that keeps the air sealed until the spindle is rotating?
The machine seems to work fine but it consumes a ton of air and it is annoying to listen to it all be wasted when the spindle isn't even turning.
Can someone comment on either the Kitamura air/oil specifically or the nature of air/oil spindles in general? Are they supposed to have a solenoid that prevents air consumption when the spindle is off... or do they have some type of sealing mechanism to keep the air pressure contained until the spindle is moving? Or, is it supposed to always be eating air and you just have to live with it?
This is the last in a series of small fixes and maintenance I've had to do get this machine up to snuff so far and I'm hoping it is not a seal or something where by I will need to dig into the head/spindle.
I have a new to me late 80's Kitamura Mycenter 1 I am slowly but surely becoming quite familiar. I have the manuals, but they are pretty bad and I can't find in them anywhere if this is normal operation or not... I don't think it is so that is why I wanted some feedback.
When you hook up air to the unit, whether it is powered on or off, you can hear a lot of air rushing through the spindle. If you put your hand under the taper you can feel it being expelled from the bottom of the spindle. It is not like a high pressure blast and but enough that you can feel it, but you can hear that a lot of air is rushing around in the spindle. It is still hard for me to say how much is coming through the taper and how much is coming out the nose. If you put your hand in between the spindle and clamp/unclamp it almost feels like a little air is coming out of the top of the spindle too, but it is hard to say... nothing like the bottom though.
I traced the source of the air to one or more of the 3 output lines on the NSK air/oil unit that go to the spindle for lubrication. This is NOT coming from the "tool blow off" during tool changes. I have specifically isolated it to the air/oil circuit that is injected into the spindle.
At this point I was thinking it was a stuck solenoid or something, because it seems like quite a waste for a machine to be consuming so much air when the machine is off or idle.
However, upon inspecting the air circuit for the air/oil system I found the only solenoid in the unit is to open/close the oil supply line. So unless there is a solenoid(s) in the spindle (doubtful), it seems like this would be normal operation unless someone removed a solenoid in the past because it was broken, or perhaps there is supposed to be a seal or something that keeps the air sealed until the spindle is rotating?
The machine seems to work fine but it consumes a ton of air and it is annoying to listen to it all be wasted when the spindle isn't even turning.
Can someone comment on either the Kitamura air/oil specifically or the nature of air/oil spindles in general? Are they supposed to have a solenoid that prevents air consumption when the spindle is off... or do they have some type of sealing mechanism to keep the air pressure contained until the spindle is moving? Or, is it supposed to always be eating air and you just have to live with it?
This is the last in a series of small fixes and maintenance I've had to do get this machine up to snuff so far and I'm hoping it is not a seal or something where by I will need to dig into the head/spindle.