Keep your coolant lines clear of chips or it'll cost you a spindle

I see guys at our shop in Tulsa running their machines with coolant lines sitting right in the chip pile. I had a Haas VF-2 last year where a chip got sucked into the line and clogged the nozzle, then the spindle overheated during a 3-hour run. Took $800 to replace the bearings. Now I zip-tie all my lines up high and flush them with air every Friday. Anyone else had a spindle problem from something stupid like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

lee723d ago

In my experience, spindle failures usually come from running the tool way past its expected life rather than coolant issues. I've had coolant lines buried in chips for years on our old兄弟 machines and never lost a bearing that way. Maybe your VF-2 had something else going on with the coolant mix or the spindle itself, not just a clogged nozzle. $800 for bearings on a Haas sounds about right though, I've seen worse.

finleyw993d ago

Wait, you've had coolant lines buried in chips for years? That's wild, I'd be paranoid about the pump burning out or something.