2.2kw spindle Heating Up

[Tomnewry]

Hi folks I have finally got my spindle up and running, I have read on this forum that they will run no problems for about an hour without heating up. I have run mine and it starts to heat up after about five mins, i switched it off straight for fear of ruining it, im just wondering have i done something wrong to cause this or should i just wait until my pump comes before using it.
Thanks folks for the help.
Tom

[GEOFFREY]

Does it run "hot", or "warm. Warm is ok, but burny is bad. G.

[Tomnewry]

Turned it of soon as started to heat didnt want to take a chance.

[ba99297]

im just wondering have i done something wrong to cause this or should i just wait until my pump comes before using it.
Tom
Excuse me
You mean you start using the water cooled spindle WITHOUT a pump?

I am not expert about cnc and spindles but i think every kind of water cooled machine needs a pump in order to work properly. So my advise is dont even start it again without a pump

[GEOFFREY]

As I have said before, I have been using a wc spindle for over 10 years, sometimes for prolonged periods. I run this spindle without water and it never gets hotter than hand warm.
My spindle is not Chinese, but was made in Germany by Jaeger back in 1985. I did discuss water cooling with a spindle recon company, and their comment was that if the spindle was only was warm no harm was likely to occur. G.

[ba99297]

As i am not an expert, and my English are not very good i will suggest you check
1. The bearings
2. Try to blow or suck from the inlet or outlet tube of the cooling system. If no air can pass through try to clean it because that means that even the air cant pass trough the cooling system in order to spread heat of the spindle to the environment
3. One basic question (because you don’t mention it) is if you use the spindle to cut something or you just turn it on with no cutting load. If you use it to cut any material check the bit condition
4. If you use a VFD (inverter) in order to control spindle speed, try to check it. May be bad electrical parameters cause overheating

I can think of something else

Vagelis

[EddyCurrent]

There's also a startup regime to protect the bearings, for my spindle this is;

4 minutes at 25% max speed
3 minutes at 50% max speed
3 minutes at 75% max speed
2 minutes at max speed
until the spindle reaches 35 deg.C

This is not a Chinese water cooled spindle it's an air cooled Italian spindle but as it's to do with the bearings it should apply to all spindles that run above 3000 rpm (so the manual says)

The routine shoild be carried out each time you start it up at the beginning of the day or if it cools to room temperature.
I wrote some simple G code and called it 'spindle_warmup', it goes through the routine above.

[ptjw7uk]

I seem to remember reading on ARc's page that the spindles should be run in for some time to protect the bearings.

peter

ARc also says you should run the spindle for 30 mins each month to keep the bearings good!

[Neale]

I found that I could run my 2.2kW spindle uncooled at about half-speed and light cuts for about 15-20 mins before it became hot enough that I was unhappy to continue - at that point it was still just cool enough to touch but probably somewhat warmer inside. I use a cheap caravan water pump that cost about £12 from eBay (and I'm sure that everyone else can buy them for less - story of my life...) and with a few metres of plastic pipe and a bucket, it makes a very effective cooling system. The pump instructions say do not run for more then 15mins continuously; because my control box includes an old PC power supply I have both 5V and 12V available. I fitted a two-way centre-off switch so that I can give a quick blast of 12V to purge odd air bubbles, and then go to 5V and it seems to be happy to run for hours like that.

[JAZZCNC]

My spindle will happily run for over an hour before getting slightly above luke warm and thats cutting not just spinning. That said I don't run it without water but in the past I have had too when the pumps broke etc so if yours is getting hot then somethings definately wrong.? If it's getting above warm in just a few minutes then I suggest something is wrong. Check the VFD settings to make sure the Amps or volts are correct.

[Tomnewry]

Cheers folks ill have to double check the setting.

[EddyCurrent]

Jazz is right, you need to make sure the figures on the spindle rating plate are the same as in the VFD, i.e. type of motor, voltage, full load current, frequency, speed, power.
I'm not sure about water cooled spindles but air cooled types do not get good cooling at low speeds because the fan is turning slowly, so the speed you are running at may be a factor

[JAZZCNC]

I'm not sure about water cooled spindles but air cooled types do not get good cooling at low speeds because the fan is turning slowly, so the speed you are running at may be a factor

No speed is not an issue and there's no duty cycle to speak off, thats the beauty of WC spindles they can happily run for Days without getting more than warm.!

[Tomnewry]

Cheers folks

[magicniner]

If you don't have a pump but want to run a water cooled system you can always set up a siphon between two buckets that will give you way better cooling than nothing at all.
I avoid running any water cooled system for longer than is required to just confirm that it works as to do more is to ask for trouble not covered by warranty.
Hopefully you can't be traced by your supplier from this post as if you can your warranty is void ;-)
Regards,
Nick

[Tomnewry]

Hi guys thaks for all your help, I got my pump and now have it running and is cooling great, I broke one of the water nipplie connections but I fixed it with Superglue and is working great believe it or not, but as this is only a short term fix im trying to find a supplier for extra ones, I tried contacting a few sellers on ebay but none want to sell them on their own so I shall struggle on. Machine is cutting great. Happy Christmas & Happy New Year to all you guys.
Tom

[cncJim]

Don't know if yours are the same size but when mine broke off of my 1.5 kW Chinese spindle I replaced them with these...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Threaded-Pneumatic-Fitting-Straight-Coupler/dp/B008NGT7WA/ref=cm_sw_em_r_dp_IutVsb0TMDFK2_tt

Jim

[Clive S]

I have found these, at least it is a UK company: http://fluid-fittings.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d188_Brass_Metric_Male_thread.html Hope this helps. ..Clive

[Tomnewry]

Hi clive thanks this is great, do you know which one I need to order.
Thanks

[Tomnewry]

Thanks to you too Jim theses are great hopefully get this all sorted now.

[Clive S]

From what I can gather the spindles might have different threads for the water inlet fittings if you have one already you could take it out and check it with an 8mm die or nut etc It could even be BSP or whatever. ..Clive