[automoto]

I've had to replace 4 Z axis ball screws on machines only 3 years old! Has anyone else experienced or heard of this? Machines run 2 shifts 5-6 days per week.

[underthetire]

I can honestly say i've never had to put a screw in a NV5000. You have lubrication problems then.

[automoto]

The funny thing is that the wear is significantly relative to gravity...on the bottom of the screw. I don't think there is any counter balance. That's a lot of weight with only the nut and screw to support it. Almost a $30K replacement....

[underthetire]

30k? Someone is hosing you big time. Probably 3-4k for the screw, and 8 hours tops to install. Lube should have been checked when the first screw failed. I know of more than one shop running 24 hours a day, six days a week on original 8 year old screws. Mori has been building non counter balance mills since the mid 80's, and those were much heavier heads than a nv back then. The lube is supplied by a mixing valve to mix the oil (dte 24 or tellus 32) with air. Same system as the spindle. Valve is either plugged up or adjusted wrong. You need to pull the air line off the ballscrew, place a tissue in front of it, and run the spindle for a couple hours at a low rpm, say 100. Check the tissue later and see if you see oil discoloration on it.

[automoto]

it's actually 7k per machine. and you are right it's an 8 hour job.

[smcdonn]

We have an NV5000 and it was brought to my attention they never had to fill the oiler.... Needless to say this raised an alarm in my book. I called in a tech and had them adjust a parameter so it oils more frequently. How often are you filling the oiler?