Lube Trouble On A '05 VF-2

I have a 2005 VF-2 that occasionally gives a #121 "low lube or low pressure" alarm. The lube reservoir needs to be added to occasionally just as I would expect, and the gage runs up to 50 # or so when it drops off the cam.

The alarm worried me enough that I had a tech come by, but all he came up was excess volume (it was pumping 5cc rather than 2.5-3cc if I remember right) which he readjusted or possibly excess tackifier in the waylube we are using. The theory on the tackifier being that it is slowly gumming up the restrictors in the system. Of course the tackifier idea worries me a lot.

We are using Blaser Waylube 68 because it works well with the Blaser coolant that we use. Haas recommends Mobil Vactra #2 (also ISO 68) and the service tech seemed to think that the Blaser was a little more stringy when doing the thumb-forefinger seperation thing.

Has anyone out there had problems with too much tackifier plugging lube systems? Any other thoughts?

Its pumping too much??? so its clogged?????

I wouldn't worry at all about the Blaser Waylube, when they came out with it, they made sure it was compatible with Bijur pumps and valves.

I'm not familiar with Haas at all except that they are white and red. Are they running a straight metering valve, which is nothing more than a restricter, about $10 a piece or are they running an oil injector, that actually meters out a volume of oil and is fired off by a pressure spike of about 250psi?

If you are running injectors, I guess one could get stuck open, though I would bet my left nut that it is not from "tackifiers". Besides, the machine is 3 years old, and you really should (I say should) change out your valves every 2 years or so.

Other things, too much volume, look for leaks, cracked lines, ways or screws that are dry. I DO NOT like that the tech backed down on the volume. You have a LOW pressure alarm, LOWER volume is not going to solve it. You have a problem that can potentially wreck part of your machine, and the tech wants to solve it by turning a screw, I'd request a refund and never let him back into my building.

I realize now that I didn't explain the tech's conclusion. He said that some Haas machines are configured to give the alarm when the pressure stays high for too long, as would occur if the restrictors were clogged. The problem was that he didn't know if our machine was one of the machines configured like that and planned to check with Haas.

The machine apparently uses simple restrictors. There is not a source for a high pressure spike like you described.

We too have a haas 2005 model ( VF1) , so the lube system must be the same as yours...

Both the 'low level lube ' float switch and the lube pressure switch are wired in series .

the control checks every 40 minutes or so if there was a oil pressure signal . if it didn't , then either there was no oil in the tank ( which is very unlikely- because thats the first thing you would have checked) or the time interval passed without a pressure spike.

If you pull the knurled disc upward to do a manual pumping, does it build up the pressure on the gauge ?

If it comes down immediately within some 3 seconds , then there could be a leak somewhere.

If it builds up the gauge pressure but the pressure doesn't drop for more than say 2 minutes then the restrictors are blocked and not supplying the oil ( which results in the drop).

both cases can cause serious damage .don't take the alarm lightly ! Nag the Haas people till they give a sensible explanation or solve the problem .

I recently got a full set of restrictors and changed it on the HAAS VF1(2005) because the lube tank level was not decreasing at a rate that I liked ( I should think a tank should empty in a weeks time running 3 shifts 7 days a week ).


MJM

Just something to think about when you change way lube is that it is also the spindle lube, it is my understanding that too much or too little can be bad for the spindle. You had mentioned changing because the new kind was compatable with your coolant but on a Haas that new most of the used way lube is captured in a seperate tank and shouldn't end up in the coolant anyhow.

I was thinking about this problem and I recalled that 1 1/2 or 2 years ago the Blaser rep came and replaced the most recent pail (it was about half used) of waylube 68 that I had bought with a new one. It turned out that there was a "cosmetic" problem with foreign matter in that lot. When I pulled off the lid I saw a cloud of dark brown material at the bottom. I was worried about it but the rep assured me that it wasn't a problem. So I forgot about it. Until now.

I called the rep yesterday and he called the tech people. They said that when the bad lot was detected, they ran tests to make sure that there would be no problems with with restrictors getting clogged. They claimed that the tests showed no problem.

Is it possible that a batch of bad waylube from that long ago ago could be causing my current problem? Am I being paranoid?

Just in case, I ordered new restrictors for the machine. When I pull the old ones I'll look at them under a microscope to see if I can see any problems.

If they are plugged, it means replacing all of the restrictors on my other five machines that used that lot of waylube. That would really bite!

sudtechcnc,
A full stroke (by hand, no idea what volume was pumped) on the lube pump took about 3.5 minutes to drop from 50# to 5#. Would you be so kind as to time your '05 VF-1 with fresh restrictors? The Haas tech can't seem to get an answer from the factory regarding what is normal.

Any thoughts?

The pressure staying too high for too long makes sense. 3.5 minutes sounds like a long time to me.

As for the metering valves, what I did, bought a cheapie ultrasonic cleaner and ran the valves in some hydraulic oil(injector valves at $24 per, and I needed 22? of them). Then pulled a couple of lines directly off the waylube pump so I could test two at a time, cycling it manually, and comparing the two. I only needed to buy 3 valves after that. Probably not the best way to do it, but the machine was down for other maintenance and I didn't feel like spending $500.

I still don't like the idea of lowering the oil volume, weather from too much pressure for too long, or low pressure.

There is a filter after the pump. It's sintered bronze or something like that. I don't know how fine of particles it filters. If there was some debris in the way lube most of it is probably in that filter. Changing the restrictors couldn't hurt. I had some pulgged in a 70's bridgeport knee mill I have. Changed them all out and all is well. I also have a 71 bridgeport that has the original restrictors in it. I'll probably change them out eventually, but the're still working. You could pull off the way covers and wipe off the oil from the slides and pump the luber a bunch of times. Jog the axis and see if it's leaving oil on the slides. It wouldn't hurt to clean out any chips from this area every few years, so checking to see if the lube system is actually working isn't really that bad.

Sorry for the delay...

It took 2 1/2 minutes same 50 to 0 .

After fitting the new ones It takes about 5 pumpings to visibly see the oil come out near the linear bearings and ball nut. So Now I've put my mind at ease...

MJM