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Fanuc OT controller buttons randomly not working.

Nick H

Aluminum
Joined
Jun 13, 2007
Location
Westfield, WI
Several buttons and switches on the Fanuc OT controller randomly stop working and randomly start working again from time to time. At first it was only the "coolant on/off/auto toggle switch. After a while the "jog" buttons have stopped working at times, and the "incremental feed" toggle switch sometime seems to get stuck in the .01" setting reguardless of toggle switch position. It just seems to come and go as it pleases. Sometimes it works fine for days, weeks, months, them sometimes it acts up for hours or days at a time.

Any ideas at all what it could be?

Of course it never acts up when the CNC service tech is here.
 
I had the same trouble on a Fanuc 0M.... it was the buttons themselves. See here-

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/showthread.php?t=168637&highlight=fanuc+keypad

If I ever have to do this again, next time I'll just pry up the yellow vinyl enough to insert a drop of Stabilant 22 and that will fix it way easier than removing the clickers individually.

The problem is a very fine film of corrosion on the clickers below the sealed yellow vinyl. How some buttons get that way and others don't, is beyond me. The ones that didn't work at all, no matter how much finger pressure, clicker contact surfaces looked fine...maybe just a slight dullness in finish compared to the ones that worked...wierd but true.
 
So it was your keypad that had the problems? What about any of the other buttons, and toggle switches? All of my keypad buttons work flawlessly, never had an issue with those.
 
So it was your keypad that had the problems? What about any of the other buttons, and toggle switches? All of my keypad buttons work flawlessly, never had an issue with those.
Oh...I see now you just mean buttons in general, not Fanuc specific buttons..hell, they could be anything then...would be more helpful to know who made the machine, not the control in that case.

Look at them from the rear...if they happen to be made in Switzerland by EAO you will just have to replace them...Newmark Electronics has them...price is a rip, esp considering they aren't made all that great in the first place...but that's the easiest way out. Hard to believe they make pushbuttons so crappy in Switzerland, but I've had many, many EAO failures.
 
Another possibilty is a bad cable or connection. If the control swings or moves at all you could have a cable going bad.

Could also be a lose connection on the OP panel.

You could reseat all the plugs/tighten the connectors and the next time a button stops working you could move/pivot/whatever the control and see if the button starts to work again.

Dave
 
Another possibilty is a bad cable or connection. If the control swings or moves at all you could have a cable going bad.
Just out of curiosity, have you ever had a bad cable ? I've troubleshooted hundreds of machines and a cable was never the issue. Except once...and in that case the bad "cable" wasn't really a cable in the usual sense but a paper thin ribbon cable inside a digitial height gauge where the fold over crease in it cause a ribbon break after 25 years.
 
Just out of curiosity, have you ever had a bad cable ? I've troubleshooted hundreds of machines and a cable was never the issue. Except once...and in that case the bad "cable" wasn't really a cable in the usual sense but a paper thin ribbon cable inside a digitial height gauge where the fold over crease in it cause a ribbon break after 25 years.

GE 1050. 4 ribbon (36 wire) cables from control station (operator's panel) to rest of machine. Got so bad, I finally made my own using the connectors and individual wires.
 
Oh...I see now you just mean buttons in general, not Fanuc specific buttons..hell, they could be anything then...would be more helpful to know who made the machine, not the control in that case.

Look at them from the rear...if they happen to be made in Switzerland by EAO you will just have to replace them...Newmark Electronics has them...price is a rip, esp considering they aren't made all that great in the first place...but that's the easiest way out. Hard to believe they make pushbuttons so crappy in Switzerland, but I've had many, many EAO failures.

Machine is a Daewoo Pump 10HC, buttons seem to be made by Fuji Electric.
Back view of the switches.. the cluster with the thick yellow wire.
Picture003.jpg


One of the switches removed
Picture004.jpg



Front view of the switches. (the white and yellow rapid, jog buttons)
Picture002.jpg
 
Machine is a Daewoo Pump 10HC, buttons seem to be made by Fuji Electric.
Back view of the switches.. the cluster with the thick yellow wire.
OK, Fuji buttons are typically much better than EAO but they can go bad as well. Check resistance between terminals as you press the button and if not near zero, then you know that button needs some attention or replacement.

I can't remember who sells Fuji buttons but seems like one of the usual suspects has them..maybe even McMaster Carr...or Digi-Key...
 
Milacron,

Yes, several times I have run across a bad cable, even on newer machines. Usually where the wire takes a sharp bend at the pivot point of the control.


Nick,

I have run across, on a few instances, on the Daewoos ( and a few others ) a bad solder joint on the daisey chained neutral (N24) Can be a bummer to find though.

Dave
 
All World machinery supply
815-943-9111

has Fuji buttons at great prices
just about any other machine tool wijjies you can imagine also
great supplier
no relationship

chuck foot switch cable
second most common breakdown after
"I'm sure i hit reset before it just went berserk"
 








 
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