Mits Maintenance Help/Tips

[AGMantz]

Hey there everyone, this is a two part question. First some general knowledge, I've just started WEDM about two months and it's my first job in the manufacturing industry so I'm very inexperienced with just about everything(so go easy on me). I took over this job after our last WEDM guy was let go. I was basically just tossed into this job with no experience other than a 3 day training crash course at Mitsubishi and another 3 day course online with ESPRIT. Overall it's not going too bad I still make plenty of mistakes but I'm learning a lot from this forum so thank you all for all the great information its been a huge help on this new journey of mine!

Now to the problem...
We have 2 Mits MV4800 WEDM's. It became very apparent to me right away that our previous wire guy was not much of a cleaner, the machines were riddled with scraps of metal from previous jobs he did and the amount of grime and gunk that has built up over months I assume of him never cleaning the machines is enough to make anyone who has seen a clean WEDM squirm at the sight of ours(almost 1/2 an inch of crap built up in some areas). I've seen plenty of posts on here about how to maintain/keep the machine clean but I haven't seen much about how to clean a super dirty machine(granted I'm sure 99% of you don't let your machine get even close to this dirty). If anyone has any tips or ideas on how to get the machine back to an acceptable quality please let me hear them. I've been going at it with a putty scraper for a few days now when I have time and I'm making progress but it's veryyyy slow progress.

My second problem is I can't seem to get into the top head. I cleaned and gave all the parts in the other machines top and bottom head an ultrasonic bath to get rid of all the dirt and grime from months of neglect and it threads much better now. The top head on the other machine however will just NOT come off. The ring that surrounds the flush cup seems to be stuck or jammed. The other machine just twisted right off, but this one no matter how much elbow grease or different tools I use I just can't seem to get it off. If anyone has any tips for getting this ring off it'd be a huge help.

-AGMantz(srry for the long post)

 

[plastikdreams]

Gonna have to put a wrench to it. Jus5 don't use a wrench on the diamond guides, there's a finger wrench for them.

You can use a biodegradable decreased in the machine. Scotchbrite works well too.

No one where I work hoses the tank out so I'm constantly fighting the cutting residue.

Sharpen the putty knife, it helps lol.

 

[AGMantz]

Will do, I was hacking away at the tank with the putty scraper all Friday and can finally see the original colors of the machine tank. Lots and lots of dirty rags.

 

[plastikdreams]

I posted this in another thread but here it is again, this is for mits wire machines.

Resin bottle
Filters
Upper and lower power feeders
Cleaning the tank
Water level
Diamond guides, they sometimes get plugged or cut into.
Wire chopper/processer
Threading water pressure
Wire alignment
Lube oil tank

Advanced maintenance can include the following:
Rollers in the top tensioning system (then can get grooves over time with can really screw things up)
Rollers in lower head, and bearings
The lower head has a transfer radius that over time gets worn and needs to have the entire head replaced.
Wire processor spring tension
Wire processor Rollers
Wire cut actuator pressure
Tube up/down pressure
Float switch and capacitive switches in rear of head (water level issues, clean these)

Pretty much anything after that and I would defer to a tech as things need to really start coming apart then.

 

[pr0xify]

I work on a MV4800 as well. The maintenance is easy if you stay on top of it. To disassemble the upper and lower heads you need metric allen keys, the provided diamond guide finger wrench, and a flat head screw driver. Cleaning the tank is great and all but the most important things are the upper and lower head components as well as everything in the rear wire collection/chopping area. To clean the rear you'll have to disable the tension on the wire rollers that feed wire out of the machine by turning the valve on the top which has an air pressure guage. After that, strip all of the gears, rollers, chopper, and the plastic pieces for cleaning. This will help with contact alarms in the future.

Also when cleaning the lower head of the machine, if you take the whole lower head off, a set screw holds the tube in place that the wire travels through to reach the rear of the machine. Make sure to reinstall the tube properly. (Ask me how I know!)

If you get random T/C in fluid alarms during any OPS, check filter pressure, and/or clean the sensor on the back right of the upper head. It's a rectangular plastic piece fastened with a bracked with 2 screws and it has 3 metal rods on the inside that need cleaning. You can clean the float on the left hand side occasionally too.

The solenoids near the DI bottle can be cleaned. I've replaced 2 so far. Sometimes they run hot and cleaning will help for a while but they can go bad.

The plastic or ceramic piece in the lower head with the small countersunk set screws actually got redesigned with 2 O-rings for a better vaccum to thread the wire I'm guessing and I upgraded that on our MV4800.

Thats just a few things to start with.

 

[AGMantz]

I posted this in another thread but here it is again, this is for mits wire machines.

Resin bottle
Filters
Upper and lower power feeders
Cleaning the tank
Water level
Diamond guides, they sometimes get plugged or cut into.
Wire chopper/processer
Threading water pressure
Wire alignment
Lube oil tank

Advanced maintenance can include the following:
Rollers in the top tensioning system (then can get grooves over time with can really screw things up)
Rollers in lower head, and bearings
The lower head has a transfer radius that over time gets worn and needs to have the entire head replaced.
Wire processor spring tension
Wire processor Rollers
Wire cut actuator pressure
Tube up/down pressure
Float switch and capacitive switches in rear of head (water level issues, clean these)

Pretty much anything after that and I would defer to a tech as things need to really start coming apart then.

Thanks for the list I'll be using this to help form a good maintenance plan for the future.

 

[AGMantz]

I work on a MV4800 as well. The maintenance is easy if you stay on top of it. To disassemble the upper and lower heads you need metric allen keys, the provided diamond guide finger wrench, and a flat head screw driver. Cleaning the tank is great and all but the most important things are the upper and lower head components as well as everything in the rear wire collection/chopping area. To clean the rear you'll have to disable the tension on the wire rollers that feed wire out of the machine by turning the valve on the top which has an air pressure guage. After that, strip all of the gears, rollers, chopper, and the plastic pieces for cleaning. This will help with contact alarms in the future.

Also when cleaning the lower head of the machine, if you take the whole lower head off, a set screw holds the tube in place that the wire travels through to reach the rear of the machine. Make sure to reinstall the tube properly. (Ask me how I know!)

If you get random T/C in fluid alarms during any OPS, check filter pressure, and/or clean the sensor on the back right of the upper head. It's a rectangular plastic piece fastened with a bracked with 2 screws and it has 3 metal rods on the inside that need cleaning. You can clean the float on the left hand side occasionally too.

The solenoids near the DI bottle can be cleaned. I've replaced 2 so far. Sometimes they run hot and cleaning will help for a while but they can go bad.

The plastic or ceramic piece in the lower head with the small countersunk set screws actually got redesigned with 2 O-rings for a better vaccum to thread the wire I'm guessing and I upgraded that on our MV4800.

Thats just a few things to start with.

Holy crap you've just helped solve something I couldn't figure out for the life of me for whatever reason when ever I'd try and do a edge position on my machine it'd error out and say that the wire was in contact even though I was nowhere near the work piece or anything conductive. I'd have to jog a few inches up or down with wire feed on until the contact light went off, it wasn't machine breaking or causing bad cutting problems but it WAS causing me the biggest headache! I stripped out the chopper and cleaned everything real nice in there and no more contact problem! As for all the maintenance tips thank you so much it's nice to get tips from someone who has the same exact machine as me.

Thanks a ton!
-AGMantz

 

[wdevine]

Just putting this out there, I've always found wire choppers more trouble than they're worth. Been a long time since I worked with a Mits but I'm pretty sure we disabled it. This was also an older model so maybe they've gotten better.

 

[AGMantz]

Just putting this out there, I've always found wire choppers more trouble than they're worth. Been a long time since I worked with a Mits but I'm pretty sure we disabled it. This was also an older model so maybe they've gotten better.

I can see why you think that, those damn things are kind of a pain to take apart not mention it could any number of things back there causing problems. Unfortunately for me I don't have much say on whether we keep ours going or disable it but it is pretty handy for keeping things tidy with all the wire shavings just going into a big collection basket.

 

[pr0xify]

No problem. I've spent countless hours bothering the Mits techs over the phone during our expensive Triple Diamond protection whatever. Most of them are very knowledgable. They offer "PM service" to companies but I do it all in house and I've worked on our MV series machines for enough time to know a few things. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask!

 

[Pro-Wire Tech]

I can’t help I have lots of information can you call me at 708-818-8837 I was a service tech for Mits wire machines

 

[Pro-Wire Tech]

I can help I have lots of information can you call me at 708-818-8837 I was a service tech for Mits wire machines

 

[engineeric]

Congratulations on the new job! Nice to see you thinking of maintenance. Wire EDM is a specialized trade and can be very satisfying/fulfilling once you get the hang of it. Back when I was running machines in mid 90's It was very specialized and we took a lot of pride in the precision work we did. I was taught early on that machine maintenance and cleanliness was a very important part of maintaining accuracy and reliability of the machines we ran.(Agie 100, 200 D series and 315's & 50's). The shops I worked for were like laboratories.

We performed regular maintenance in the shop such as giving the machine a quick scrub with scotch brite between jobs and performed a full maintenance monthly or depending on the cleanliness of the machine and the next job going in. This included tearing the heads down, cleaning the quides, contacts, power cables & connections, the tank, table and tooling all with the method described below.

We used to clean the machines with Lysol toilet bowl cleaner and "green" scotchbrite pads it breaks down the eroded material very easy. Be sure to use gloves with this method as this has acid which burns like hell on cuts. Don't use to much and keep it a bit wet with water as it may affect the DI levels. Once we finished cleaning we would be sure to wash all the parts, tank and table down using murphy's oil soap & water to stop the acid from attacking everything. It leaves everything all nice and clean and the soap smells great.

Hope this helps.

 

[AGMantz]

Congratulations on the new job! Nice to see you thinking of maintenance. Wire EDM is a specialized trade and can be very satisfying/fulfilling once you get the hang of it. Back when I was running machines in mid 90's It was very specialized and we took a lot of pride in the precision work we did. I was taught early on that machine maintenance and cleanliness was a very important part of maintaining accuracy and reliability of the machines we ran.(Agie 100, 200 D series and 315's & 50's). The shops I worked for were like laboratories.

We performed regular maintenance in the shop such as giving the machine a quick scrub with scotch brite between jobs and performed a full maintenance monthly or depending on the cleanliness of the machine and the next job going in. This included tearing the heads down, cleaning the quides, contacts, power cables & connections, the tank, table and tooling all with the method described below.

We used to clean the machines with Lysol toilet bowl cleaner and "green" scotchbrite pads it breaks down the eroded material very easy. Be sure to use gloves with this method as this has acid which burns like hell on cuts. Don't use to much and keep it a bit wet with water as it may affect the DI levels. Once we finished cleaning we would be sure to wash all the parts, tank and table down using murphy's oil soap & water to stop the acid from attacking everything. It leaves everything all nice and clean and the soap smells great.

Hope this helps.

Hey engineeric,

All right you've convinced me, time to get some scotchbrite pads. On so many other forums, older posts, and different websites everybody says to use these scotchbrite pads so they must be working well for everybody. I've gotten by using clean rags with mineral spirts so far and that seems to do the trick well enough but I'll have to give these pads a try. Though I will say I am curious to see how toilet bowl cleaner works lol, I am currently in the works of trying to perfect my maintenance routine on both my machines and testing out a bunch of different cleaners to see which works the best while also running the least risk to sabotaging the DI level, so I guess yours is up next!

Thanks for sharing your maintenance routine!
-AGMantz

 

[plastikdreams]

Hey engineeric,

All right you've convinced me, time to get some scotchbrite pads. On so many other forums, older posts, and different websites everybody says to use these scotchbrite pads so they must be working well for everybody. I've gotten by using clean rags with mineral spirts so far and that seems to do the trick well enough but I'll have to give these pads a try. Though I will say I am curious to see how toilet bowl cleaner works lol, I am currently in the works of trying to perfect my maintenance routine on both my machines and testing out a bunch of different cleaners to see which works the best while also running the least risk to sabotaging the DI level, so I guess yours is up next!

Thanks for sharing your maintenance routine!
-AGMantz

Green or red scotchbrite pads...I'm not too keen on the toilet bowl cleaner though. I've always been told to use biodegradable degreaser or cleaner.

 

[engineeric]

Green or red scotchbrite pads...I'm not too keen on the toilet bowl cleaner though. I've always been told to use biodegradable degreaser or cleaner.

I suggest the green scotchbrite pads as they are not as abrasive and won't be as aggressive on the metal. If you're to aggressive with the red pad you will start to remove metal from the rails, tooling etc and could affect the accuracy at some level.

The toilet bowl cleaner works the best! It's like one of those infomercials where they spray some type of cleaner on and the stains just disappear. It's been about 20 years since I was in the shop but the best I can remember is that it can have an affect on the DI levels if you use to much it's acid... We used it somewhat sparingly and rinsed with a wet rag and the murphy's Oil soap from a tub. Cleaning parts off the machine for the heads etc can't be beat with this method just be sure not to leave the guides in the solution for to long. It does have acid in it so you have to have good judgement when using it. Don't splash it all around, don't leave it on to long, don't put it where precision guide ways of the machine are, and most of all do a good job of cleaning up after yourself.

 

[engineeric]

Let me know how it works out for you.

 

[plastikdreams]

Let me know how it works out for you.

We used to use this stuff called branson...it was horrible.