Brother R650X1 chip evacuation?

I've done my due diligence searching. Read all the threads.
One question remains about the Brother pallet changers, looming in my mind: how is the chip evacuation?
Is is good? Is it HMC good? Does it suck? (like my HAAS)
Does the conveyor come straight out the back?
I need to know these things.

Wheelie,

See this discussion for info on chip handling with Brothers; especially the later posts from 2of3, Tonytn36, and others.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...g-318929/?highlight=chip+conveyor+lns+Brother

I think most of the Brothers are sold with the Wash Down option - very effective in getting the chips down and out the back of the machine (in our experience).

We have had a R650 for a year now. We expected to make quite a few chips so opted for an LNS Turbo chip transport. We machine mostly aluminum with some stainless and brass. The most I can say for the LNS is that its ok. The 'Turbo' designation aside we have to run it continuously; it will stall if run intermittently. The other problem is the volume of coolant is quite small (50L IIRC); end result is machine will be starved for coolant if the wash down is run too long. Fortunately, wash down is effective so only needs to run for 15-20 seconds every so often. The discussion I referenced above will fill you in on the alternatives. Obviously depends on how much chips you're making - because the 650 can sure make a lot of chips!!

The above has not been a real hassle once we understood the issues. I think the R650 itself is a wonderful machine tool. Already its production capacity has obsoleted 2-3 larger machines. We've since added another Brother and are considering a few more down the line.

BTW, how are you thinking of outfitting the machine? 4th or 4/5 axis; multiple vises? And what CAM will you use to program? Thanks.

Fred

Hey Wheelie, here are a couple of pics of a conveyor on the R650. You can choose left side or right side discharge but I think for the R650 this orientation to the left is best because you still need room on that side for the operator panel and set up door. All of the Brother Quick Table pallet machines come standard with a programmable chip wash system too. There is a separate 400W chip wash pump and plumbing throughout the enclosure. You give the machine an M400 to activate. It also has a timer you can adjust to wash for a certain amount of time. The shops I know running this machine have been very happy with the chip handling. Yamazen now has a Mayfran conveyor option with 'CleanSweep' function. Coolant capacity is 80 gallons.

We have a R650X1 and with the wash-down it keeps the chips cleared pretty well. We run aluminum, stainless, copper and steel, we added a regular hose to the wash-down system and it allows us to hose it down at the end of the day too. Also, we have the chip conveyor and it is a must if you plan on doing a lot of removal, just consult them on the best type for the chips you'll be making (long stringy or fine/small).

I hope that helps, If you have any additional questions I'll help if I can.

John
Brother S2Dn-O
Brother S2Dn
Brother R650x1
Brother S1000x1
Brother R450x1

You definitely want the washdown if it's not standard, and just run it all the time. Which means the bigger tank.I got the LNS MH250 and its tank is 80ish if I remember so no problem with starvation.
After the battery's gave out it was down for about 6 weeks so the coolant was rank . I ran a warm up program for 6 hours with all of the coolant including through spindle and no starvation
Gary

Yamazen dude was here this morning. I got the skinny on the sucky old conveyors. And, the new mayfran hotness (and now understand why).
And also how much said new hotness costs $$$ . And, also how the chip wash works (an actual visual goes a long way towards a warm fuzzy).

wheelieking71 said:

Yamazen dude was here this morning. I got the skinny on the sucky old conveyors. And, the new mayfran hotness (and now understand why).
And also how much said new hotness costs $$$ . And, also how the chip wash works (an actual visual goes a long way towards a warm fuzzy).

Click to expand...

Good conveyors are not cheap. But they are worth the money. We use the LNS drum filtering / with after filters on our R450's. They are well north of $20k, but worth every penny. (Aluminum machining only. No issue with starvation. We switched from the crappy old conveyor on the first S2C machine to a drum filtering conveyor (IIRC $23k back in '09) and it paid for itself in less than 5 months.

I've spent over $100k for a good chip conveyor / tank system multiple times in the past. You can't be spending your time d*cking around with coolant / chips and make any money in this business.

Tonytn36 said:

Good conveyors are not cheap. But they are worth the money. We use the LNS drum filtering / with after filters on our R450's. They are well north of $20k, but worth every penny. (Aluminum machining only. No issue with starvation. We switched from the crappy old conveyor on the first S2C machine to a drum filtering conveyor (IIRC $23k back in '09) and it paid for itself in less than 5 months.

I've spent over $100k for a good chip conveyor / tank system multiple times in the past. You can't be spending your time d*cking around with coolant / chips and make any money in this business.

Click to expand...

I'm learning. I just have to figure out how to feed the thing if I can get it on the floor.
I have a job going that the required volumes tripled on me in the last month. I have to "shit or get off the pot".
The quote came back a lot higher than I thought it would.

The material for the first three months of 2018 will be here mid Nov.

I’ve been having issues with the wash down and chip conveyer on our r650. These are the things I don’t like.
-The wash down coolant uses ALOT of coolant which is great but it can also suck the tank dry if you don’t start with a full tank.
-when the wash down is on it overflows our the back of the conveyer. So when I run the wash down I back off the 4 wash down valves to half which do me defeats the purpose.
-no wash down hose SUCKS! Yea I guess I can tie into a line and make my own but I was amazed it didn’t come with the machine.
-coolant splatters all over the floor around the conveyer just making everything a complete mess. I had to make a curtain to help stop coolant spray.
-chip conveyer got jammed Twice, had to take the panels off.
-I loose a lot of coolant when constantly running the conveyer, every time a dump a barrel I’m amazed how much coolant I’m tossing.
-also, the open wing of the conveyer is long and bigger then the opening of a 55gallon drum so chips end up all over the floor. I’m pretty much always cleaning up some kind of mess.

Breters75 said:

-also, the open wing of the conveyer is long and bigger then the opening of a 55gallon drum so chips end up all over the floor. I’m pretty much always cleaning up some kind of mess.

Click to expand...

Post a couple pictures of the conveyor exit and chip dump area, perhaps some relatively simple mod could be done to clean this up.

Breters75, which conveyor do you have? The Mayfran CleanSweep? The Chip Wash (M400) system has a timer in the User Parameters. I think it says Chip Wash Drain Time. I usually set this to 8 to 10 seconds. In your program put the M400 and then the M401 on the next line. The wash will stay on for the 8 to 10 seconds only. Repeat as necessary. The chip wash should not be on continuously. If you have the Mayfran Cleansweep conveyor, you can turn the speed control down below half and it will work intermittently which helps minimize coolant loss. A deflector under the small auger port up near the discharge area will help get the chips into a 55 gallon drum.

I had the same problem getting the chips in the barrel. I used 6-7 pieces of cardboard to make a chute that would work, used tape to hold them together properly (trial and error, lots of error) when it was right I mixed up some epoxy resin and soaked the cardboard inside and out. Next morning it will be hard as a rock and coolant proof. You can just use a quart "kit" from the boat shop or autozone, will work fine.
Also I raised the chip drum up tilted it slightly. Drilled holes on the bottom side and use a drain pan for the coolant.
Gary

Breters75 said:

I’ve been having issues with the wash down and chip conveyor on our r650. These are the things I don’t like.
-The wash down coolant uses ALOT of coolant which is great but it can also suck the tank dry if you don’t start with a full tank.
-when the wash down is on it overflows our the back of the conveyor. So when I run the wash down I back off the 4 wash down valves to half which do me defeats the purpose.
-no wash down hose SUCKS! Yea I guess I can tie into a line and make my own but I was amazed it didn’t come with the machine.
-coolant splatters all over the floor around the conveyer just making everything a complete mess. I had to make a curtain to help stop coolant spray.
-chip conveyer got jammed Twice, had to take the panels off.
-I loose a lot of coolant when constantly running the conveyer, every time a dump a barrel I’m amazed how much coolant I’m tossing.
-also, the open wing of the conveyer is long and bigger then the opening of a 55gallon drum so chips end up all over the floor. I’m pretty much always cleaning up some kind of mess.

Click to expand...

1/2 yard roll-away hopper with a drain?


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Breters75 said:

I’ve been having issues with the wash down and chip conveyer on our r650. These are the things I don’t like.
-The wash down coolant uses ALOT of coolant which is great but it can also suck the tank dry if you don’t start with a full tank.
-when the wash down is on it overflows our the back of the conveyer. So when I run the wash down I back off the 4 wash down valves to half which do me defeats the purpose.
-no wash down hose SUCKS! Yea I guess I can tie into a line and make my own but I was amazed it didn’t come with the machine.
-coolant splatters all over the floor around the conveyer just making everything a complete mess. I had to make a curtain to help stop coolant spray.
-chip conveyer got jammed Twice, had to take the panels off.
-I loose a lot of coolant when constantly running the conveyer, every time a dump a barrel I’m amazed how much coolant I’m tossing.
-also, the open wing of the conveyer is long and bigger then the opening of a 55gallon drum so chips end up all over the floor. I’m pretty much always cleaning up some kind of mess.

Click to expand...

What conveyor system are you running? does it jam up alot?