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C'mon.........#?&@&!!!! Fanuc 6V Batteries...............

david n

Diamond
Joined
Apr 13, 2007
Location
Pillager, MN
Seems like every time I turn on a machine I get the APC battery alarm.............I have bought OEM batteries and knock offs and they appear die way too fast.....................way less than a year, sometimes closer to 6 months. Is there a better way? I found this thread and someone used a larger 6 volt rechargeable battery....thoughts? Any other options?

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/...-up-batteries-346138/?highlight=fanuc+battery
 
We use the 6 Volt cells from emergency lights. They hold up well and can be semi reliably recharged. They are so inexpensive that we just replace them. 10 years of doing this with no problems.
 
No worries about too much current?

Edit: ifixcnc beat me to it, the cnc will draw what current it will draw, batteries won't "force" a current.

You could throw together 4 AA batteries, or get a 6v lantern battery, etc. Even get a 6v power supply and plug it into the wall (well, don't do that, but it would power it just fine)
 
I'm assuming polarity is worth noting?

Of course, DC voltage must be correctly applied. The plug that is on the Fanuc battery has Red and Black wires, red = + I just splice an extension wire to the original, and place the big cell in the bottom of the electrical cabinet.
 
I didn't think anyone ever bought replacement batteries from Fanuc. Pretty much every machine I've seen where the machine builder did not opt for the Fanuc supplied D cell holder, has had the OEM pack replaced with a 4 cell holder. It's been pretty much SOP since the late 70s.
 
I wouldn't do the 4 D-cell trick (again). Lasted me about 6 months.......
Can you tell which battery is plugged in here?! LOL
20181217_133024.jpg
I left the Duracells there as a back-up. But, I wont ever rely on them again.
My issue was, they dumped overnight. No warning.

Panasonic lithiums are the way to go, over the copper-tops. I might be tempted to try that one you linked to Dave!
 
My mill uses the 6V pack 2C size Lithium batteries, I usually order 3-4 at a time online, they always seem to last 12-13months, which reminds me I need to change it this month. Good thing on the mill is if they die that machines still homes fine and is all happy a few seconds later. I like the idea of a big 6V battery though, how long will that last?
New lathe has the D cells setup. Supposed to be good a year but now starting to wonder if I should change every 6 months? that one is Absolute and I'm gonna assume not as fun to reset if it dies and loses position?

As to Duracell, I always found those leak and often before their expiry date, never had nearly the same leaking issues with Energizer.

I've put a chart behind each machine with the battery change schedule.

Pretty weird to me that they're still not putting a little rechargeable battery set up in these things, most of those now easily last 5+years before starting to not hold a charge as well.
 
I wouldn't do the 4 D-cell trick (again). Lasted me about 6 months.......

Wonder why the short life? I've never seen a 4D cell not easily last a year. We had up to 5 axis machines with ABS encoders running on 4Ds that easily lasted our yearly change interval. Most of the cells removed after a year were still plenty good for flashlight or other uses.
 
I wouldn't do the 4 D-cell trick (again). Lasted me about 6 months.......
Can you tell which battery is plugged in here?! LOL
View attachment 244610
I left the Duracells there as a back-up. But, I wont ever rely on them again.
My issue was, they dumped overnight. No warning.

Panasonic lithiums are the way to go, over the copper-tops. I might be tempted to try that one you linked to Dave!

Nice $5 Battery holder. I'm surprised one didn't fall out when you shut the door.


I switched to the 4 D pack, and change am out each year in Januray. No issues.
 
Yep. Reestablishing home position today on my Lynx. PITA! Ran it a week ago no problem, and no low battery warnings. Yesterday had the dreaded “absolute position detector battery voltage zero” alarm.
 
About 13 months ago. And the voltage wasn’t zero, only about 4.5V.

Was that with the 4D cell setup?

Shop I retired from had >70 CNCs and 40 or so of them had Fanuc controls with "absolute" encoders. All were set up to use D cells and were on a scheduled 12 month change interval. I don't remember ever having to reference a machine due to low batteries. Only after some service work or needing to change grid shift parameter.
 








 
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