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Would you buy a Mitsubishi FX-10?

Leviathan

Aluminum
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Location
Canada
Hi all,

Considering adding a used wire EDM to our operation to compliment our sinker capabilities. We do not have any wire EDM experience so looking to get our feet wet without a lot of expense. At this point we would mostly be using the wire for cutting electrodes for the sinker and doing simple thru part cutting. Not planning to attempt taper cutting for a while.

Anyway there is an Mits FX-10 for sale fairly locally that I am considering taking a look at, but before I do I'd like to hear some feedback from those who have used them. It's a year 2000 machine, which is getting old, and I realize that wire EDM machines have a lot more wear items than sinkers. So how are these machines to maintain?

How are they to run? Like them? Love em? Hate them? Why or why not? I welcome all thoughts.

Thanks in advance.

Leviathan

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
 
We had one years ago, before the FA series came out. In it's day it was a great machine. Depending on how it's been maintained, it could be OK, or it could be a nightmare. Hope you have a Mits distributor who does service close by. If you plan on cutting graphite, be prepared for long cut times. I'ts capable, but it will be slow. A used machine of that age with no experience will be a steep learning curve without some applications help, and Mits has an extremely good applications group that can help you. But it's not cheap. Short answer, no I wouldn't buy it because I know how much better a newer machine is, but I use them daily so I need equipment I can be competitive with doing lots of EDM work.
 
Everything RJT said is good advice. I also want to add that we had an FX-30 of that vintage back in the day, and I hated the control. I realize this is subjective, but it didn't feel intuitive. Also some other design decisions that, after working on many other machines over the years, just seem...not good.

What's your budget for this, if you don't mind me asking?

Edit: On second thought, it was an FA30 we had. So my thoughts on the specific machine may not be relevant. But the other info here still applies.
 
I have an FX10 now that I use and just recently got a new MV2400S machine as well. I suggest you take a good look at it to see how it was maintained. They can take a lot of abuse and still keep working. If it has issues already, especially electrical, don't get it. The boards are expensive. I agree to get in touch with Mits for service contract. Their support team is awesome as well as training. The FX10 are easy to run I feel. The company has ran it for 15-20 years now. We had an FX20K for bigger parts to run too but recently retired it finally. As long as you clean them regularly like dies and rollers, bearings, filters, use DI water they run good. As for production, hands down a new machine will get you where ever you need to be.

Tvalen1432
 
Thanks for the comments so far everyone. I intend to take a hard look at the machine before making any decisions. I appreciate your insights and opinions.

In this particular case my cost for this machine delivered to my shop and installed would be about 10k, I think a new MV1200 would be north of 125k, which I would feel better about if I was more confident that I would be waiting on the machine rather than the machine waiting on me.
I have an FX10 now that I use and just recently got a new MV2400S machine as well. I suggest you take a good look at it to see how it was maintained. They can take a lot of abuse and still keep working. If it has issues already, especially electrical, don't get it. The boards are expensive. I agree to get in touch with Mits for service contract. Their support team is awesome as well as training. The FX10 are easy to run I feel. The company has ran it for 15-20 years now. We had an FX20K for bigger parts to run too but recently retired it finally. As long as you clean them regularly like dies and rollers, bearings, filters, use DI water they run good. As for production, hands down a new machine will get you where ever you need to be.

Tvalen1432
Tvalen, how do you like the mv2400s when compared to the FX10? I've heard good things about the MV series, which is partly why we are considering the FX10, figured it might be an easier transition up from an FX10 than from a different brand. Also the support for the Mitsubishi machines in my area is very solid.

I know older wire EDM machines will be slower and need more maintenance and repairs, but since you have both I'm curious what you have found the biggest differences/benefits are?

Thanks.

Leviathan

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
 
Honestly I'd wait for a fa machine to come around. The mv vs fa is quite different. The process controllers allow for finer spark control while still being able to provide more cutting power. The control pendant on the mv is much more capable than the simple unit on the fa. And the touch screen control with full qwerty keyboard makes navigating and editing much easier.
 
Actually, the FX10 had been a solid machine. Once you got used to which screen to do what at. Our shop builds molds for only our company and we do stuff for Cal Poly students as well. The only thing that really had issues with was not always being able to thread by itself no matter how clean I got it. I would get lucky sometimes. But if I had the settings and conditions dialed in that puppy still runs even a tall part all night long as long as the wire doesn't break. It doesn't have a chiller so I add water every day. As long as you clean it regularly, clean tank and change water yearly, clean solenoids yearly, and don't over run your filters too much, they are very reliable with tight tolerances held.
With that said, if you are in a situation with high quantities of production, the MV2400S is your way to go. It is like going from a typewriter to a computer of today. Every day it amazes me a bit more. Right now I am cutting an 11" part with .010 coated brass wire and it ran all night on the same spool of wire(still running) with no breaks or issues. It loves to thread submerged and quickly so you don't loose time with the whole drain and fill each time you move to a different location.:D Saves a lot of money. Cutting across start holes use to take for ever due to constant wire breaks in FX10 but the MV technology just pushes through it even if it slow in spots. The ability to program in 2DCAM right at the machine or even be able to make quick adjustments at the machine is priceless. That way I don't have to wait for programmer and can be more in control of how it done. I am still learning how to use that part of the MV to be honest. The maintenance is quick and easy once you get used to what's a must and what you can get away with on a quicky. They capabilities on this bad boy is crazy as far as taper, surface finish, touch off, tolerance, just to name a few. But if your needs aren't in mass production the FX10 was reliable. Let me know if you go that route in a message and I will shoot you over a manual I put together about it's issues, how to maintain, alarms, and a bunch of how to's etc. that may be of use to you as it was meant to help any new employee be able to run it in the event I was no longer here. K

Best regards,
Tvalen1432
 








 
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