What's new
What's new

"Air saver" for CMM's ?? How much CFM does yours consume ?

Milacron

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 15, 2000
Location
SC, USA
Kinda disapointed in the air consumption of this B&S Gage 2000 CMM in the sense that my little 2 hp air compressor runs too much when connected. So was looking in the manual and surprised that while my "T" model is rated at consumpion of 3.5 CFM, the "R" version is only .74 CFM.

This is a "WTF?" moment since they are exactly the same machines except for the control... but then I notice something in the manual about an "air saver" on the R model.

The R model has a small integral control kinda like a Quadra Chek, whereas the T model is the full PC-Dmis model, using computer. All I can figure is B&S was thinking the R model would be popular with smaller shop who might be annoyed at the 3.5 CFM air requirement, whereas the T model tended to be bought by larger concerns who have rotary screw compressors running the whole plant, where 3.5 CFM is of no concern.

The question is, anyone know how this "air saver" actually worked ? I notice in the manual there is an air connection at the R control box itself so I wonder if it turned the airline feed on and off automatically with axis motion or was it something simplier than that ?

http://microhite3dcmm.com/OPTIONS.htm
 
(sigh)...turns out the "air saver" is a joke.... I would explain but the underwhelming response on this thread means no one cares apparently..
 
(sigh)...turns out the "air saver" is a joke.... I would explain but the underwhelming response on this thread means no one cares apparently..


Some of us have sleep to do, followed by the day job;).


So what gives? why does one model claim just over a fifth of the consumption of the other?


3.5cuft/min is still good money down the pan even for a large company.
 
It seems like those big B&S units at the 3M plant a last yr had some funny deal at the wall jack. Is that what those were? (I'm not even 100% sure I am remembering right?)


-------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
Well, the deal is, the air saver is only available on the "R" models with the Reflex software and integral LCD control....and the way it works is, when the control goes into "sleep" mode, it cuts off the air ! In other words, all it does is shut down the air for you instead of you turning a ball valve when you are finished with the machine.

What I was hoping it was, was a valve control somehow tied into the "Z mouse" or one of the other two buttons on the Z column, so that you press that button (which is right where you are holding the column anyway), the air comes on, you take your hits on the part and when you are thru, you naturally release the button and the air shuts off ..automatically.

FWIW, another way they could have acomplished "air saving" would be to have the X/Y/Z axis toggle switches, with 3 positions instead of 2. The current arrangement is the toggles lock each axis to a rod for braking and fine tuning via rotary knobs...but one would think they could have had a third position on each for full air off.

The Hexagon/B&S guy had no plausable explaination for how the R model could have .74 CFM rating and the T and P models are 3.5 CFM, as he agreed they are identical mechanically, so they should use exactly the same amount of air when in motion. All we can figure is a misprint on that aspect.

Bottom line is the 'air saver' might be advantageous for a shop with multiple employees using the CMM or as a backup in case someone forgot to turn the air off at the end of the day...but for my situation it's kinda silly since I can acomplish the same thing by turning one lever.
 








 
Back
Top