Good day in the shop, bad day for the spindle about 3pm

Had a smooth run Wednesday in Toledo, 47 parts done by lunch with zero chatter on the aluminum job. Then the coolant line popped and sprayed the spindle encoder, threw an alarm that took 2 hours to trace to a 20 dollar sensor. Anyone else keep spare encoder cables in the cabinet or do you just gamble and wait for the overnight freight?

2 comments

2 Comments

emeryfox27d ago

You ever had that moment where you just stare at the machine and think, really? That's all it was? Same thing happened to me last spring, except my coolant line didnt pop, it just slowly dripped right onto the limit switch for weeks. Took me three blown fuses and a whole Saturday to figure it out. Now I keep a little box with spare sensors, cables, and even a backup encoder in the back of the cabinet. Costs me maybe 150 bucks but it beats paying overnight freight and losing a whole shift. Plus I sleep better knowing I got that stuff on hand when the gremlins come around.

-1

lily9726d agoMost Upvoted

Really? That's all it was?" hits so hard. I had a spindle drive that kept faulting out and I swore it was the VFD or the motor. Spent two days swapping parts and pulling my hair out. Turned out it was a tiny crack in the vacuum line that only showed when the machine warmed up. Cost me a roll of tape and ten minutes once I finally spotted it. Now I got a ziplock bag of spare seals and fittings in the cabinet too, feels like cheap insurance honestly.