Comprehensive Preventative Maintenance Guide for Summit CNC Machines

Summit Machine Tool CNC machines require routine preventative maintenance to ensure longevity and consistent operation. Staying on top of your CNC machine’s repair and maintenance ensures that the machine or any component does not break down and bring your work to a sudden halt. 

Daily/Weekly Preventive Maintenance for Summit CNC Machines

Here is a quick daily or weekly checklist to perform preventive maintenance for Summit CNC machines. This routine will prevent your production from slowing down due to simple errors in CNC machines. 

• Check the level of coolants.
• Change coolant filter. However, the frequency depends on the type of material being used. For instance, cast iron produces a muddy substance that clogs your filter quickly and requires more frequent changes. 
• Check all hydraulic systems and ensure there is no leakage.
• Check all air supplies to ensure that they are dry and clean.
• Make sure that the machine’s moving parts are adequately lubricated.
• Make sure that any moving parts, including chucks and spindles, are clean. 
• Make sure to clean the chips but do not use the blower to prevent damage.

Quarterly Preventive Maintenance for Summit CNC Machines

Apart from a daily/weekly schedule, you must conduct preventive maintenance for CNC machines on a quarterly or half-yearly basis. Make sure to perform the following maintenance tasks. 

• Check the leveling of your CNC machine and make adjustments as and if necessary. 
• Drain and replace any oils as per their required schedule.  
• Ensure coolant tanks are working accurately and smoothly.
• Check your ways for any damage, debris and general wear and tear. 
• Clean the coolant tanks to remove any oil, sludge, and chips. 
• You must take the chuck and jaw off the machine and clean them thoroughly.
• Have all of your way wipers inspected to ensure there is no damage. Clean the wipers and replace the damaged ones.  
• Drain the hydraulic tanks and replace their hydraulic oil. Another thing you must do is to change the suction filter and line filter. 
• Drain the lubrication unit and clean it out. You must then refill the lubrication unit with fresh lubricant.

Annual Preventive Maintenance for Summit CNC Machines

On an annual basis, you’ll need to inspect parts of the CNC system and alignment. You’ll also need to look for damage to some of the finer moving parts.

A sample annual maintenance checklist should include:

• Check the spindle for end play and radial issues.
• Check the tailstock quill function and misalignments.
• Check the turret for inclination and parallelism for realignment.
• Check the whole CNC machine for any air and oil leakages.
• Check the headstock for any misalignment and damage. You must also check the spindle taper in milling machines
• You can ask your supplier/distributor to check and adjust the machine’s axis gibs X, Y, and Z. You must also check the function of the 4^th axis table in the same manner. 
• You can ask your supplier/distributor to run a backlash program. This will allow the distributor to check any backlash in your machine’s X, Y, and Z-axis. 

Lastly, Summit Machine Tool offers machine tool repair experts, on call and able to help you out if you need help troubleshooting or a replacement or repaired part. Contact a Summit Machine Tool representative today for more information. 

Conclusion

Incorporating regular preventive maintenance for Summit CNC machines must be your top priority to ensure uninterrupted production or manufacturing process. This will be a worthy investment as the practice will guarantee to keep your machine running flawlessly for many years to come