replacement of x axis linear rails

here is an urgent request for any service engineers out there that may be able to help. this is a continuation of our post for "stray ball bearings" where the end diagnosis is that they sprung from the linear rail due to lack of lubrication from a faulty grease pump lubrication system.
we are wondering if the are documented procedures for the removal and replacement of the upper turret and the type of lifting gear and tools required, and if so, could we have them emailed to us.
the local distributor that is going to be performing this task has told us that it has never been done before therefore there aren't any available, not even from Mazak Japan. we find this hard to believe but if someone could confirm or deny that this is the case, we would REALLY appreciate it.

remove upper turret alone or from the linear guides? what machine, exactly, including type of control.

it's an integrex 200 3 st with MT pro control
the x axis linear rails on the upper turret need replacing due to failure of lubrication pump, and ball bearings falling out of the carriers probably due to excessive friction.

I'd call Mazak Tech support in Kentucky and talk with the guys who teach the maintenance class. When I took the class, we pulled the turret off a Matrix controlled 200-IVS. The tools they had available were frankly pretty cheesy. They used a portable engine hoist like you'd buy at harbor freight for $100 or so. It worked, but it was a pain in the butt. There is a shaft that contains a whole bunch of seals that come out from behind the center of the turret, so the turret doesn't lift straight up or to the front, it needs to com e out 90 degrees to the X axis rails. You can poke and prod with an engine hoist, but an overhead crane if you have access to one, or a forklift and a chain come-a-long would work better than an engine hoist.

Getting the turret off and back on isn't a big deal, but you need to label all the connections quite well and take some pictures. Make your life easy. Go to Costco and buy one of those $15 plastic tubs with the multi colored zip ties. Before you unhook anything, slip a pair of matching colored ties on each side of the hoses and wires you need to pull off, tighten them up, and trim off the tails. If you run out of colors, use a couple colors per component.

You can pull these through the power track and not worry about ripping them off.

It's actually a pretty simple process if you document everything properly and take a bit of care.

When it all goes together, make sure the big O ring seal gets installed under the turret first. It sucks to have everything together only to find the seal lying on the counter...

There is actually a document for the 200-3. In our class they didn't have one for the 200-IV so we took it apart to see what was different. Most things were similar. Ask for the maintenance class training manual since it documents the procedure.

HA! I left that big seal out first 1 I did! Good idea to mark like you said, and take care when re-installing the PLG cable and the 6 motor wires and ground, it's a tight fit, and the black louvered covers can only go one way. Also, when removing turret from housing, when you break the seal, take care it doesn't wack you when it frees up.

Thanks for the advice Stuart. We have hired a lifting jib for our fork lift so that shouldn't be a problem. When you remove the turret do you do this to lighten the load when getting to the linear rails? Or can the whole piece be removed as one? If anyone reading this has a maintenance training manual or if you do Stuart, we would really appreciate the help.
I'd love to call Mazak tech support, but i am in Australia and we haven't got access to help like that.

I've got a .pdf manual that shows you how to remove and replace the mill spindle (turret) assembly if that would help out. I'll email it to you if you get me an address.

You might not need to remove the turret to replace the bearings though. Getting all the sheet metal out of the way is going to be a PITA.

Good Luck!

Take pictures so the next guy will know how to fix his machine...

Hi Stuart,

my email is john@gfb.com.au

thanks mate!

You need to remove the turret so you can get to the mounting screws on the linear guides. Also, the guides have a master/slave setup, in other words, ajust set screws on the side of one set of guides for squareness to the spindle centerline. You can move the trucks up and down by hand with indicator mounted on spindle to get it close, then final ajust when you re-mount the turret assmbly! Just take your time, you can do this job. And you're saving major dinero doing youself. Advise and update please as the job progresses. Thanks, and best of luck!

OH, also mark the spacerss, or shimes, under each guide pack, as to there location, they may be different sizes, so you won't have to do any grinding.

John,

You have mail...

all replaced now and the machine seems as good as new. it was a pretty major process removing all of the guards etc, but in the end we had a Japanese engineer do it for us. i followed the whole thing over a period of five days and i will post some pictures of it as soon as i can. the one thing that i was wrong about was initially i thought is was lack of lubricating grease that caused the failure, but it was not the case. what cause the bearings to pop out was this. where the turret moves along the x axis towards the end of the stroke it also almost comes to the end of the rails. at the bottom is a solid casting where the spring steel flexible guards are attached, so basically there isn't much room left for the bearing to travel when it reached the end of its stroke, a gap of maybe less than a centimetre. well there was a little bit (no more than a teaspoon full) of fine swarf that got past the spring steel covers that built up in the corner over a period of time, and the bearings whenever they were at the end of their stroke, mashed themselves against it eventually causing the the balls to be pushed out at the other end. i have photos of that as well. something to watch out for to everyone that has the same model of machine that we do, i would bet that not many of you would have removed those covers other than to replace them when they break. i would think it a design fault.