Fanuc Robotic Arm Maintenance 101: Essential Parts and Procedures

How­ev­er, no mat­ter their rep­u­ta­tion for excep­tion­al per­for­mance, robot­ic arms still require inspec­tions and reg­u­lar main­te­nance to ful­fill opti­mal task exe­cu­tion with desired results. Just like we get our annu­al phys­i­cals or peri­od­ic check­ups with our doc­tors, Fanuc robot­ic arms must under­go sim­i­lar process­es to ensure all parts are in work­ing order.

This com­pre­hen­sive guide will explain the essen­tial main­te­nance pro­ce­dures and parts for Fanuc robot­ic arms, help­ing you keep your machin­ery in top con­di­tion and oper­a­tional­ly sound. 

Rou­tine Inspec­tion and Main­te­nance Procedures

Dai­ly Maintenance 

• Visu­al Inspec­tion. Begin each day by visu­al­ly inspect­ing the robot­ic arm. Look for any signs of wear or dam­age, such as cracks, dents, unusu­al wear pat­terns, loose wires, or leaks.
• Clean­li­ness. Keep the robot and its com­po­nents clean from dust, debris, and any buildup that could impair func­tion. Use a soft cloth to wipe down the arm and con­troller. Avoid using harsh chem­i­cals or abra­sive mate­ri­als that could dam­age the robot’s surface.

Week­ly and Month­ly Maintenance

• Lubri­ca­tion. Prop­er lubri­ca­tion reduces fric­tion in mov­ing parts, which is vital for the longevi­ty and effi­cien­cy of your Fanuc robot­ic arm. Refer to your spe­cif­ic mod­el’s man­u­al for the rec­om­mend­ed lubri­ca­tion sched­ule and type of lubricant. 
• Bolts, Joints, and Gears. Check all bolts for prop­er tight­ness, as vibra­tions from dai­ly oper­a­tions can loosen them over time. Reg­u­lar­ly check the joints and gears of your robot­ic arm for signs of wear or exces­sive play. 
• Cable and Con­nec­tor Inspec­tions. Over time, cables may fray, or con­nec­tors may become loose, lead­ing to poten­tial fail­ures. Ensure all cables and con­nec­tors are secure and undam­aged to pre­vent elec­tri­cal fail­ures and com­mu­ni­ca­tion errors.
• Back­up Bat­ter­ies. Reg­u­lar check­ups ensure that vital data like con­fig­u­ra­tions, cal­i­bra­tion set­tings, and pro­gram files are pre­served, and that the robot­ic sys­tem can safe­ly per­form essen­tial oper­a­tions even dur­ing pow­er interruptions. 

Tar­get­ed Main­te­nance for Essen­tial Parts

1. Ser­vo Motors

Ensure that the ser­vo motors func­tion effi­cient­ly, which is vital for pre­cise move­ments. Signs of wear may include unusu­al nois­es or a decrease in per­for­mance accu­ra­cy. Reg­u­lar test­ing and cal­i­bra­tion may be required. 

2. Gear­box­es

Check gear­box­es for oil lev­els and con­t­a­m­i­na­tion. Change the oil as rec­om­mend­ed by Fanuc guide­lines to pre­vent wear and overheating.

3. Teach Pendant

Han­dle your teach pen­dant with care and check reg­u­lar­ly for func­tion­al­i­ty issues or damage.

4. Elec­tron­ic Boards

Inspect and test elec­tron­ic boards for signs of fail­ure or wear. 

5. Wiring Harnesses

Check for any signs of fray­ing or cor­ro­sion and ensure tight and secure con­nec­tions to main­tain unin­ter­rupt­ed pow­er and data transmission.

Next Lev­el Main­te­nance: Advanced Procedures

Cal­i­bra­tion

• Tool Cal­i­bra­tion. Reg­u­lar­ly cal­i­brate tools and attach­ments to ensure your robot­ic arm oper­ates with­in spec­i­fied parameters. 
• Robot Repeata­bil­i­ty Tests. Con­duct these tests to ver­i­fy that the robot returns to pro­grammed posi­tions accurately.

Soft­ware Updates

• Firmware. Reg­u­lar­ly update the firmware to enhance func­tion­al­i­ty and add new features.
• Soft­ware Diag­nos­tics. Run diag­nos­tics to check for errors or mal­func­tions in the oper­at­ing software.

Trou­bleshoot­ing Com­mon Issues with Robot­ic Arms

Error Codes

Famil­iar­ize your­self with com­mon Fanuc error codes, which can help diag­nose and resolve issues quick­ly. Error codes can alert robot­ic arm oper­a­tors to var­i­ous issues, includ­ing ser­vo motor cable con­nec­tions, obsta­cles in the robot­’s path, brake release mech­a­nisms, posi­tion­al data, trav­el lim­its, and pow­er sup­plies. By under­stand­ing these com­mon error codes and imple­ment­ing reg­u­lar main­te­nance prac­tices, you can sig­nif­i­cant­ly reduce down­time and enhance the per­for­mance and longevi­ty of Fanuc robot­ic arms in your man­u­fac­tur­ing operations.

Mechan­i­cal Failures

Reg­u­lar main­te­nance of robot­ic arms again can include visu­al and audi­to­ry inspec­tions for signs of wear and tear on joints, gears, and bear­ings, frayed or bro­ken cables, exces­sive heat buildup, unusu­al nois­es like grind­ing, squeak­ing, or click­ing, and move­ment irreg­u­lar­i­ties like vibra­tions, jerky motions, slow response, and sud­den stops. These method­i­cal mea­sures are essen­tial to ensure robot­ic arms’ opti­mal per­for­mance and longevity. 

Fanuc Robot­ic Arm Main­te­nance: Don’t For­get Emer­gency Pro­ce­dures, Train­ing, and Documentation 

1. Emer­gency Procedures

Always have a set of emer­gency pro­ce­dures in place. This includes know­ing how to quick­ly shut down the sys­tem and per­form a fun­da­men­tal trou­bleshoot­ing analysis. 

1. Oper­a­tor Training

Ensure that per­son­nel are trained to iden­ti­fy and resolve com­mon robot­ic arm issues. Reg­u­lar train­ing updates help keep knowl­edge and skills regard­ing the tech­nol­o­gy current.

1. Doc­u­men­ta­tion

Main­tain detailed records of main­te­nance activ­i­ties, includ­ing inspec­tions, parts replaced, and issues resolved. This helps track the robot­’s per­for­mance over time and plan future maintenance.

Start Your Fanuc Robot­ic Arm Main­te­nance Sched­ule Now 

Reg­u­lar main­te­nance of your Fanuc robot­ic arm is essen­tial to ensure it con­tin­ues func­tion­ing effi­cient­ly and safe­ly. Man­u­fac­tur­ers can max­i­mize lifes­pan and per­for­mance by fol­low­ing these main­te­nance pro­ce­dures and using qual­i­ty parts from refur­bished Fanuc robot­ic arm sup­pli­er T.I.E. Industrial. 

Remem­ber, effec­tive main­te­nance is not just about pre­vent­ing break­downs; it’s about opti­miz­ing your robot­ic arm’s per­for­mance to enhance man­u­fac­tur­ing processes.

Con­tact T.I.E. Indus­tri­al today for more infor­ma­tion on main­tain­ing your Fanuc robot­ic arms or sourc­ing high-qual­i­ty refur­bished parts.