Maintaining a Reconditioned Robot 101

Recon­di­tioned robots are one of the most cost-effec­tive ways to achieve automa­tion. A recon­di­tioned robot sys­tem will work just as well as a new sys­tem, at only a frac­tion of the cost. At Robots​.com, all recon­di­tioned robots come with the Robots​.com war­ran­ty, this peace of mind ensures that your invest­ment will con­tin­ue to pay for itself for years to come. 

Just like new robots, it is impor­tant to under­take a reg­u­lar main­te­nance sched­ule to ensure opti­mal per­for­mance, improve effi­cien­cy, and avoid pre­ma­ture deterioration. 

What needs to be Reg­u­lar­ly Main­tained on a Robot? 

Pre­ven­ta­tive Main­te­nance — Peri­od­ic Pre­ven­ta­tive Main­te­nance is required for all robots, which should be per­formed annu­al­ly and is the key to extend­ing the life of any robot­ic sys­tem. We rec­om­mend ref­er­enc­ing your robot man­u­al for main­te­nance guide­lines (con­tact Robots​.com Ser­vice depart­ment for infor­ma­tion on your spe­cif­ic sys­tem). Any abnor­mal noise or vibra­tion, low oil in oil glass sights, oil seep­age, grease seep­age, non-uni­form motion, play in any axis or robot accu­ra­cy are also signs of need­ed maintenance. 

Axes and Motors - All of the axes and motors need to be checked reg­u­lar­ly by tech­ni­cians to ensure that the robot is oper­at­ing at its full potential. 

Grease Lev­els – Grease lev­els should be checked as deemed nec­es­sary to ensure that gears and oth­er mov­ing parts are lubri­cat­ed. Lack of grease could cause the gears and oth­er mov­ing parts to pre­ma­ture­ly fail. 

End of Arm Tools - also known as EOAT is anoth­er part of the robot­ic sys­tem that needs to be reg­u­lar­ly main­tained. Peri­od­ic main­te­nance of the EOAT is rec­om­mend­ed, based on the spe­cif­ic appli­ca­tion. End of arm tool­ing devices vary by appli­ca­tions and are an essen­tial com­po­nent of a robot. 

Mate­r­i­al Han­dling Grip­pers — Mate­r­i­al Han­dling Grip­pers need to be checked reg­u­lar­ly for prop­er oper­a­tion. Vac­u­um per­for­mance, mechan­i­cal piv­ots, and any sen­sors should be main­tained in a sim­i­lar sched­ule to the robot itself. 

Weld­ing Torch­es - Weld­ing torch­es need to be cleaned and main­tained dai­ly. Tips, noz­zles, and dif­fusers need upkeep and replace­ment based on many fac­tors, such as heat input, and spat­ter. Nor­mal wear of the tip is crit­i­cal to keep­ing an accu­rate TCP at the weld, wan­der­ing wire stick out can be a prob­lem if tips are allowed to wear exten­sive­ly. Anoth­er fac­tor in the accu­ra­cy of a weld­ing unit is the torch neck itself, torch necks should be inspect­ed peri­od­i­cal­ly to ensure no dam­age has occurred, or at the first sight of off loca­tion welds. 

Mate­r­i­al Removal Tools - Spin­dles and oth­er cut­ting tools need main­te­nance as well to main­tain opti­mal mate­r­i­al removal per­for­mance. Cut­ters need replac­ing on a reg­u­lar basis to main­tain the speed and qual­i­ty of the cut. Inspec­tion of the tool itself is required to ensure no dam­age has occurred to bear­ings, shafts, or cool­ing systems. 

What does Robot Pre­ven­tive Main­te­nance look like?

In order to main­tain a healthy recon­di­tioned robot­ic sys­tem, it is imper­a­tive that the items stat­ed above are checked and main­tained reg­u­lar­ly. For lean oper­a­tions that need to out­source their pre­ven­ta­tive main­te­nance, many inte­gra­tors offer options to send tech­ni­cians straight to the cus­tomer site, or to have the robot shipped to the integrator’s facility. 

Ser­vices offered can vary by the inte­gra­tor, at Robots​.com our tech­ni­cians per­form the fol­low­ing tasks to keep your robot run­ning smoothly: 

1. Per­form a com­plete sys­tem backup 

2. Pre-Grease Inspec­tion of all axis and function 

3. Per­form any nec­es­sary trou­bleshoot­ing and test the unit for any vibra­tion, alarms, or fail­ures. The report and find­ings are shared with the customer. 

4. If addi­tion­al issues are iden­ti­fied, a quote will be pro­vid­ed for cus­tomer approval. Addi­tion­al agreed-upon repairs will then be per­formed at this time. 

5. Replace grease and oil for all axis 

6. Replace con­troller and robot batteries 

7. Per­form post-grease inspec­tion of all axis 

8. Doc­u­ment any vibra­tion, alarms, or failures 

9. Per­form final test­ing on robot and controller 

If a robot is main­tained prop­er­ly you will have a reli­able sys­tem that is going to be there for years, per­form­ing the tasks that you deem nec­es­sary for suc­cess­ful productivity.

At Robots​.com, we are ded­i­cat­ed to pro­vid­ing valu­able infor­ma­tion to our cus­tomers, which is why you can also enjoy our library of use­ful con­tent and self-help guides to keep your sys­tem in work­ing order. Be sure to review ser­vices offered by Robots​.com, includ­ing Recon­di­tion­ing, Life­Cy­cle Sup­port, Parts, and Robot Part Repair.

Give Robots​.com a call for more detail about recon­di­tioned robot sys­tems. Robots​.com pro­vide robot­ics solu­tions from Fanuc, Motoman, ABB, and KUKA. Our staff will work with you to find the right solu­tion for your needs. 

For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact Robots​.com online or at 877−762−6881.