He popped open the lubrication panel. The oil level was full, but the sight glass was milky. Water contamination. Someone had left the coolant nozzle pointed at the lube tank cap. Over a weekend, the fine mist had condensed inside, turning the grease into a pale, sticky mayonnaise.
Dave knelt and put his palm on the Z-axis ballscrew cover. It was warm. Too warm. A healthy axis runs hot, but this felt like a car engine left running in a closed garage. He grabbed a thermal gun from his toolbox. The bearing housing at the bottom of the screw read 178°F—forty degrees above normal. fanuc 224 alarm
The owner, Mr. Kowalski, a bear of a man with forearms like hams, waddled over. "How long?" He popped open the lubrication panel
"Four hours to pull the axis, clean the bearing, repack it, and recal. Plus two hours for the lube system flush." Someone had left the coolant nozzle pointed at
"Do it right," Kowalski sighed.