Automatic Maintenance Reminders

Ever forgotten to check that oil level?

All mechanical equipment whether it be a car, air compressor, overhead crane or machine tool requires periodic maintenance whether its checking an oil level or changing a filter and whilst we all know it needs doing, very often these tasks are overlooked or forgotten about and then its too late. 

To ensure Haas users are able to maintain their machines in top working order, all Haas machines since 2000 have included a standard software feature called Periodic Maintenance to act as a reminder when tasks were due at the recommended intervals.

The periodic maintenance page has been added to the Current Commands screens (titled SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE and accessed by pressing PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN) which allows the operator to activate and deactivate a series of checks (see list below).  An item on the list can be selected by pressing the up and down arrow keys.  The selected item is then activated or deactivated by pressing ORIGIN.  If an item is active, the remaining hours will be displayed to the right.  

If an item is deactivated, “–” will be displayed instead.  Items are tracked either by the time accumulated while power is on (ON-TIME) or by cycle-start time (CS-TIME).  When power is applied, and every hour thereafter, the remaining time for each item is decremented.  When it reaches zero (or has gone negative) the message MAINTENANCE DUE is displayed at the bottom of the screen.  A negative number of hours indicates the hours past expiration.  This message is not an alarm and does not interfere with machine operation in any way. The intent is to warn the operator that one of the items on the list requires attention.  

After the necessary maintenance has been performed, the operator can select that item on the SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE screen, press ORIGIN to deactivate it, then press ORIGIN again to reactivate it, and the countdown begins again with a default number of hours remaining (this value is determined by the software and cannot be altered by the operator.)  Items available for checking are:

  • COOLANT – needs replacement – 100 ON-TIME
  • AIR FILTER in control enclosure – replace – 250 ON-TIME
  • OIL FILTER – replace – 250 ON-TIME
  • GEARBOX OIL – replace – 1800 ON-TIME
  • COOLANT TANK – check level, leakage, oil in coolant – 10 ON-TIME
  • WAY LUBE SYSTEM – check level – 50 CS-TIME
  • GEARBOX OIL – check level – 250 ON-TIME
  • SEALS/WIPERS missing, torn, leaking – check – 50 CS-TIME
  • AIR SUPPLY FILTER – check for water – 10 ON-TIME
  • HYDRAULIC OIL – check level – 250 ON-TIME

User feedback and machine developments determined that some flexibility was required in the actual times being used before maintenance was required and therefore from 13.14 software onwards (December 2005), the settings below were added.   

  • 167 Coolant Replacement default in power-on hours
  • 168 Control Air Filter Replacement default in power-on hours
  • 169 Oil Filter Replacement default in power-on hours
  • 170 Gearbox Oil Replacement default in power-on hours
  • 171 Coolant Tank Level Check default in power-on hours
  • 172 Way Lube Level Check default in motion-time hours
  • 173 Gearbox Oil Level Check default in power-on hours
  • 174 Seals/Wipers Inspection default in motion-time hours
  • 175 Air Supply Filter Check default in power-on hours
  • 176 Hydraulic Oil Level Check default in power-on hours
  • 177 Hydraulic Filter Replacement default in motion-time hours
  • 178 Grease Fittings default in motion-time hours
  • 179 Grease Chuck default in motion-time hours
  • 180 Grease Tool Changer Cams default in tool-changes
  • 181 Spare Maintenance Setting #1 default in power-on hours
  • 182 Spare Maintenance Setting #2 default in power-on hours
  • 183 Spare Maintenance Setting #3 default in motion-time hours
  • 184 Spare Maintenance Setting #4 default in motion-time hours
  • 185 Spare Maintenance Setting #5 default in tool-changes
  • 186 Spare Maintenance Setting #6 default in tool-changes

There are 14 items that can be monitored, as well as six spare items. There is a setting for each item #167 to #186 which allows the user to change the default number of hours for each item when it is initialized during use.  If the default number of hours is set to zero, the item will not even appear in the list of items shown on the maintenance page of Current Commands. By turning off items in this manner, items that are not installed on a particular machine will not clutter up the maintenance page.