Re: Cheap ballscrew runout
yoshimitsuspee
You can re-ball them with a bigger Ball, they are as you said a low cost Ballscrew, so this is to be expected, they range in grade C7 to C11 spec so you can't expect to much from them, in you case the best would be to measure the Balls & get some new one's a .0001 /.0002 bigger & reassemble with using ( 1 ) new Ball & ( 1 ) old ball & see how that will work, if it is still loose you will need an even bigger set
If you could measure the inside Ball groves in the Nut & the screw then you could calculate the right size balls to use
You can buy just the Ball-nut,if you wanted to use ( 2 ) but you would need to get it from the same source/manufacture
Re: Cheap ballscrew runout
If this backlash showed up abruptly, it might be that crashing the machine has jarred something loose in the ballscrew supports, rather than an issue with the screw or nut itself. Try wiggling things and see if the screw moves slightly back and forth.
Re: Cheap ballscrew runout
Are you using Chinese bearing blocks? The bearing blocks are **** and often it's the oil seals that actually seem to reduce backlash. The angular contact bearings are not preloaded and need shimming.
Re: Cheap ballscrew runout
The bearing blocks are crap. Mine came with regular radial ball bearings, though they only have around 0.003" of endplay. I'm sure it would be much more under a greater load.
Re: Cheap ballscrew runout
"Only" .003" of endplay??? With proper preload on an angular contact bearing there should be "0.000"" endplay.
Dick Z.
Re: Cheap ballscrew runout
Yeah, that's what I would expect.
I guess it seemed I was ok with that amount, which I am not.
I would like to get proper AC bearings on there, just need to find out what to get, and how to assemble correctly.
Re: Cheap ballscrew runout
Mcmaster plastic round shims work great for preloading between the AC bearings in my RM16 end supports.
McMaster-Carr for $14.87
p/n: 98090A964 is an assortment of sizes in 1.125 OD 0.75 ID round plastic shims.
Re: Cheap ballscrew runout
0.3 mm wear in the ball nut?
Frankly, I find that a trifle hard to imagine in under 10 years. It would represent a huge amount of wear!
And that is NOT a 'cheap' ball screw/nut combo anyhow.
Nope - I don't believe it.
How did you measure this backlash?
Have you checked that the ball nut is securely mounted?
Have you checked the end float in the main bearings?
Have you checked that the motor is securely mounted?
If there is a belt drive, are both the pulleys securely mounted on the shafts, and is the belt tight?
If there is a direct coupling, is it secure?
To be sure, you can replace the balls or put in a second ball nut - but I can't help feeling that the problem might be something else just loose.
Cheers
Roger