I’m posting this in the main Redline category because I think it would apply to all of the spindles that use ceramic bearings…
When I got my Redline spindle (1.5kw 80mm), I went through the extensive break in process and followed the warmup procedures and my spindle was quiet…like, you had to look at it to know if it was turning because it was silent…
In December, I was running a flattening job on an end grain cutting board using a large diameter (1”) bit. Maybe I was too aggressive with the material removal or maybe there was something in the board itself, but after that job, my spindle became quite noisy.
I thought I may have damaged a bearing or something but the spindle still works…it’s just loud.
After a few rounds of emails with Redline support, they let me know yesterday that they are revising the recommended warm up procedure to spend some more time at low RPM’s to get the lubricants moving. It didn’t solve my problem but I thought I would pass along the new recommendation for anyone that is interested.
Here’s the GCode that I am now using based on the Redline recommendation:
Wow, half an hour for warm up? Seems like a lot, but I guess if you are preparing the work and getting things loaded on the machine, all that can be done while it warms up.
That sucks about the noise, there is something wrong if it’s making noise. I would also check your fan on the top of the spindle. Generally they are plastic and can break, or get dust on them and become unbalanced, and even come loose, which can cause noise. Your spindle should be able to easily handle a 1” bit. Obviously depends on your DOC and F/S. I have a 2.5” flattening bit I’m planning on using. 1.5KW is a 2HP….sounds like it might be a warranty exchange.
Noise doesn’t necessarily indicate something wrong. Generally, it simply means that the grease hasn’t spread to lubricate the bearings (especially ceramic ones), which is why the ‘warm up’ is necessary.
In my case, there was a distinct job where it went from silent to loud and never went back no matter how much warmup I did.
I’ve used it extensively since on a variety of jobs including 3D carves that took hours to run…it has functioned normally (didn’t lock up and no problem with runout that would cause a problem with inlay fit…it’s just noisy now
for reference, if I’m running a clearance path with a 1/4” bit with a.2” DOC, the bit is a little louder than the spindle…if I switch to a 1/8” bit with a.1” DOC, the spindle is louder than the bit…before, the spindle was pretty much silent…also, the noise is high pitched and pulsing instead of steady even though the speed display is constant
I have had the bearing noise with my spindle too. It is like a vibration in the bearings. I did do the break in procedure when I originally got it all set up and the noise was there but went away after the break in. But every time I would start it up on another day it came back. So I did the suggested warm up of the spindle every time I wanted to use the machine but since than kinda played around with the RPM’s and I came up with this program to warm up the spindle.
This is not the actual G-code but what the g-code does.
S5000 for 5 minutes
S8000 for 5 minutes
S12000 for 3 minutes
S15000 for 3 minutes
S18000 for 3 minutes
I run this 2 times and it seems to do the trick. I just keep the program on the USB in a folder called spindle warm up. Sometimes I get a little vibration at start up and other times I don’t but the spindle warm up seems to be very important procedure to keep the spindle quit. Since I don’t run my machine every day that may be the reason I get the noise sometimes when I start it up.
That sounds damaging to me, I have 5 different machines with spindles, I “broke” them in the first time I used them and from then on I just ran the machine, never had an issue and I have never had one make noise anything like that, my current spindle is a G Penny with ceramic bearings.
Hey Redline
Since you updated the warmup procedure are all the units that have bearing noise from following the original warm up process now toast?
Asking for a friend
In order to get the new warm up routine to work on my system, I had to go in and edit the tool setup for the spindle. Mine was set to minimum RPM of 6000. Had to change to 500.
Edit: I will do more research, but it seems that this is specific to ceramic bearings. When I get mine, if and when it does this it will hurt my brain…and I will have be kept away from my email, but for now I am trusting 1F and Redline.
I’ll let them answer that but the spindle should never sound like that. Probably not making any friends by saying so but I would be asking for a new one