Repacking ballscrews/ballnuts

I have an NSK ground ballscrew that somebody (not me, honestly) was clever enough to run the ballnut past the end of the threads and allow some of the balls to escape. The ballscrew is a ground screw, and nice condition, but a bit dirty, so I am thinking about taking the nut completely off, cleaning everything out with a light solvent (WD40?) and then getting some new balls and repacking the nut. I've never repacked a ballscrew before. Questions:

-What type of balls are typically used (I'm sure it probably depends on the screw material, but I forgot to bring the model # with me) on NSK precision (C5) ground ballscrews? Chrome plated? Stainless? Carbon steel? ...

-What is the technique for actually loading the balls?

-How should I clean the ballnut out?

-What type of lubricant should I use during/after packing the nut?

Thanks!

-Ralph

Reply to
rpseguin
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Balls: not likely to be chrome plated, most probably 52100 carbon steel but could be stainless. Check what you have: put one in some water overnight and it will rust stain. Original will have been matched for size, I doubt if you'll ever get the precision of a factory build again. Lubricant, well tell us more about the application and environment.

Reply to
Newshound

Very doable if you keep it clean.

Take all the balls out and mic them for size. Keep a count on them too. They usually come in standard sizes, and over/under sizes. Put aside all the old ones and buy all new ones from most any bearing supplier. They are not usually stainless, but just relatively hard steel, and about $3-$25 for

100. Most screws we had done take about 100-200 balls.

Clean the screw well. Pull any seals and soak the nut in kerosene overnight, then alcohol for a few hours. Shake and stir occasionally to get the little bits and old oil/grease out.

For assembly use grease to hold the balls in place as you wind the nut and fill return tubes, winding the screw a bit as you go. If you are using an oil-lubed nut/screw, then use any light grease that cuts well with Vactra 2 oil, as you want it to wash out later. If it is a grease packed nut/screw use red axle or whatever other grease you are told to lube the nut and linear ways of the machine with. It is a relatively low speed bearing so fancy grease is not usually necessary.

The big trick here is when you start winding it on, to make sure you understand how to wind it on and off with most of the balls in place, and realize that there are two separate ball tracks opposing each other for preload. Use the grease to hold them in their tracks as you wind it on. It's easy to tell: One way works, and all the balls stay in the tracks and feed into the return tubes as you wind. The other way, and they all fall out on the floor. Pack the return tubes as you finish.

In reality you'll do it a few times (on and off, "dang-it", on and off, "dang-it again", and on...) then you'll understand how it works.

We have reloaded many screws for various reasons, including the one you mentioned, where some bone-head unwound it off the end of the screw, and then tried to put it back on with not enough balls.

If the screw and nut bearing surfaces are in good shape, they usually turn out beautifully smooth again. (However, if the tracks are rough and pitted, just throw it away.)

Reply to
Steven Haerr - CNCTrader Corp

Assuming its the type that has a pair of "keys" holding the nut halves together.......

Nsk ships these with an extra ball--and it falls out as soon as you separate the 2 nut sections.

Mike it...( but actually the ball dia is not especially critical with this design anyways...

Re-assemble with a good grease--I personally like to use the mobil shc-32

Leave the spacers out to check your backlash--proper spacer thickness will be exactly one pitch minus any measureable backlash...go a tad bit skinnier than that if you want to add some preload.

Reply to
PrecisionMechanicaL

So, I mic'ed out 4 of the balls, and it appears that there might be 2 different size classes. I made the mistake of measuring in inches instead of mm, as an NSK screw is almost certainly metric.

Anyhow, here's what I got:

3.971mm (0.15635 inches) 3.969mm (0.15625 inches) 3.933mm (0.15485 inches) 3.936mm (0.15495 inches)

So, my guess is that there are smaller balls spaced in between the larger balls to prevent jamming.

Thanks!

-Ralph

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Reply to
rpseguin

Ralph, Yep the alternating small balls keeps them rolling instead of skidding under load.

Gary H. Lucas

Reply to
Gary H. Lucas

I am reminded of the source of the term "shagging", after abrading my knees and elbows looking for those darned little thingies in the carpet pile.... /mark

Steven Haerr - CNCTrader Corp wrote:

Reply to
Mark

Ralph,

Precison ground ballscrews are packed with balls that are sized specifically for the grind fit of the ball nut. Particularly if the screw/nut has been reground. The balls are sized in tenths. so you normally can't just by a bag of .250 balls from mcmaster-carr etc... you can probably go over to Ballscrews Inc (or something like that) they are in San Jose, and get them to at least size the balls you currently have, and maybe if you are lucky sell you a package of 100 balls. If they are exactly .250 then you can get some from Mcmaster-carr.

Don't use WD-40. It is not a solvent, eventually it will turn into a glue. Use MEK or acetone as a degreaser/solvent. The lubricant will be way oil if you are going to use it in a machine that has a lube system. You don't want to mix greases & oils, otherwise you get sludge. Otherwise use a moly based grease.

Re-install the balls by removing one of the sheet metal recirculation covers on the nut, and droping the balls in one at a time, as you rotate the screw. You will want to carefully leave one ball less than tight (a little slop in the recirculation cover) to finish. Otherwise it will bind when you screw the cover back on.

Make sure the entire nut, covers and ball is absolutely clean, otherwise you will destroy the screw, nut, or bearings on the first rotation.

If you can get to technical engineer at NSK they can give you better instructions than I, and give you specifics on the type of grease they use, exact numer of balls, material etc...

ca

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Reply to
clay

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