fanuc Grease Quesitons

    Hello :help:

    We have 2 fanuc robots at our shop, and i recently noticed they are both due for a grease change. I have the manual for both robots, 1 is a R2000ib/125L and the other a R1000iA/100F. I'm wondering how much grease i should order and from where? basically does it come in grease gun tubes or 5 gallon pails? and is my best bet getting it from fanuc or another company? I am out of Canada, Manitoba if that changes anything.

    thanks in advance.

    Ours came in 5 gallon pails and we have a pneumatic grease gun setup that sits on top of it. Your manuals should tell you how much grease each robot will take. I didn't get much hands on with this part of our shutdown maintenance but I believe there is a "feed" and a "dump" fitting. You loosen the dump fitting and attach a hose going to an empty pail and pump new grease in the other end until you can see new grease coming out of the dump. But lets see if someone else can chime in to verify.

    "I could tell that my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio."

    Quote from SHIFT_Lock


    Ours came in 5 gallon pails and we have a pneumatic grease gun setup that sits on top of it. Your manuals should tell you how much grease each robot will take. I didn't get much hands on with this part of our shutdown maintenance but I believe there is a "feed" and a "dump" fitting. You loosen the dump fitting and attach a hose going to an empty pail and pump new grease in the other end until you can see new grease coming out of the dump. But lets see if someone else can chime in to verify.

    i also think that each axis has to be in a certain position, but i am also uncertain.

    Quote from chris051873

    i also think that each axis has to be in a certain position, but i am also uncertain.

    There is a certain position and usually I believe it just lining up the tick marks on the robots putting each axis at a 90 degree angle. There is also a "workout" needed to be done where each axis needs to be jogged back and forth a certain degree each way for a certain period of time. All of that should be covered in the manuals.

    "I could tell that my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio."

    Uh, as a long time greaser of these puppies, I can only say that you people are overthinking it.

    Set the robot in a comfortable position for yourself, release the OUT plug, install the IN grease nipple if there isn't one already - I think R2000 has them already installed, some smaller robots only have plugs -, pump until clean grease pushes out through the outlet. Do not use high pressure for pumping. Use a handpump if possible, otherwise pneumatic set on low pressure. Do not hurry. Do not make a mess or you'll get a lot of stink eyes.

    You use VigoGrease REO for all FANUC robots, with a couple of exceptions. 16 Kg Pails generally.

    Exercise the robot after you finish greasing +/- 10 degrees on each greased axis before installing back the plugs to get rid of the built up pressure. Some grease will probably push out. Clean it off and install the plugs. Congrats. Your robots will live happily for another year.

    Pay close attention to the used grease coming out, especially at the start. Watch for metal shavings. If you notice them, be prepared for a reducer swap somewhere in the future.

    Edited once, last by ClaudiuA (December 7, 2018 at 9:28 AM).

    Quote from ClaudiuA


    Uh, as a long time greaser of these puppies, I can only say that you people are overthinking it.

    Set the robot in a comfortable position for yourself, release the OUT plug, install the IN grease nipple if there isn't one already - I think R2000 has them already installed, some smaller robots only have plugs -, pump until clean grease pushes out through the outlet. Do not use high pressure for pumping. Use a handpump if possible, otherwise pneumatic set on low pressure. Do not hurry. Do not make a mess or you'll get a lot of stink eyes.

    You use VigoGrease REO for all FANUC robots, with a couple of exceptions. 16 Kg Pails generally.

    Exercise the robot after you finish greasing +/- 10 degrees on each greased axis before installing back the plugs to get rid of the built up pressure. Some grease will probably push out. Clean it off and install the plugs. Congrats. Your robots will live happily for another year.

    Pay close attention to the used grease coming out, especially at the start. Watch for metal shavings. If you notice them, be prepared for a reducer swap somewhere in the future.

    Maybe I am old school, but I like to follow Fanuc's recommended greasing positions. They are there for a reason. Or at least the ones that have any angle besides arbitrary.

    As far as when you are finished, I have never seen a robot that they only want you to move +- 10 degrees only. Not to mention that it also depends on speed and time.

    I do agree with using a hand pump and taking your time. But I believe you may need to refresh your procedure. Along with based on robot conditions, age or robot, usage, etc. a yearly PM may or may not be needed.

    Quote from Robo_Eng_13


    Also "yearly" is based on 2000 operating hours. If you run 24/7, you need to increase the PM schedule by a factor of 4

    Some of our robots are going on 5-6 years with the original grease :no1: We keep bringing it up that it needs done on shut down but here we are again just a couple weeks from shut down and nothing has been ordered or planned out for it. :wallbash: I guess they will realize our concern after we start having some major failures and costly repairs/downtime.

    "I could tell that my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio."

    Quote from cobenson

    Maybe I am old school, but I like to follow Fanuc's recommended greasing positions. They are there for a reason. Or at least the ones that have any angle besides arbitrary.

    As far as when you are finished, I have never seen a robot that they only want you to move +- 10 degrees only. Not to mention that it also depends on speed and time.

    I do agree with using a hand pump and taking your time. But I believe you may need to refresh your procedure. Along with based on robot conditions, age or robot, usage, etc. a yearly PM may or may not be needed.


    To be perfectly frank I don't even go as far as that most of the time. +/- 10 degrees a few times is plenty if you've gone low pressure and allowed enough time before you put up the plug. After pointlessly exercising robots for minutes on end, I ended up ditching most of that as well. 5 years, no problems, results speak for themselves on this. Only time that backfired was when a M600 peed all over me from the J4 reducer.
    Of course, I don't mean LR Mates or M10s/20s with the oil change. In those cases I fully recommend following the procedure as it makes things easier. For some M410s and M900s you need to actually set the correct position to have access to the outlet, but not for much else. And I swapped out enough reducers - not due to maintenance issues mind you - to see why it doesn't really matter how you set the robot.
    But with some robots in tight cells or on very high pedestals, we need to make concessions. I have a few robots where following the position in the maintenance manual actually makes the maintenance impossible :uglyhammer2:

    Watch out !!!

    Yes Grease has standard, but Fanuc generally grease looks to be usually in the bottom for viscosity.

    15 years ago, somebody at purchasing dept decide to save $$$ and buy équivalent….

    We runout so much reducer (over a dozen), that Fanuc call us because we buy so much replacement !!!!

    Think twice before trying other !

    If it starts well the first time, you have not checked all !

    We get ours from Lincoln. Tell them the robot model #.

    Will come in a kit, grease, a small syringe for the smaller openings, and a detailed instruction sheet that tells the position the arm should be in when greasing each axis.

    The grease will come in a can with enough for your exact application.

    Have used them for many years.

    Your best bet is to hire Fanuc to come in and do the PM's and you put one or two guys with them to shadow. Then next go around you are ready. Save yourself a lot of trouble because a lot of people damage robots doing annual PM's. Fyi, Fanuc uses electric pumps that will not over pressurize the drives. They also use vacuums.

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