KR 1000 Titan F Oil Leak A3

    Howdy all,

    We recently purchased a used KR 1000 TItan F with a KRC2 from a resale vendor. It is now installed in our warehouse, and there is fluid leaking from the A3 joint, coming from the seam on which the axis rotates (NOT from the mounting seam of the servo motor). An image of the leak location is attached. (Note: the robot has dark metal slag deposits due to prior work in a cutoff operation - these are NOT the leak). The leaking fluid is blue-green, with little smell, causing me to believe that it is gear box oil.

    The leak was not present at the time of purchase - I suspect this is because the robot was in storage configuration when we bought it, and we exercised it after it was properly mounted.

    I have read the following thread:

    Strange holes 3rd axis

    It talks about an oil leak: the oil color matches ours, and user "the leg" mentions that it could be the seals on the gear box. How can I determine if the gear box seals are causing the issue?

    Reboot,

    Thanks for the reply. The leak in the image is certainly small. Unfortunately, it's rather consistent, and we've noticed some pooling on the floor if the robot is in an overhanging position for multiple days. I will check the oil level before we exercise it much more to ensure we aren't running our gearbox dry.

    We've also contacted Kuka support regarding the issue to see what actions (if any) they suggest taking. I will update here on receiving a reply.

    my notes on color of chemicals. note, this is from couple of years ago:

    Green : gear oil (if leaking, this is a problem)

    Brown : assembly lube (may be excess that drips when robot warms up) wipe it off and monitor if repeats...

    White : energy supply lubricant

    Yellow : cable grease

    Red : Agilus gear lube

    Magenta : Flexolub for A1 (before 2017)

    Beige : Flexolub for A1 (from 2017)

    in case of any leak, suggestion is to wipe with white paper towel and check color on the paper, not on the robot or floor etc...

    1) read pinned topic: READ FIRST...

    2) if you have an issue with robot, post question in the correct forum section... do NOT contact me directly

    3) read 1 and 2

    Panic,

    Good reference info, you've confirmed my hunch that the fluid is gear oil - we also performed a "white towel wipe test", so to speak (turns out most fluids look black when soaked into concrete), and it came up green.

    The Kuka support respondent I'm talking to requested a few contextual pictures. I've placed one of them below as further documentation. You can see the two small puddles on the floor, each of which represents a few days of accumulation.

    the leg,

    That was my assumption, based on past forum posts. Unfortunately, according to an email I received this morning from KUKA's support team:

    Quote

    With the Titan robot Axis 3 there are no seal kits referenced for the Axis 3 gearbox. If it is leaking as shown in the photos, the only option is to replace the gearbox.

    I will poke around on KUKA Xpert to verify their claim, and update this thread with the rough repair cost (in case others are interested).

    Here's what I found on Kuka Xpert:

    1. According to the KR-1000 Titan "Product Information" (Article # 0000-150-090), axis A3 uses "SPP motor 8.6 Kw".

    The data sheet for "SPP motor 8.6 Kw" (Article # 0000-197-799) mentions and output shaft O-ring as a replacement part (see line 3 in the image below). Is this the shaft seal you mean, the leg ?

    Data Sheet

    2. HOWEVER, our robot is a KR-1000 F-class (F for forge). The KR 1000 F Product Information

    (Article # 0000-165-579) specifies that axis A3 uses "AC motor type A01/FK7105 Foundry".

    The data sheet for "AC motor type A01/FK7105 Foundry" (Article # 0000-212-311) specifies no replacement parts whatsoever, which may be why Kuka support says that the only option is to replace the motor entirely.

    I wonder if the two motors are comparable enough that a seal replacement kit for the KR 1000 motor will work on the KR 1000 F motor, albeit compromizing the high thermal integrity of the axis? We don't need the titan to work in a forge - we purchased it used for its load capacity and are using it in normal warehouse conditions.

    not same thing....

    O-ring is a rubber donut (single material like Buna). it can be easily removed with fingers or tip of a zip-tie or a toothpick..

    radial shaft seals are larger, stiffer and composed of different materials (metal+plastic). removal is much harder. it requires carefully drilling small hole (without hurting anything else). then putting slightly larger woodscrew into that hole, screw threads should bite into sheet-metal part inside it. that should start prying the seal out. then you can use other tools to remove it completely... (flat screwdriver, pry bar, pliers...)

    Radial Shaft Seals

    example of screw:

    Panic,

    Great, thanks for the clarification. Poking around further on Kuka Xpert confirms that no shaft seal repair kits for KR 1000 A3 are specified. Looks like we'll be making a purchase, most likely for the best. Will close this thread after verifying gearbox replacement stops leak.

    An update on this process:

    We had a Kuka Repair and Maintenance Engineer who was in the area take a look at the robot to confirm:

    1. The leak we have is (with high confidence) caused by a seal internal to the gearbox

    2. The only avenue for fixing this seal is full replacement of the gearbox.

    We discovered 2 things:

    1. There was some gear oil pooled in the basin of the rotary column, which we had originally assumed had leaked down the link arm from A3. In reality, the gear oil had leaked out of the left-hand side gearbox of A2, which also has a leaking gasket.

    2. The technician confirmed 1 and 2.

    Currently negotiating prices - for reference, the initial quote we received for the replacement A3 gearbox was ~$40k.

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