When a grinding machine goes down, it’s vital to get it back up and running as soon as possible. At UNITED GRINDING North America, our Customer Care team is committed to getting you as productive as possible—whether that means training, PM, repairs or anything else you need.

Over time, we’ve built a list of quick fixes that can be tried on the customer side if your machine is down. These do-it-yourself items are a good first step to take before you contact Customer Care. It might wind up saving you plenty of time.

1. Reboot

Sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how often this step is overlooked—and how effective it is. Computing has advanced exponentially, but the old truth still rings true: when in doubt, reboot. Newer CNC machines are Windows-based, and nothing refreshes an overworked system like a good ol’ restart. If you haven’t done it in a while, now is a great time to do it.

2. Check the electrical cabinet

Breaker trips happen, and this is a super quick check and potential fix. Head to the fuse box to reset it. If it holds, problem solved!

3. Don’t forget about the OEM’s software

In plenty of instances, machine operators load up the FANUC control but forget to do the same for the OEM’s software. Take our Tool division and its proprietary software, TOOL STUDIO. Occasionally, operators will forget to launch it alongside FANUC, meaning they miss out on the full range of functionalities and some applications aren’t being tasked.

If your machine is a few years old or more, the desktop link may no longer be there. So always make sure that once FANUC is up and running, our software is too.

4. Feedrate override switch

The feed-rate override switch lets you slow or speed up cutting motions on the machine. If the switch is sitting at zero, you just found your problem.

5. There’s more than one E-stop button

Everyone remembers the big E-stop button, but there are all kinds of diminutive buttons on the handheld, and E-stop is one of them. Be sure that all E-stop buttons are released.

6. Is everything that’s interfacing with your machine happy?

Take the cooling unit, for example. Is it up and running? If not, you might have your quick fix.

7. Get back on top of the enclosure

This last one pertains to WALTER machines. Sometimes, after being on top of the enclosure to perform maintenance, that person doesn’t put the flap all the way down. This means the microswitch won’t be working. One quick trip back on top of the enclosure should set things right.

No matter what your need is, remember that the Customer Care team at UNITED GRINDING North America is standing by to help. Pretty much anything your shop needs can be taken care of by this expert team. Machine start up, training, service, repairs, rebuilds and retrofits are yours for the taking. Talk to Customer Care today.