When to Use spindle oil chiller？

I have a YCM VMC for sale where a customer asks if it has a spindle chiller, which it does not. (Top RPM is 12,000) Would this machine benefit from a chiller ? Do ceramic bearings make any difference as to having chiller or not ?

Can a chiller be easily added or would the necessary fittings be missing on machines not ordered with one ? My Doosan DVF has a spindle chiller, that has an 18,000 rpm spindle. Also has ceramic bearings rated at 30k rpm I believe. Between the almost double rpm capacity bearings and spindle chiller, supposedly there is no duty cycle on the bearings. On the DVF, the chiller is mostly cooling the hosing and nose. There are a ton of o-rings to seal off the cooling channels. I'm not sure if your spindle would have all that internal plumbing if it did not come with a chiller. You don't want the chiller oil getting on the bearings. Bearings probably benefit more from the constant air-oil mist.

For me, I do not think a spindle chiller is necessary with how I run. He might be thinking he needs to run constant 12k ballnosing toolpaths for hours. Being limited to rpms on my first machine, I've found you can make a lot of part below those rpms.

I have a YCM VMC for sale where a customer asks if it has a spindle chiller, which it does not. (Top RPM is 12,000) Would this machine benefit from a chiller ? Do ceramic bearings make any difference as to having chiller or not ?

Can a chiller be easily added or would the necessary fittings be missing on machines not ordered with one ?

Much depends on the intended use. The chiller is primarily for control of thermal growth of the spindle and headstock. Not so much about bearing environment. Without a chiller the machine will “grow” in Y and Z during operation. For many workpieces this is not important while for others it becomes a problem. Blending surfaces cut at different time during long operations is a PITA. Highly cosmetic parts show this significantly. I’ve seen tools that were touched off with the machine cold need >.002” adjustment after the machine has run at speed for an hour or so when not equipped with a chiller. If that was the only thing I didn't like about a machine, it wouldn't stop me. Just run some copper coils around the housing, a pump, some gloop to make the whole thing conduct heat, a radiator, fan and thermostat.

Our gashers needed chillers, they ran for hours and spacing was critical and the cone drives for the cutters made a lot of heat, so just piped the lube oil through a refrigeration system with a thermostat.

I don't think it's that hard to do. Doesn't have to be internal, castings conduct heat. If they didn't, it wouldn't be a problem.

If that was the only thing I didn't like about a machine, it wouldn't stop me. Just run some copper coils around the housing, a pump, some gloop to make the whole thing conduct heat, a radiator, fan and thermostat.

Our gashers needed chillers, they ran for hours and spacing was critical and the cone drives for the cutters made a lot of heat, so just piped the lube oil through a refrigeration system with a thermostat.

I don't think it's that hard to do. Doesn't have to be internal, castings conduct heat. If they didn't, it wouldn't be a problem.

A plumbed plate between the motor and head is a real nice thing to see, it really isolates the warm motor from the head casting.
As Vancbiker said it depends on what you want to do with the machine. If you want to do long runs at high speed you will want one.

A plumbed plate between the motor and head is a real nice thing to see, it really isolates the warm motor from the head casting.
As Vancbiker said it depends on what you want to do with the machine. If you want to do long runs at high speed you will want one.

Clever idea, what builders are using it? Makes a big difference in constant Z depths. I remember working on a sized machine once with no chiller. Was roughing out a big steel part before lunch. Came back half hr later and ran a groove over again to bring it out to size in diameter and the width cut like 0.010 over from movement in Z. Crazy how much things can move when they get warm.

Got to be a little better on the bearings too as a bonus.

Clever idea, what builders are using it?

My Kitamura has a steel plate about an inch thick that the chiller oil goes through, then back to the chiller. Same for the spindle cartridge circuit. That same plate acts as a locator for the motor so you can position it very accurately over the spindle.

Whether milling, grinding, turning or other applications - when using a machine tool spindle like a HYFRA spindle chiller, its cooling is indispensable. The motor spindles of modern machine tools in particular often operate at high speeds. Since this leads to strong heating in the area of the bearings and on the motor, the spindles are cooled with liquids or air. In this way, their high performance can be maintained over longer periods without overheating.

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Water has long proven its worth as a coolant for the spindle of a machine tool. It is usually fed into the housing of the spindle via a pipe system, where it absorbs the heat around the stator and in the area of the bearings. Sometimes the cooling water also reaches the shaft and the tools and workpieces via a rotary union at the transition between the stator and the rotor. In either case, a spindle cooling system must deliver coolant to the spindle reliably and uniformly over extended periods of time. Since machine tool spindles achieve their optimum performance only within a relatively narrow temperature range, their cooling also requires high temperature accuracy and temperature consistency.

For these requirements, the HYFRA range offers reliable cooling water recirculating chillers in different capacities, sizes and equipment. In the HYFRA Sigma series, the product range extends from units with a cooling capacity of 5 kW (1.5 tons) to particularly powerful chillers with 320 kW (90 tons) capacity. The compressors and plate heat exchangers of the chillers are characterized by high efficiency and the space required for installation remains manageable. Up to an output of 28 kW (7.5 tons), the units require only 0.5 m² of floor space, while higher outputs require 1 m² (up to 80 kW/22.5 tons), 2 m² (up to 160 kW/45 tons) or 4 m² (up to 320 kW/90 tons). The HYFRA Sigma c variant with reduced overall height is also available.The models of the HYFRA eChilly/eChilly+ series also provide reliable cooling of the spindle with outputs from 1 kW to 6 kW kW (3,500 Btu/hr to 20,500 Btu/hr). These particularly compact cooling water recirculating chillers require only 0.3 m² to 0.6 m² of floor space and have overall heights between 37 cm and 52 cm (15 inches to 21 inches). This means they fit into almost any machine layout. At the same time, the robust housing and integrated air filter protect the small chillers even in demanding environments.

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Whether in spindle cooling or in other areas of application - HYFRA's innovative functions repeatedly ensure that customers benefit greatly from its chillers. For example, units with FleXX technology flexibly adapt the operation of components such as the fan, compressor and expansion valve to the requirements of the respective application. This form of cooling reduces energy costs by up to 30% and at the same time leads to significant savings in refrigerant. In addition, FleXX technology achieves particularly high temperature accuracies of up to 0.1 K. The state-of-the-art plate heat exchangers in the current HYFRA Sigma series of cooling water recirculating chillers also operate particularly efficiently. They are also lighter and take up less space than conventional heat exchangers.

When selecting the right cooler, HYFRA works closely with the experts on the customer side. This intensive exchange ensures that the cooling system is precisely matched to the customer's requirements. On request, for example in the case of special on-site conditions, HYFRA engineers can also develop and design a completely individual cooling solution. From planning to acceptance, the customer receives all services from a single source. This facilitates the smooth running of the project, so that the plant is ready for operation after a short time. If the operating conditions of a chiller change fundamentally at the customer's site, HYFRA also adapts the unit specifically to the new requirements with modification kits.

You might be interested in our HYFRA injection molding chillers or our HYFRA machine cooling system.

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