224 Alarm — Fanuc

The red light on the display panel of the Fanuc Robodrill was the color of a stopped heart. Operator Dave Chen knew this because his own heart felt exactly like that: stopped.

Second, he tried to jog the Z-axis by hand. It moved up with a smooth, obedient hum, but when he tried to move it down, it hesitated. Just a micro-stutter. A ghost’s cough.

First, he checked the tool. The carbide end mill was still sharp. Not that. fanuc 224 alarm

"That's it," Dave muttered.

He worked through the night. By 2 AM, with grease-stained fingers and a back that screamed, he had the bearing cleaned and repacked. By 4 AM, the lube system ran clear again. At 5:47 AM, he reset the breaker and powered up. The red light on the display panel of

"Eight hours? The SpaceX job is due tomorrow!"

So was he.

Dave knelt and put his palm on the Z-axis ballscrew cover. It was warm. Too warm. A healthy axis runs hot, but this felt like a car engine left running in a closed garage. He grabbed a thermal gun from his toolbox. The bearing housing at the bottom of the screw read 178°F—forty degrees above normal.