Think Twice Before Hitting “Reset”

In the machine tool world, we associate the word “reset” with the push of a button on the control panel to clear an alarm condition. When we visit customers, we often see the reset button used as a temporary quick fix to start cutting again. The reasoning goes something like this: “That annoying alarm that keeps popping up is really messing with my cycle time. My production is suffering. I’ll just hit reset.”

Unfortunately, I’ve heard this phrase too often during my 25 years in the industry. It becomes habit for an operator to push the reset button when an alarm condition appears. Perhaps the machine operator is under pressure to meet production? Or maybe they’ve just accepted that the condition causing the alarm is either not important or will take too much time to correct. That might mean calling maintenance…and losing more production. “My boss wouldn’t like that!” This practice is more common than one would expect. I speculate that you’re nodding your head right now because you know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve done it yourself….right? You do it every day.

Your Machine Tool is Crying for Help

Well, it’s time for a taste of reality. When your Okuma machine tool throws up an alarm on the display, it’s often trying to tell you something very important. “My filter needs changed.” “My lubrication is low.” “My CPU fan has stopped rotating and I’m getting a little warm.” “If you push that reset button over and over and my fever will get higher. I might crash if you keep ignoring me!”

Related: Just Hit the "i"

Find the Root CauseLet’s take a simple analogy to put things into perspective. If you developed a fever that persisted for several days, you would go to the doctor. The doctor would perform several checks to drill down to the root cause of your illness, medicine would be administered, and your fever would be gone. If this root cause analysis was not performed, you may “crash”, or become even more ill.

An Easy Answer

Fortunately, the Okuma control has a simple “i” (information) button on the control panel to simplify the troubleshooting process. This button serves several purposes. But did you know that if you press this button when an Alarm condition appears on the Okuma display, it will guide you to a solution! See the example Alarm condition below:

• You may choose to reset this Alarm and run the machine to meet your production quota. And you may do this for weeks because you don’t want to take the time to dig out your Okuma Alarm Manual and research the meaning of the Alarm.
• Or you can simply press the “i” button, and voilà! The active alarm description will appear along with a descriptive code, which will often tell you EXACTLY what to do to fix the problem. In this case, you may choose to replace an inexpensive cooling fan motor, or just wait until the Okuma CPU burns up and replace that instead. It really is your choice.

Okuma understands the CNC machining world and the culture of our customers worldwide. The “i” button was created with the machine operator and maintenance technician in mind. The people who are under pressure to not only make production, but also to maintain the machine.

The next time you see that annoying Alarm on the control, think twice about pushing ‘reset’ and moving on. Push the “i” button instead!

Thanks to Mike Breitkreutz (Senior Manager, Customer Service, Okuma America) for providing this Service Tip.