Cleaning CNC milling machines – efficient, gentle and time-saving

Cleaning CNC milling machines is essential in order to remove contamination from chips, oil and cooling lubricants. Improper cleaning, however, can lead to damage up to machine downtime and increased wear. In contrast, our low-pressure hot-water cleaning offers a fast, thorough and at the same time (resource-) gentle solution.

Challenges in cleaning a CNC milling machine

CNC milling machines are often hard to reach and consist of sensitive components. Conventional methods such as high-pressure cleaning or manual cleaning with rags and brushes or with brake cleaner have considerable disadvantages:

• High pressure can wash out bearings, damage electronics, sensors or cables and hoses and cause rust.
• Manual cleaning is time-consuming, inefficient and carries injury risks, and is extremely unpopular with employees.
• Baked-on cooling lubricants and oil residues adhere stubbornly and are difficult to remove.

How does low-pressure hot-water cleaning work?

1. Cooling lubricant is drawn from the tank of the CNC machine and heated to 95°C – this does not harm the cooling lubricant.

2. The hot cooling lubricant is sprayed with 3–14 bar pressure onto the soiled areas in a targeted way with the help of lances.

3. Old cooling lubricant and chips loosen quickly and gently, even in hard-to-reach areas.

ph-cleantec units

We recommend these units.

Benefits of our units for cleaning CNC milling machines

The parts-washing units from ph-cleantec set new standards in industrial cleaning. Our units clean at 95°C and need only 7.5 or 14 bar and therefore only very little medium to rinse off contamination. An alkaline cleaner can be added. Contamination such as oils, greases and dusts is collected or filtered, the cleaning medium is reused. This makes our method particularly fast and thorough, and at the same time environmentally and health-friendly:

Technical benefits

• No damage whatsoever to bearings, sensors or electronics, cables, hoses, bushings etc.
• High temperatures loosen even stubborn contamination quickly and efficiently.
• Thanks to various lances, even hard-to-reach spots are cleaned without any problem.
• No introduction of foreign substances, since cleaning is done with the machine’s own cooling lubricant.

Economic benefits

• Generally 80–90% time saving compared with manual cleaning.
• Reduced machine downtime: cleaning in 20–30 minutes instead of 3–4 hours means increased productivity of your CNC mills.
• Lower repair costs, when there is no need to clean first in order to find the leak
• Longer-lasting CNC milling machine through regular, thorough maintenance.

Occupational safety

• No direct contact with sharp tools or chips and no direct contact with cooling lubricant and biocide or biostabilisers.
• Reduced risk of injury through cleaning with the help of lances instead of by hand.
• Easier maintenance and inspection of the machine.

Areas of application

Low-pressure hot-water cleaning is particularly suitable for:

• CNC milling machines in the metalworking industry.
• Servicing, maintenance and retrofit of machine tools.
• Cleaning of tool magazines, spindles, tools with internal cooling and much more.

Would you like to optimise your cleaning processes?

Let the benefits of low-pressure hot-water cleaning convince you and request a free demonstration – we are happy to come and show you what we can do.

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