Tips for Maintaining Your Servo Amplifiers

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Essentially, servo amplifiers are an integral part of servomechanisms that amplify a signal from within

the device throughout the whole system so that small changes and certain values can be corrected to achieve a desired value. Also known as a servo

drive, it receives the signal from the control system, amplifies the signal to broadcast to the whole setup

and transmits the signal to a servo motor to produce the needed changes in the system based

on an algorithm.

Sometimes, it transmits a desired torque, speed pr position value for the machines to correct or

achieve in the shortest time possible with the least chance for errors. When you’re working with

automated factories, delicate machinery and such, it’s important that your servo amplifiers are precise

and can broadcast perfectly.

How do you prevent this? Here are some tips:

Most of the time, when your automated system breaks down, the servo driver or servo amplifiers

could be the culprit. They might be malfunctioning in the sense that their signal isn’t being broadcast right or there are interruptions in the broadcast.

1 .Clean your equipment regularly.

Even if you maintain a dirt-free, clean environment, that doesn’t mean that your equipment isn’t getting most of the dust. In fact, these devices might even be housing all the invisible dirt you’re so proud of not existing. Call in the technicians regularly so they can open up your servo drives and mechanisms and clean them. Since these are central to the operations of your system, they’re the ones who need to be cleaned the most frequently.

2 .Prevent overheating.

The enemy of any electronic or mechanical device is heat. This means that energy is lost, the parts aren’t performing smoothly or there is some sort of obstruction. This is especially true for servo amplifiers that continuously broadcast signals and data to other receivers. These heat up intensely so you have to make sure there aren’t any obstructions with their fans, they’re kept cool and maintained. Consider putting your servo drive in an air-conditioned room or giving it its own fan aside from its built-in coolant. This can save you a lot of time and money on repairs and delays in your production.

3 .Prevent voltage spike or surge.

Although this could mean anything from power supply problems to ground faults or phase problems, it could also mean you have not invested enough in protecting your servomechanisms. These are delicate machinery and need to be working at top condition all the time or else your whole assembly line or process might literally blow up. An energy spike may fry the fuse inside and mess up the signal booster or the circuitry.

4 .Wiring short.

When you’re running old machines, whether it’s a servo amplifier or any other machine, it’s important that you don’t rely on out-dated and faulty equipment. Regular maintenance and check-ups by professionals ensures that something as mundane but destructive as a shorted wire can happen to you.

Although a servo amplifier can be such a small thing that you sometimes take for granted (you can’t see it moving and sometimes just think it’s doing its job on its own happily), the effects are

usually not on the device itself. When a large machine blows up or gets damaged on your assembly line, it’s most probably the servo

amplifier’s fault. Preventing the small errors can prevent large machine costs and damage repairs.

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