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Counterbalance Noise


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Hello all,
I've been running a Zeiss Prismo 12/42/10 for about 4 yrs now and is sees some good action daily, usually running 16hrs non-stop. Last December we had the counterbalance replaced on the Z axis due to it making a squealing noise (I relate it to the sound of a straw being pulled through a drink lid) when it was moving upwards in the Z at slow speeds. We have now had this noise appear again after 9 months of use!! I was told warranty of the part is only 6 months....which isn't very convenient for us lol.
My question is has anyone else had this issue??

I feel I can't be the only one and if this part needs to be replaced again after less than 1yr of use it has to be a design flaw with the counterbalance. I love our machine and I'm really happy with its performance but this is a thorn in my side.

As a side note I've been told by techs this is an issue they've seen before and possibly rubbing the counterbalance shaft seal with lithium grease or Vaseline could solve the problem but I feel I should'nt have to "fix" this problem my self if its that common.

Any help or comments would be appreciated.

Rant over 🤣
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I don't have a Prismo but is it possible that someone is removing the lubricant when cleaning it. I have had issues with scale damage from operators cleaning.
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I don't clean that area, its covers usually keep dirt away so i only remove soft cover to clean. That was also my thought a year ago but the area is always clean
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Just get a good mp3 player and the problem is fixed .. 🤣

Seriously though we have 8 Prismo's and this really hasn't been an issue, they do tend to make a bit of noise from the bellows rubbing though.

We had one that had the counterbalance make noise like that and it turned out to be an air leak.
It was causing the machine to red light if you tried running it at more than 50 % speed though.

My thinking is if the machine is running with no problems your probably a lot better off with the cost of a bit of time and grease than waiting for whenever Zeiss can get someone there and spending a fortune for them to add a couple bucks worth of grease themselves.

I can totally understand your frustration though.
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You get what you pay for 9 times out of 10 and that's why Zeiss stuff is generally more expensive.
I once had to replace the joystick box because I let it run low on fluid. 🙄
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We keep a spare Counter Balance cylinder and regulator. We store them vertical as it can cause seal issues if stored horizontal.

Not a bad job to do yourself. Just replaced a CB regulator because our production CMM regulator went down and wouldn't run.
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