Common Fault Troubleshooting for Trapezoidal Lead Screws: How To Deal with Jamming, Wear, And Decreased Accuracy?

Key conclusion: The jamming, wear, and decreased accuracy of trapezoidal lead screwsare mostly caused by installation deviations, insufficient lubrication, or abnormal loads. By addressing the three core issues of installation, lubrication, and load specifically, the performance can be restored quickly and the service life can be extended.

Fault 1: The trapezoidal screw is stuck and cannot run smoothly?

Core reason: Installation errors in parallelism / coaxiality, foreign objects entering the screw thread groove, the nut and screw are too tightly fitted, and temperature increase causes thermal expansion and jamming.

Solution steps:

1.1. Shut down and disconnect power, clean the dust and iron filings in the screw thread groove, blow them away with compressed air, and then wipe them clean.

1.2. Check the installation base, adjust the bearing seat or nut seat to ensure the parallelism of the screw and the guide piece ≤ 0.1mm/m, and the coaxiality error is controlled within 0.05mm.

1.3. If the fit is too tight, you can slightly grind the internal thread of the nut (professional operation) or replace the nut with a tolerance-matched one to avoid damaging it by forcibly running.

1.4. When the environmental temperature is too high, add cooling measures and select high-temperature compatible lubricating grease.

Fault 2: The trapezoidal screw rod is severely worn, significantly reducing its lifespan?

Key causes: Lack of lubrication or deterioration of the lubricant, exceeding the rated load, insufficient hardness of the screw rod material, erosion by dust or corrosive media.

Solution steps:

2.1. Select the appropriate lubricant based on the operating conditions (lithium-based lubricant for low-speed and heavy-load applications, extreme pressure lubricant for high-speed applications), and perform regular replenishment (recommend checking every 50 hours).

2.2. Verify the load parameters. If the actual load exceeds the rated value, a larger-sized screw rod or an additional support structure should be used to distribute the load.

2.3. In wear-prone scenarios, replace the screw rod with a high-strength material (such as 40Cr quenched and tempered) or apply surface treatment (galvanizing, nitriding) to enhance wear resistance.

2.4. Install a dust cover and sealing ring to isolate dust and corrosive gases, preventing the screw thread surface from directly contacting contaminants.

Fault 3: The accuracy of the trapezoidal screw has decreased and the positioning is inaccurate?

Key causes: The screw has deformed, the thread wear is uneven, the installation is loose, and the supporting bearing is damaged.

Solution steps:

3.1. Check the straightness of the screw. Minor deformation can be corrected using a straightening tool, while severe deformation requires direct replacement of the screw.

3.2. Measure the wear of the thread. If the wear is uneven, investigate the load distribution and adjust the force points to ensure uniform force application.

3.3. Tighten the fixing bolts of the bearing seats at both ends of the screw and the nut seat to prevent loosening during operation, which may cause positioning deviation.

3.4. Check the supporting bearing. If there is abnormal noise or excessive clearance, replace the high-precision bearing promptly to restore rotational accuracy.

IV. General Preventive Measures: 3 Key Points for Reducing Fault Recurrence

1. Regular Maintenance: Clean the screw rod surface monthly, replace the lubricating grease every 3 months, and shorten the maintenance period in harsh environments.

2. Standard Installation: Control the parallelism and coaxiality strictly according to the installation manual, and avoid violent assembly.

3. Equipment Condition Matching: When selecting the model, ensure that the rated load, rotational speed, and temperature range are consistent with the actual working conditions, and do not operate beyond the load limit.

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