Tweco Power Reamer

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My shop currently uses the Tweco QR3-2000 Power Reamer for our automated weld cells, we are currently experiencing issues with our diffusers being torn up by the reamer multiple times a day, and are going through anywhere from 1-5 diffusers a day across 3 shifts on the same robot. Just curious if anyone out there knows what exactly could be causing that? Our weld specialists don't always have the patience to try to figure this stuff out and our engineers are so swamped with new business that asking them isn't always an option. Any help and/or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Side note: I read the full users manual for the reamer itself and was unable to find anything truly helpful, the only thing I can think of based off of that was that maybe the blades need to be changed, however I don't know how to tell if this is the case and our company doesn't keep a log of when things like that have happened. Thank you, Alex Martin
Reply:Hello Alex, although I am not familiar with the specific item/system that you are asking about and likely a lot of other folks are similarly challenged, if you could possibly provide some pictures of this item and the type of damage that it is causing you may receive some suggestions or assessments of what's going on. It operates on some basic or advanced principles and likely, as I believe you somewhat stated, there could be some visible or identifiable issues that are causing it not to work as it is designed to. There are a number of very mechanically inclined folks on this site and they might just be able to help you out with a solution. Best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:Thank you, if my machine goes down tonight I will try to get some pictures, unfortunately the same welder is extremely hot currently and we need parts for shipment in the morning.  I will attempt to get some pictures if possible, if not today then some time in the near future.  I appreciate your assistance,Alex
Reply:While I have no experience with the Tweco reamers, I've had similar issues with the Binzel reamers on the robots I maintain at work.  Looking at pictures, the reamer blade appears to similar in construction to the Binzel, so you are likely having the same problems I have had.  There is a couple of things you need to check:1) Make sure the reamer blade is designed for your particular contact tip/diffuser, not just the ID of the nozzle.  If the inside of the reamer blade is not clearanced for the tip/diffuser correctly, it will chew them up in a hurry.  If it's not correct, or you cannot get one the fits correctly, make sure the robot position during the reaming action is programmed to where reamer doesn't make contact with the diffuser (so basically you have to cheat a little).  This leads to my second thing to check, which is...2) Make sure the robot position during the reaming action is programmed to where reamer doesn't make contact with the diffuser, lol.  This means in depth (up and down), but also make sure the torch and the reamer are perfectly co-linear (straight in-line and parallel in all directions).  You can usually check this by moving the robot to the programmed position for the reaming action, then removing the air supply to the reamer and manually raising and spinning the reamer to feel for contact.  You can also remove the nozzle to visually check for contact between the reamer blade and the contact tip/diffuser.I hope this helps some, and best of luck!
Reply:Thank you, that information will be extremely useful, I will let our weld techs know and try to get it done tonight and report back.Thanks again!Alex