Welcome to Amper’s growing library of machine installations for members of the Amper community! This article aims to provide guidance and examples for installation of Amper devices, specifically sensor location, on some common machines.

We’ll start by going over a helpful approach for Amper installations and a detailed customer example, but feel free to jump down to our Common Installations section for some common machine types and photos/tips from existing Amper customers.

Before you start…

Detailed Customer Example

Common Installations

It is good to ask discovery questions before you start, to get a good understanding of how Amper can best capture your production process and machine utilization.

Taking the initial time to ask yourselves these questions can:

Here is an example thought process from one of Amper’s current customers for installations:

Drawings locating power output to Scrap and Shear Conveyors:

Pictures showing physical installation of Amper sensors on Scrap and Shear Conveyors:

This customer example showcases a successful install that was the result of asking the right questions and gaining an understanding of how Amper’s machine monitoring works.

When the customer sees Amper’s machine monitoring live on their timelines, they will know exactly what the machine states are attributed to and are better equipped for root cause analysis in the future.

Below are a few common machines install examples, along with photos and short descriptions from some of Amper’s existing customers.

Lathes/Mills

Grinders

EDMs

Punch Presses

Injection Molding

If you are installing Amper onto a CNC lathe/mill, first you will have to open up the machine's power panel and identify the spindle motor controller(s). Most machines will have multiple controller modules, so it is necessary to identify the controller for your machines spindle, as well as the controllers for any sub-spindles if present.

Clamping the Amper sensor onto the power supply for the main spindle, and any other spindle that may be running while the main spindle is idle, will get you an accurate read of production.

The picture above shows the inside of a machine's power panel with the row of Servo/Spindle controllers. Once you have identified which of the three controller modules is for the machine's spindle/sub-spindles you will attach a sensor to one  of the three phases of the power output.

Note that the sensor in the picture above is clamped onto only one of the three phases of the power output.

The above picture is an example of a machine with two spindles that need to be monitored. Once the correct spindle controllers are identified, one sensor is attached to a single wire on each controller's power output.

Example of a 500A sensor being attached to a spindle controller's power output.

In this case, the customer recognized that since both spindles are almost always in motion during their operation, they decided to connect the Amper sensor onto one spindle’s power supply with the option of connecting a second sensor the the second spindle if they so choose.

This customer provided a similar thought process and example as above:

The customer is only measuring one phase of each main spindle drive’ however, there are a whole lot of other smaller servo drives with measurable three phase output that you can choose from. It goes back to the initial question of “What is our process?” and “How can we accurately capture it?”

This customer is measuring current in the C-Axis which is what would be holding the working part. This was chosen because they turn and face their parts at the start of jobs and so this is a good way of knowing when this initial process happens. This axis is also always powered, as it is on a servo motor. Even if the part were to remain stationary, current is still going to the magnet to keep it from rotating.

Locate the “Output to Motor” and connect the Amper clamp around the cable that draws power when the machine is in production. In this customer’s case they had a black cable organizer around all outputs, but found the main axis power draw and connected the blue Amper clamp around that output (near the bottom of the highlighted area).

If you run different jobs that require certain axis, you can separately clamp around each output to capture the multi-axis power draw. This way, when any axis is running the machine will be considered “in production”.

This customer is measuring current in the Z-Axis which is checking current of the tool moving vertically up or down (positive Z and negative Z respectively). They chose this axis because the tool will always be moving regardless of what feature they are putting on the part. If they are milling off a bit of the top of the face of a part, the tool will come down (-Z) and stay there and move in the X or Y, and if it is a simple drill/tap it will moving only in the Z direction.

This customer had the exact same thought process as aforementioned for the EC400: production could be captured by simply attaching to the Z-axis.

For grinders, install the sensor on the main grinder motor. Besides dressing, if the grinder is spinning you’re most likely running production. If you’ve got multiple axis machines - clamp multiple sensors to capture accurate production.

One of the challenges with monitoring grinding machines arises when the grinding wheel is always running, and very light finish or polish passes are being made. There is often little difference in amperage draw on the spindle motor in these cases, so we must combine the spindle motor along with another signal that correlates with production. We have seen success by connecting to the axis servo motors, or other motor components. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your CSM or the Amper team to discuss further.

Find the main grinder motor power supply, and hook the blue Amper sensor onto that cable. This should return accurate production readings based on the amperage when the motor is turning the grinder.

In this example, the customer is only utilizing the C Axis on this machine for their operation. The sensor is clamped onto the power cable for the motor that drives this axis.

This photo shows two Amper sensors clamped onto the relevant power cables for the two axis used in the operation. As a general rule, simply clamp an Amper sensor onto the power cables that will source whichever axis is used for the machine’s operation during production. With Amper clamps connected to both axis, whenever one of these axis is running the machine will show as “in production”.

You can have different types of electrical discharge machining, with the main two being wire and sinker EDM. Either way, both processes use electric current to machine materials. Regardless if you are using die sinking or wire cutting, the general thought process is to connect Amper to the output that is doing the erosion/cutting on the machine.

This customer has Amper connected to their wire EDMs. In this example, the customer mentioned that the best connection point is the capacitive side of the contactor MC1 which is direct current. In their case, this is wire P1C, but you will have to locate this connection point relative to your machine model.

The punch press action can often be measured by an engagement of a trigger to signal production (i.e. foot pedal), or some other moving part that draws electricity when production is ongoing. The approach here should follow the same “Ask Yourselves” thought process when deciding what best to connect Amper to in order to receive accurate readings.

This is the example from the above Detailed Customer Example - they decided to connect Amper to the conveyors that ran during production. Because the conveyors were in motion during both manual and automatic processes, they were able to capture production in both cases by connecting to these outputs.

For most Injection Molding machines, the correct wire to attach the sensor to is on one of the following:

For Nissei machines, this customer connected to the R cable of the motor power unit. Some units have their motor units on the left side of the electrical cabinet, and some have the motor unit on the right of the press. Cords are sent through the back of the press for access.

Press 104 Hybrid: Connected to the 96R cable on the Motor Power Unit

Press 110 Electric: Connected to the 96R cable of the Motor Power Unit