ABB repair · Chicago and Illinois
ABB robot, drive and motor repair in Illinois
ABB shows up twice on Illinois plant floors: as IRB robots in material handling and painting cells, and as ACS drives and motors running pumps, fans and conveyors. We repair both on your floor.
- Fastest response available
- Chicago-based
- Stocked repair vans
- Fanuc & Siemens
Fastest response available
ABB machine down?
Tell us the ABB model, the control and the alarm. The nearest tech with a stocked van takes the call.
- Talk straight to a tech, not a call center
- The nearest stocked van gets the job
- Fanuc and Siemens controls, and most of the shop floor
Quick answerLocalSpindle repairs ABB equipment on site across Chicago and Illinois: IRC5 and OmniCore robot controllers and IRB robots, and ABB ACS150, ACS355, ACS550, ACS580 and ACS880 drives and ABB and Baldor motors. Robot alarms, revolution counters and calibration, drive faults and motor problems. Call 773-962-0269.
ABB repair in Illinois
ABB robots and ACS drives
ABB makes two kinds of equipment that matter on Illinois plant floors: industrial robots and variable frequency drives. ABB IRB robots handle, weld, paint, palletize and tend machines in plants across the Chicago area, and ABB ACS drives run motors on conveyors, pumps, fans, mixers and machines.
LocalSpindle techs work on both. We troubleshoot and repair ABB robots and controllers, and we diagnose and repair ABB drives.
ABB robot controllers
ABB robots have gone through several controller generations, including S4, S4C, S4C+, IRC5 and OmniCore. Older S4 controllers are still running in some plants, and IRC5 is very common. Common controller problems include drive and power unit faults, teach pendant failures, battery and serial measurement board issues, communication problems and software corruption.
When an ABB robot loses its position, often after a battery failure or a component replacement, the revolution counters need to be updated and, sometimes, the robot calibrated. We handle that, and we back up the robot before working on it.
Robot mechanics
ABB robots are mechanically durable, but cables in the arm wear with motion, gearboxes wear with heavy use and collisions, and motors and brakes fail. We replace cables, check gearboxes, test motors and brakes, and help you decide when a major mechanical repair is needed.
ABB drives
ABB ACS drives, like the ACS355, ACS580 and ACS880, are common in plants. Their common problems include overcurrent and overvoltage faults, ground faults, overheating from dirty heat sinks or failed fans, and motor or cable problems. We find the cause of the fault, test motors and cables, check cooling, and replace or configure drives when needed.
Two product families
ABB robots and ABB drives
| Equipment | Common calls |
|---|---|
| IRC5 / OmniCore controllers | Event log errors, SMB battery and revolution counter updates, I/O and safety |
| IRB robots | Collisions, cable and dress pack wear, gearbox and motor issues |
| ACS drives | Overcurrent, overvoltage, earth fault, heat, parameter loss |
| ABB and Baldor motors | Bearings, windings, overheating |
Robots
ABB robot troubleshooting
ABB robots log detailed event messages that tell a tech a lot. A dead SMB battery means the revolution counters need updating, which is quick if done right and painful if done wrong. Collisions need a check of the tool, the calibration and the arm cabling.
On ABB drives, the fault code and the fault log point the way. Most drive faults are caused by the motor, the load, the incoming power or heat, not the drive itself.
On site
What an ABB visit covers
- Read the robot event log and back up the system
- Replace SMB batteries and update revolution counters
- Check calibration and tool data after collisions
- Diagnose ACS drive faults and restore parameters
- Test motors and cables
- Fix cooling and enclosure heat problems
Drive faults
ABB drive faults and causes
| Fault | Usual cause |
|---|---|
| Overcurrent | Motor or cable fault, or a jammed load |
| Overvoltage | Fast deceleration, regen, or incoming power |
| Earth fault | Motor or cable insulation |
| Overtemperature | Fans, filters, enclosure heat |
| Panel loss / communication | Keypad, cable, or fieldbus |
Example service call
IRC5 robot lost its positions after a shutdown
The call
A packaging plant in Bensenville powered down for a holiday weekend. When they powered up, the ABB robot complained about revolution counters.
What we did
- Phone. Revolution counter messages after a long power-off usually mean a weak SMB battery.
- On site. The SMB battery was low.
- Fix. Replaced the battery and updated the revolution counters at the sync marks.
- Check. Ran the robot through its program and checked key positions.
The result. Running again the same morning.
A typical example of how these calls go, written to show our process. It isn’t a specific customer.
Fastest response available
Same trouble with your ABB?
Call with the ABB model and the alarm, and a tech will tell you what we’d check first.
- Talk straight to a tech, not a call center
- The nearest stocked van gets the job
- Fanuc and Siemens controls, and most of the shop floor
From the field
ABB habits
Replace SMB batteries on schedule
Before long shutdowns especially.
Keep drive enclosures cool
Heat shortens drive life.
We diagnose them, fix the cause and replace failed drives when needed.
No. We’re an independent Chicago-based repair company.
Keep reading
Services for ABB equipment
More brands
Other brands in the same shops
Machine down?
Get your ABB back to cutting
Call with the ABB model, the alarm and what it was doing. The nearest tech with a stocked van takes it from there.
CNC machine repair, preventive maintenance and machine sales for machine shops and manufacturers across Illinois. Based in Chicago, with techs and stocked repair vans around the state.
Call: 773-962-0269
© 2026 LocalSpindle of Illinois CNC Repair and Maintenance. Less downtime, more cutting.
Chicago, Illinois · 773-962-0269