On an ABB IRB 6700, the annual service the manufacturer specifies is almost entirely inspection. The expensive work runs on operating hours, not years: the gearbox oil change, the balancing device bearing and the overhaul. An annual service that doesn't read the hour counter is late for all of it.
Everything below comes from the Product manual - IRB 6700 (3HAC044266-001), whose cover reads “IRC5, OmniCore”. That means the manipulator plan is the same with either controller. The cabinet has its own plan and is not covered here.
The manual covers the floor-mounted IRB 6700 in its standard and LID variants, each with its own table. Inverted versions (IRB 6700I-…) have their own Product manual - IRB 6700Inv: use that one, not this one. Don't confuse it with the IRB 6710, 6720, 6730 or 6740 either, which are a different family with different documentation. The current revision of the manual in ABB Library is AJ, dated April 2026. Always check the maintenance table against the revision you actually have.
What the manual asks for every 12 months, and which failure each item prevents
The annual table groups six inspections. It isn't a list to sign off in a hurry: each one watches for a specific failure mode.
Balancing device
On a robot this size, the balancing device carries much of the gravity torque acting on axis 2. If it loses effectiveness, the axis 2 motor and gearbox take that torque instead. They end up working harder than designed, and nothing in the program gives it away. During the inspection we look at its outer condition, its mountings, and any noise or odd behaviour when axis 2 moves. This inspection does not replace the spherical bearing change, which is hour-based.
Cable harness and dampers
The harness runs along the whole arm and flexes on every cycle. A chafed sleeve or a loose clamp today becomes an intermittent motor or encoder fault tomorrow. These are among the hardest faults to track down, because they come and go. That's why the full route is checked, with attention to rotation and clamping points.
The dampers are elastomer parts, and they age: they crack, deform or harden. A damaged damper no longer protects the mechanics on the next impact.
Motor seal on Type B motors
The manual calls for inspecting the motor seal on Type B motors. That seal is the boundary between the gearbox oil and the motor. When it starts to fail, oil migrates where it shouldn't. Catching it during an inspection means a planned job; finding it with the motor already contaminated means downtime. Before the service, check your unit's documentation to see which motors are Type B.
Information labels and the axis 1 stop pin
Information labels seem trivial until someone works on the robot and can't read a faded warning. Check that they are present and legible, and replace any that are missing. On some reach variants, the manual adds the axis 1 mechanical stop pin. It is the last physical limit on base rotation, and a stop damaged by one impact won't stop the next.
What the manual leaves “on condition”: oil, velcro straps and cleaning
Three tasks have no date in the table:
- the oil level in the axis 1 to 6 gearboxes;
- the harness velcro straps;
- cleaning the robot.
They're done when needed, and you only know they're needed if you look.
Oil level is the clearest case. With no set interval, the real warning is a leak. On an arm covered in dust, spatter or old grease, that leak goes unnoticed. That's why our rule is to clean the manipulator at every service, with a cloth and degreaser. With the robot clean, oil leaks and harness damage show up that the dirt would hide. A stain that comes back after cleaning is information; one that has been there for years tells you nothing.
The velcro straps keep the harness on its route. A loose strap lets the cable rub where it shouldn't, so they're checked together with the harness.
The expensive work runs on hours: why read the counter at every service
According to the manual, three jobs are scheduled by operating hours:
- Gearbox oil change, axes 1 to 6: every 20,000 h.
- Balancing device spherical bearing: at 12,000 h.
- Complete robot overhaul: at 40,000 h.
How many years that means depends only on the real hours on the counter. Two IRB 6700s of the same age in the same plant can be far apart if they run different shift patterns. That's why the annual service is the moment to read and record the hours on every robot.
Without that figure, every job comes late. The balancing device bearing gets replaced when it's already noisy, the oil when a problem appears, and the overhaul when there's no other option. With the hours recorded year after year, you can see in advance which robot is approaching each threshold. The work then fits into a planned shutdown instead of being improvised.
Two oils in one robot: where an oil change goes wrong
The IRB 6700 doesn't use a single oil. According to the manual, axes 1, 2, 3 and 6 take Kyodo Yushi TMO 150, while axes 4 and 5 take Mobilgear 600 XP 320. Filling the wrist with the base oil, or the other way round, is the classic mistake of a rushed oil change.
The second mistake is the quantity, which varies a lot with the payload and reach variant. You need the table for the variant shown on the robot's rating plate, in its payload/reach format, for example IRB 6700-220/2.65 LID. The table for the robot next to it won't do, even if it looks identical. If you run several variants, record each unit's variant on its file.
SMB battery: what the manual says and what we do
The manual calls for replacing the manipulator's SMB battery every 36 months or when the low-battery warning appears. That warning is event 38213 “Battery charge low”, a generic ABB message that isn't specific to the IRB 6700. Our own practice is more conservative: we replace it every 24 months, so the warning never lands in the middle of production. What happens when it runs flat is covered in ABB revolution counter not updated: the SMB battery.
What to record at every IRB 6700 annual service
The inspection happens on the robot; the planning happens with what gets written down. At minimum, every year:
- Exact variant from the rating plate: payload/reach and, where applicable, LID.
- Product manual revision used for the service.
- Hour counter reading and distance to the 12,000, 20,000 and 40,000 h thresholds.
- Date of the last oil change and oil used on each axis.
- Date of the last SMB battery change.
- Leaks or damage seen after cleaning, with their location.
- Findings from the 12-month inspections that call for action before the next service.
Running several IRB 6700s or a mixed ABB fleet? In our ABB robot maintenance services we leave that record done robot by robot. We then build it into your preventive maintenance plan.