Reg.

code
Instructions Worksite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AIB TAB 43
HOW TO USE THE COP 2550EX 10 ROCK DRILL Drill rig, type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . COP 2550EX 10
2001–02
Serial number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bench drilling

Introduction
The COP 2550EX 10 is a hydraulic rock drill with a max-
imum power output of 25 kW. It is intended for the pro-
duction drilling of Ø89-127 mm holes on the surface
using T51 drill steel. The rock drill is equipped with a
hydraulic extractor unit to assist withdrawal of the
drillstring in troublesome rock conditions
The COP 2550EX 10 control system is different to (and
more advanced than) conventional control systems for
hydraulic rock drills. For this reason, it is very important
to follow these instructions carefully. It may also be ne-
cessary to revise some of the preconceptions you might
have had about the relationships that exist between rota-
tion, feed and percussion in a drilling system.
General instructions
The COP 2550EX 10 hydraulic rock drill and its control
system can be adjusted to give optimum drilling perfor-
mance and economy at any worksite. Adjustments
should be made before the drill rig is put to work, accor-
ding to the worksite-specific conditions. Once the opti-
mum settings have been established, further adjustment
is not necessary unless there is a major change in rock
conditions, or the dimensions of the drill steel equipment
are changed.
Detailed instructions for adjusting the settings are given
in the drill rig manual. Adjustment should be carried out
only by personnel who have been trained to work on the
system. In addition to normal hand tools, the following in-
struments will be needed in order to make the adjustments:
– Stop watch
– Tachometer
– Contact thermometer
N.B. Base settings should be made only after the
hydraulic oil temperature in the tank has stabilized
at normal operating temperature.
Setting the damper pressures
At a certain percussion pressure, the penetration rate has a Setting the drilling parameters for the COP 2550EX 10 hydraulic rock drill
rather flat maximum as a function of the rotation speed.
The values given at point 6 in the table correspond to the N.B. Base settings should be made only after the hydraulic oil temperature in the tank has
bit-dependent rotation speeds needed to achieve this max- stabilized at normal operating temperature.
imum in Swedish "Stockholm gneiss". In other rock types,
the corresponding rotation speeds could be somewhat Base setting Current setting
lower or higher. 1. Intake accumulator (percussion) charge to the
collaring pressure less 40 bar, max. 110 bar *. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 bar ..... bar
Setting the preliminary percussion press- 2. Damper accumulator charge to * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20–25 bar ..... bar
ure and RPCF-controlled feed pressure 3. Damping pressure (measured at rock drill) adjust to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30–35 bar ..... bar
Adjust the percussion pressure to the base setting for dril- (by adjusting the oil flow *)
ling, shown at point 4 in the table. Corresponding pressure at the control panel is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40–45 bar ..... bar
Adjust the RPCF valve to the end position which always gi-
4. Percussion pressure, at the control panel:
ves the maximum feed pressure (pf,max). Collaring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120–130 bar ..... bar
Perform a test drilling, using all base settings described Drilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 bar ..... bar
above. Observe the different functions of the drilling cycle, 5. Feed pressure (pf) with CFH F7 feed:
and check that they work correctly. Collaring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 bar ..... bar
Now set the rotation pressure for drilling on the RPCF-val- Drilling – max. (pf,max). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 bar ..... bar
ve. The pressure must be set according to the rotation spe- 6. Rotation speed:
ed for the drill-bit diameter and the type/size of drill rod Button bit. . . . . . D = 89 mm, gauge button ø 11 mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 rpm ..... rpm
being used, so that pr = pr,i + pr,r. (See diagram and in- D = 102 mm, gauge button ø 14.5 mm . . . . . . . . . . . 107 rpm ..... rpm
structions at point 7 in the table.) The RPCF will now reduce D = 115 mm, gauge button ø 12.7 mm . . . . . . . . . . . 95 rpm ..... rpm
the feed pressure (pf), so that pf is less than pf,max, unless D = 127 mm, gauge button ø 14.5 mm . . . . . . . . . . . 86 rpm ..... rpm
the rock is extremely hard or the drill bit is blunt. The
RPCF function will also reduce the feed pressure as the 7. RPCF rotation pressure (pr)
number of extension rods in the drill string rises. In this – Read the "free-spin" rotation pressure (pr,i)
way, the system compensates for the increasing weight of at normal operating temperature.
the rods behind the drill bit. – Determine the rod-dependent rotation bar (pr,r)
When the drill bit is new or freshly reground, the resistance to pressure increase (pr,r) by finding the 60
rotation is greater, because the sharper drill bit "bites" more intersection point for bit-dependent rpm (n)
deeply into the rock. Under such circumstances, the feed pres- on the curve for the drill rod in use. 50
sure is reduced (automatically). As bit wear increases, howe- – Correct RPCF pressure (pr) at the control
ver, the RPCF function raises the feed pressure automat-ically panel is obtained by adding the rod-depen- 40
toward the maximum (pf,max), so that the recommended rota- dent rotation pressure increase (pr,r) to the
"free-spin" rotation pressure (pr,i) : T51
tion pressure (pr = pr,i + pr,r) is maintained. When the feed 30
pressure reaches pf,max, the drill bit should be reground, un- pr = pr,i + pr,r
less the drill rig is equipped with the RPCI function, which is 20
described below. When drilling in abrasive rock, the incre- Example (see diagram): _________
asing weight of the drill string together with increasing drill-bit pr,i = 25 bar 10

___
The damping accumulator should be charged with nitro- wear can sometimes result in an almost constant feed pressu- Button bit, D = 102 mm
gen (N2) to a pressure of 20–25 bar. Flow to the re. n = 107 rpm 0
damper (approx. 8 l/min) can be adjusted by means of a Compared with spherical-button bits, ballistic-button bits Drill rod = T51 50 100 150 200 250 300 rpm (n)
constant-flow valve in the delivery line to the damping bite deeper into certain rock types, which means that they pr = 25 + 10 = 35 bar
cylinder. If the damper pressure reading is taken at the give greater resistance to rotation. This means that ballistic-
damper nipple on the rock drill, it should be 30–35 bar. button bits usually require a lower feed pressure. For this Button bit . . . . . D = 89 mm, gauge button ø 11 mm . . . . . . pr = ... + .... = ..... bar
Then read the damper-pressure gauge on the control pa- reason, they can sometimes give straighter drill holes, com- D = 102 mm, gauge button ø 14.5 mm . . . pr = ... + .... = ..... bar
nel of the drill rig and enter the value under point 3 in the pared with spherical-button bits. However, if drill bits with D = 115 mm, gauge button ø 12.7 mm . . . pr = ... + .... = ..... bar
table. When adjusting the damper pressure, it is ballistic buttons are used in abrasive rock, bit life will be D = 127 mm, gauge button ø 14.5 mm . . . pr = ... + .... = ..... bar
important that the damping piston reaches its front-end lower and grinding more difficult.
position in the damping cylinder. For this reason, the drill 8. Other settings on the drill rig:
rod must be removed from the shank adapter before the
All rights reserved.

Setting of RPCI-controlled percussion – Automatic switching to percussion pressure for collaring

damper pressure setting is made. (5 bar above feed pressure for collaring) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... bar
pressure (if fitted) – Anti-jamming pressure (15 bar above RPCF pressure) . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... bar
Setting the collaring pressures Adjust the RPCI valve so that the percussion pressure is re- – Lubricating air pressure at rock drill should be 2–3 bar *
duced when the rotation pressure falls below the recom- Corresponding pressure on lubricating air pressure gauge. . . . . . . . . . ..... bar
Adjust the percussion and feed pressures for collaring to
mended level (pr = pr,i + pr,r). The RPCI function will then – Lubrication dosage *. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 pulses/min ..... pulses/min
© Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB, 2001.

the respective base values shown at points 4 and 5 in

the table.
Setting the maximum feed pressure
Adjust the maximum feed pressure (pf,max) to the base
value shown at point 5 in the table.
Setting the preliminary rotation speed
Adjust the rotation speed to suit the drill bit diameter, ac-
reduce the impact power automatically when the rotation
pressure becomes too low. This prevents the joints in the
drill string from loosening, e.g. when drilling has been con-
tinued with a blunt drill bit in hard rock. Without the RPCI * see printed matter No. 9852 1302 01
function, drilling under such circumstances would lead to in-
creased thread wear, with a great risk of pitting (heat dama- Settings performed by
ge and chipping). Pitting always causes premature thread
breakage. ............................ ..........
Authorized service engineer Date

ATLAS COPCO ROCK DRILLS AB • ÖREBRO • SWEDEN No. 9852 1320 01

 Reg. code
Instructions AIB TAB 43
HOW TO USE THE COP 2550EX 10 ROCK DRILL (cont’d) COP 2550EX 10
2001–02
Bench drilling

Further adjustment – reasons and procedure Excessive drill-bit wear

The rate of drill-bit wear can be reduced by reducing the
rotation speed and/or the percussion pressure. If drill-bit
The following signs indicate that the drill settings need
wear is excessive, the rotation speed should be reduced

1250 0090 82
further adjustment:
as much as possible, as long as this does not result in
1. Hot coupling sleeves an unacceptable reduction in the penetration rate. Howe-
2. "Low" penetration rate ver, if the rotation speed is reduced, then the rotation
pressure increase (pr,r) must also be reduced. To obtain
3. Frequent drill steel jamming
the correct value for pr,r, study the diagram at point 7 in
4. Other problems of a more complex nature, like ex- the table, and find the point at which the new rpm-coordi-
cessive bit wear (noticable only over longer periods nate intersects the curve for the drill steel being used.
of time), excessive hole deviation, or other difficulties
in obtaining a smooth drilling sequence. When regrinding a drill bit, it is important to restore not
only the original shape of the buttons (or inserts), but
also the protrusion of the buttons from the bit face. This
40 mm
means that the bit-face steel must be ground down over
1. Hot coupling sleeve the entire bit face, and not just around the buttons. If this

Check the coupling sleeve temperature at a point about
40 mm from the end that faces the machine. The tempe-
rature should not normally exceed 100 °C. However, it
can be allowed to rise to 140 °C if the rock is very hard
and causing a large part of the impact power to be re-
flected back from the bit. It is not the temperature of the
coupling sleeve that is critical — what is important is that
drilling does not cause pitting on the drill-rod threads. A
low coupling-sleeve temperature is normally a sure sign
that pitting is not occurring. However, a relatively high
coupling-sleeve temperature, together with well tighte-
ned joints, i.e. where pr = pr,i + pr,r , should not cause
pitting when drilling in very hard rock.
If the coupling-sleeve temperature is too high, you
should first consider changing from a regular spherical-
button bit to a ballistic-button bit. If the rock is too hard
for ballistic bits, the next step should be to reduce the ro-
tation speed as far as possible, but without causing too
great a drop in the penetration rate. The last alternative
is to reduce the percussion pressure, in steps of 5 bar,
until the coupling-sleeve temperature falls to an accept-
able level.
N.B. Another reason behind hot coupling-sleeve syndro-
me could be that the rock-drill feed rate is too low. If this
is the case, a considerable part of the feed pressure is
lost between the pressure gauge and the feed gear. The
rock-drill feed rate should be 12–15 m/min.
2. "Low" penetration rate
If the penetration rate is lower than expected, even
though the rotation pressure is sufficient (pr = pr,i + pr,r)
in relation to the feed pressure (pf is lower than pf,max),
then the percussion pressure may be increased in steps
of 5 bar. The maximum permissible percussion pressure
(pmax) in respect of drill-steel strength and fatigue charac-
acteristics is 240 bar. On some drill rigs, however, it is
not possible to exploit the full pmax of 240 bar, owing to
drill-rig power limitations.
1250 0090 81
New or freshly reground drill bits are slightly tapered
from the front to the back of the bit head. When drilling
in very abrasive rock (with a high quartz content), heavy
peripheral wear can eventually turn this taper into an
anti-taper, which causes jamming in the hole. Frequent
signs of jamming in non-fissured rock are therefore a sig-
nal to regrind the drill bit, with emphasis on gauge grin-
ding to restore the taper. On the other hand, decreasing
rotation pressure at maximum feed pressure is a sign
that the drill bit needs to be reground, with regard to the
button shape and protrusion from the bit face.
4. Other problems
Rig instability
In bench drilling, i.e. the drilling of long holes, there is
always a risk of the rig moving while drilling is in pro-
gress. If the movement is so great that the drill rod be-
gins to rotate against the edge of the hole mouth, then
the "free-spin" rotation pressure (pr,i) will rise suddenly.
If the increase in pr,i is greater than the pre-set rotation
pressure increase (pr,r), then the RPCF function will re-
duce the percussion pressure to the collaring value.
When this happens, the rig set-up must be corrected to
enable drilling to be continued at full power.
If drilling were to be continued with the RPCF function di-
sengaged, the shank adapter would be subjected to un-
controllably high flexural stresses, which would result in
seriously reduced drill-steel life. It would also be very dif-
ficult to uncouple the coupling sleeves. It should be no-
ted, however, that when hole deviation occurs without
is not done, the space for cuttings-flow at the front of the
drill bit will be reduced, causing an increase in cuttings-
flow velocity, with increased bit wear as a result. If ne-
cessary, the flushing holes and flushing grooves in the
drill bit must also be ground back to the correct dimensions.
Excessive hole deviation
Hole deviation can be reduced by ensuring that the front
end of the feed is pressed firmly against the rock face
throughout the collaring and drilling cycle. Collaring
should be carried out with the feed pressure as low as
possible to a depth of at least three times the diameter
of the hole. Hole deviation can be reduced further by re-
gular and accurate regrinding of the drill bit. It is impor-
tant to remember that a lower bit-regrinding interval yields
not only an increased average penetration rate, but also
less work when regrinding the drill bit. What is more, a
well-ground drill bit gives a greater resistance to rotation,
which means that the RPCF function sets a lower feed
pressure. This in turn results in less hole deviation.
Difficulty in uncoupling the coupling sleeves
In bench drilling, it is very important not to use a rotation
pressure higher than what is absolutely necessary, i.e.
the RPCF valve must be correctly adjusted. This will
keep the holes as straight as possible and avoid difficul-
ties when uncoupling the coupling sleeves. The best
way to loosen the shank-adapter joint is to "drill" the last
centimetre of each extension rod without rotation.
The RPCF function maintains a constant rotation pressu-
re increase (pr,r), i.e. a constant joint-tightening torque in
the drill string, regardless of the direction of drilling. This
means that the feed pressure is reduced automati-
cally in downward-directed drilling, to compensate for
the increasing weight of the drill string as the number of
rods in the hole is increased. However, the feed pressu-
re must not fall below the collaring level, since this is the
minimum pressure needed to keep the rock drill pressed
Choice of drill steel
For bench drilling with Ø89-127 mm drill bits, T51 drill
steel is used. T51 requires a rotation-pressure increase
(pr,r) in order to keep the joints in the drillstring well ten-
sioned during drilling. The necessary rotation-pressure
increase (pr,r) is obtained by applying a certain feed for-
ce, which creates friction between face of the drill bit and
the rock. It is the resultant ’braking torque’ between the
drill bit and the rock that creates the rotation-pressure in-
crease. The drilling system keeps the rod-dependent ro-
tation pressure increase (pr,r) constant by varying the
feed force automatically in accordance with the resistan-
ce to rotation in the hole.
T51 drill steel can also be used together with a TAC 76
guide tube (for Ø89-102 mm drill bits) or a TAC 87 guide
tube (for Ø102-127 mm bits). A guide tube (L = 3.6 m)
normally gives a substantial improvement in hole
straightness. Moreover, it usually facilitates drilling and
cleaning of the hole when drilling through rubble, such
as the layer of blast-damaged rock on the surface of a
bench..
Choice of drill bit
The alternatives listed at point 6 in the table cover only a
few of the drill-bit/button-diameter combinations that can
be found in the current drill-bit range.
Drill bits with larger gauge buttons require a higher rota-
tion speed, in order to give efficient rock destruction.
This means that drill bits of the same diameter, but
with different gauge-button sizes, will require different
rotation speeds. The relationship between the rotation
speeds should be about the same as that between the
button diameters, e.g. if the rotation speed is 70 rpm for
a bit with a gauge-button diameter of 11 mm, then the
speed for a bit with 12.7 mm gauge buttons should be
12.7/11 x 70 = 80 rpm.

Printed in Sweden • Atlas Copco, 2001

For drill bits with different diameters, but with the
the rig moving, there is usually only a small rise in rota- against the shank adapter. For this reason, the rotation
3. Frequent drill steel jamming same diameter of gauge button, the rotation speed
tion pressure. pressure is always permitted to rise after a certain hole
If the drill steel tends to jam frequently during drilling, the should be reduced as the bit diameter increases. The re-
depth is reached in downward-directed drilling. A con-
anti-jamming device must be adjusted. The rotation pres- lationship between rotation speeds should be inversely
sequence of this is that the joints are tightened with grea-
sure at which the anti-jamming device is activated (whe- proportional to the drill-bit diameters, e.g. if the rotation
ter torque.
reupon it switches the direction of feed) should be set 15 speed is 80 rpm when D = 102 mm, then when D = 115
Adaptation of the feed pressure to suit the hole depth gi- mm, it should be 102/127 x 80 = 70 rpm.
bar higher than the recommended rotation pressure (pr ves a corresponding change in the damping pressure au-
= pr,i + pr,r) for normal drilling. Do NOT reduce the max- The rotation speed for a drill bit with ballistic buttons
tomatically during drilling.
imum feed pressure (pf,max)! should be about 10% higher than that for a correspon-
ding drill bit with spherical buttons.

ATLAS COPCO ROCK DRILLS AB • ÖREBRO • SWEDEN No. 9852 1320 01