Power Outages and power spikes

[ED FAMULARE]

I live in Southwest Florida and thunderstorms with frequent power outages are the norm this time of year (summer). I've been lucky and haven't had any power outages when carving but it is a possibility. What can I do to alleviate this problem. Thanks

[mtylerfl]

I live in Southwest Florida and thunderstorms with frequent power outages are the norm this time of year (summer). I've been lucky and haven't had any power outages when carving but it is a possibility. What can I do to alleviate this problem. Thanks

Hi Ed,

I used to live in FL too and know what you mean - almost everytime we simply saw a dark cloud in the sky, the power went out! I lived on the Gulf Coast (Bradenton/Sarasota) and the storms rolled in like clockwork around 4pm and didn't usually last very long. I just made sure I did any critical work (mostly computer stuff) in the morning.

Now, if you do find yourself in the middle of a carve and the power goes out, there have been numerous posts on how to recover from that and resume your carve. I'll give you the nutshell version...

1) Let's say the power goes out at halfway through your project

2) Leave the board in the machine and measure or take note of, where the project needs to be re-started from when power is restored

3) Turn off your machine's power switch and remove the memory card

4) Go back to the Designer software and open your project layout

5) Create a ZERO DEPTH Carve Region over the area that has already been carved. Make it cover slightly LESS than the precarved area, so you have a little overlap (i.e., to re-carve the "seam" area a little before it proceeds with the remaining carve)

6) Rename this layout to Recovery_whatever-the-name-of-project.mpc

7) Upload this new project layout to your memory card and insert it back into the machine

8 ) Run this new project

9) NOTE: depending on the project, you may need to strategically place a strip of masking tape on the board, directly under the Board Sensor where it will travel across the area where the board width is remeasured. You don't always need to do that, but sometimes precarved areas "fool" the machine into thinking the board width is different. The tape makes the sensor "see" a continuous solid surface

I've done this a couple times and have been amazed at how seamless the re-carve can be!

[Old Salt]

They now have power supplys that will keep you runing in case of power outage for some time .
Ck with best buy or radio shack .

[mtylerfl]

They now have power supplys that will keep you runing in case of power outage for some time .
Ck with best buy or radio shack .

I don't know if they will "kick-in" quick enough to avoid a stall on the machine while running a project. Might want to check before laying out the cash...or buy one and cut off your circuit breaker while the machine is running (without a bit, so you don't risk breakage during your test!) If it doesn't work, you could return it right away for a refund. Also, be sure the amp rating is sufficient.

[Old Salt]

I don't know if they will "kick-in" quick enough to avoid a stall on the machine while running a project. Might want to check before laying out the cash...or buy one and cut off your circuit breaker while the machine is running (without a bit, so you don't risk breakage during your test!) If it doesn't work, you could return it right away for a refund. Also, be sure the amp rating is sufficient.

Good advice !

[b.sumner47]

Thanks, for that, Great advice. Capt Barry

[ED FAMULARE]

Thanks, I'll check out radio shack and see what they have!!

[ED FAMULARE]

Thanks for the "very valuable" info on recovery. At least now I won't have to scrap a carving when the lights go out!!!

[dlambers]

I suffered from Florida Flicker and Flash for some time. I finally bought a ups system to power my machine. It protects it from voltage spikes that might fry the board and gives me time to hit the stop button and leave just the electronics going during a full blackout. The system needs to be big enough to handle the max draw of the carver which is about 8 amps. I currently use a TrippLite OMNI1500LCDT. Its rated at 1500 volt/amps or about 900 watts. With just the electronics running on the carving machine it'll power it for several hours.

[Digitalwoodshop]

I suffered from Florida Flicker and Flash for some time. I finally bought a ups system to power my machine. It protects it from voltage spikes that might fry the board and gives me time to hit the stop button and leave just the electronics going during a full blackout. The system needs to be big enough to handle the max draw of the carver which is about 8 amps. I currently use a TrippLite OMNI1500LCDT. Its rated at 1500 volt/amps or about 900 watts. With just the electronics running on the carving machine it'll power it for several hours.

I posted this in the Alaska Power Bump thread.. In your case, you got the UPS down and all you need now is a Radio Shack Wall Wort transformer and a matching relay. You wire it into the left side cover switch and plug it into the house power. When the power bumps, the relay opens and the machine stops like you opened the cover and the UPS will keep the project memory...

AL

[SteveNelson46]

I don't know if they will "kick-in" quick enough to avoid a stall on the machine while running a project. Might want to check before laying out the cash...or buy one and cut off your circuit breaker while the machine is running (without a bit, so you don't risk breakage during your test!) If it doesn't work, you could return it right away for a refund. Also, be sure the amp rating is sufficient.

Uninterruptable power sources (UPS) actually work on the built in battery and the battery is kept charged by the household AC so they supply constant power, even when the AC power is interrupted or fluctuates. We used them all the time when I worked at the University of Arizona I.T. Especially on servers.