How cold is to cold for BP Series I CNC

[jho5820705]

I have my BP is a heated garage but normally keep the heat set at 50 degrees during the winter. Is this too cold. I understand that if the machine is to cold it will blow drive transistors. How warm should I keep the shop?

[philbur]

I doubt they are so delicate that 50 degs F would be a problem. However my garage is unheated so I would also be interested in knowing the lower temperature limit for typical CNC electronics.

Regards
Phil

I have my BP is a heated garage but normally keep the heat set at 50 degrees during the winter. Is this too cold. I understand that if the machine is to cold it will blow drive transistors. How warm should I keep the shop?

[keebler303]

for electronics, the colder the better, overclockers have successfully cooled cpu's with liquid nitrogen. The issue for a mill would be the increased viscosity of the way lube and the reduced clearances due to thermal shrink between precision components. I can't imagine 50 deg. being a problem, after all it will only be cold for a few minutes.

Keep your hat and mittens on.
Matt

[philbur]

What happens to electrolytic capacitors if you freeze them and then apply 240 volts? I think the fact that a CPU may survive doesn't necessarily apply to all components. Some electronic products I have check on have a specified minimum operating temperature and a minimum storage temperature.

Regards
Phil

for electronics, the colder the better, overclockers have successfully cooled cpu's with liquid nitrogen. The issue for a mill would be the increased viscosity of the way lube and the reduced clearances due to thermal shrink between precision components. I can't imagine 50 deg. being a problem, after all it will only be cold for a few minutes.

Keep your hat and mittens on.
Matt

[cncboss6]

Hi Guys, I would try to keep it close to 60 or above. I blew transisters at 45-50 degrees because the oil on the ways is alot thicker. Why take a chance and make alot of work for yourselfs. It happened to me, so now I keep mine above 60 degrees. Good luck, Pat

[jho5820705]

I purchased this mill in the fall when it was still warm and have been working on it since to get it running. I had the x and y axis working well and finally found the problem on the z axis last weekend, broken wire. Now all three axis are acting up. They will only move .030 at a time. They move fine if I just jog one step at a time but when I try to jog .010 it will only move about .005. I wondered about the way lube being to thick. Is there a thinner way lube to use or a syntheic lube that will work at 50 - 60 degrees. I don't want to keep the garage above 60 degrees just for the mill since I only have weekends to play with it.

[philbur]

It might be a problem with the coefficient of expansion of iron together with none uniform temperature rather than oil viscosity. If you come into a cold room and crank up the temperature there is the possibility that the gibs will temporarily seize until the machine temperature is reasonably uniform.

Regards
Phil

I purchased this mill in the fall when it was still warm and have been working on it since to get it running. I had the x and y axis working well and finally found the problem on the z axis last weekend, broken wire. Now all three axis are acting up. They will only move .030 at a time. They move fine if I just jog one step at a time but when I try to jog .010 it will only move about .005. I wondered about the way lube being to thick. Is there a thinner way lube to use or a syntheic lube that will work at 50 - 60 degrees. I don't want to keep the garage above 60 degrees just for the mill since I only have weekends to play with it.

[jho5820705]

How long do you think it would take to get the machine up to a uniform temperture? I had the furnace set on 65 for about 24 hours before I tried it he last time. It acted the same as it did when the temperture was at 50.

[philbur]

Then its not the oil viscosity either. You have some other problem.

Regards
Phil

How long do you think it would take to get the machine up to a uniform temperture? I had the furnace set on 65 for about 24 hours before I tried it he last time. It acted the same as it did when the temperture was at 50.

[Willbird]

If that machine has a hollow base like series 1 put a small heat source in there 100-200 watts, people use light bolbs but I'm not sure if they are effiecient or not, would seem that light is not heat to me :-).

Bill

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

jho, Would a radiant heater focused on the BP, turned on only as needed, keep the machine warm enough? I recall a Korean shop where the operater was positioned on a seat on a travelling wheelhead roll grinder. There were two 5-gal. cans with charcoal fires inside situated so the operator passed over them keeping him warm. The rest of the shop was cold.

[jho5820705]

Well Phil, I don't think that is what I wanted to hear. But that is the way things go I guess. Back to the drawing board and start checking everything all over again. Machinically everything seems to work fine. I can manually move the y and z axis and they move freely. X axis rotates the ballscrew so is harder to check.
Bill, the machine doesn't have a hollow base unfortunately. Be a good way to heat the machine without heating the whole shop.
DZASTR, I am afraid that a heater focused on the machine would not heat just the machine. There is nothing but open space around the machine and it would probably disapate the heat as fast as I could apply it until the whole area was heated.