[RainMan 2.0]

After reading this Mike, if I ever get one, I may be inclined to put a UPS on the computer and controller .
I never would have thought a power outage could cause such a dang headache .

To think we threw some UPS units away from work as we were updating equipment

 

[RainMan 2.0]

Have to have a pretty good UPS system if you plan on using on the controller too. Some of the machines run a 220V 3phase spindle which probably isn't feasible. Even for a 120V router.. For the PC itself, yes, but if power goes out while running the machine, that's a whole other problem.

I was wondering the same thing , if your providing power for the controller, your providing power for the router?

In my case I would use a spindle . So I could dedicate the UPS to the computer and controller , and not the VDF .
But if the power went out , the spindle wouldn’t be rotating , which would create another issue , and a bad one at that. Well unless there’s a way to tell the system to pause till the mainline powers restored

 

[RainMan 2.0]

On the Probotix machines that use a 120V router, you have an internal relay in their controller, but you have to supply it with external power from another source (just for the router). If using a 220V spindle, then you only get start/stop and speed reference from the Probotix controller, so your 220V source is totally separate.

So if you want to keep everything running during a power outage, it could be more complicated than a simple UPS.

This could be very problematic in our area, as were plagued with brown outs. And it’s not out of the question for a bird to land on the primary next to a pole with its wings spread out , shorting out the grid and blowing a fuse

 

[RainMan 2.0]

They say that laptops are not good for machine control, though some people get by with it.

This isn’t what I was hoping to hear, as I just bought an older laptop (still new really) from my local computer dealer . I wanted it because it has Windows 7 .
If I ever get my cnc, I was going to use a controller with USB , so not having a parallel port won’t be an issue . I’m also going with UCCNC instead of the other options .
It has 4 gigs of ram , maybe I better install more while I can?

Btw , I’m sorry to hear about your Mom passing away Mike

 

[RainMan 2.0]

These cnc router tables don’t sound like a real cakewalk some days

Glad to hear your back in business Mike . Strange how cables go bad like that . If seems as though if it’s not a parallel port cable , it’s a video cable