I am looking into getting the Shapeoko 5 Pro but have a few questions about placement of it.
I am thinking about putting the machine in my barn or garage, but I have no heat in either.
Do I need to have the space heated to use it in the winter months?
I live in Maine and the temps can get as low as 0 sometimes in the barn and garage.
At what temperatures will this operate and if I really need to heat the space that I put it in, what will I have to heat the space to?
Thank you
Rick
Big changes in temperature & the expansion/contraction of the CNC can cause unreliable operation & reduced accuracy of operations.
I’ve never found it to be much of an issue on my SO3XXL or SPROXXL but those are belt drive machines. The ballscrews of the SPRO5 may be of more concern. I’ve always assumed that a CNC should probably be at least 10-15(50 - 59F) degrees Celsius for proper function.
I’ve never had any issue of letting my machines go below freezing temperatures while powered off or in storage, but I always warmed them up first before using again.
Besides, it’s not fun overwatching a CNC job while getting yourself chilled or freezing.
I’ve always assumed the machine can handle much greater temperature variations than I can, so never considered min/max temp for the machine. I’m certainly not going to stand out there at 0°F, or 0°C for that matter. I have been out there in 95°F in the summer, and the chiller keeps the spindle from getting too hot.
If you adjust the temp in your shop to your comfort, I’m pretty sure the machine will be happy. 
I live in southern Ontario and have my S4 in my unheated garage. I run a BBQ bottle propane heater in the garage to warm it up when the temps are in the 0°C range. I normally don’t go out to the garage when its colder than -5°C just because it takes too long to warm up the space.
I’m in UT, so I see temps from 110°F to 10°F. Usually I’m the one not wanting to work below freezing. 
The only part that doesn’t really like the cold are lubricants. Some may be really thick below freezing. I have a shop heater I run to get the temp in the 50’s for a bit before I work.
In Coastal South Carolina I worry more about humidity than temperature, and I use both heat and A/C to control that.
As a former Mainer I would advise against it. As has been said the lubricants turn to jelly below freezing. The other issue is that metal expands and contracts with temperature. What is worse is that different metals expand and contract at different rates. The S5 Pro is made up of Aluminum and Steel components. This will cause fasteners on the machine to work loose and will cause the calibration to fall out of spec. You are going to want to be constantly checking that all fasteners are tight (some of which require partial disassembly to get at). You are also going to want to be recalibrating things like the steps per millimeter as the temperature changes.
I don’t have the same machine but, I worked all winter long in my shop in Minnesota with my belt drive SO4 XL. Never actually checked the temp inside the shop but temp outside was around 0 degrees F a couple of those days. I have a couple heaters I used to help keep me warm while I was out there. I don’t think the heaters did much to heat the shop as I don’t have it fully insulated yet. Everything I cut on the machine turned out good.
I would recommend a heater and some foam insulation to stand on to help keep you warm. It’s pretty miserable otherwise.
I also guess it hinges on what you’re making and how precise you need to be. Being a machinist, I tend to catastrophise small things. But if you’re making decirative pieces, the effects of heat/cold expansion/contraction may make absolutely no difference as they are not a real factor in the scheme of the project.
Thank you everyone for replying to my question.
I kind of figured that I would have to have a heated space.
I am thinking about sealing up the shed that is attached to the house and insulating it and sticking a heat pump in it to heat it during the winter.
I really don’t want to spend a lot heating this to a temperature of 69-70 degrees if I am not going to be in it all the time.
One more question.
What temperature do you think I could maintain my room at economically and still operate the Shapeoko 5 Pro?
If the space is small, just heat when in-use… that’s my strategy. My shop has an insulated ceiling, but uninsulated/open interior walls. I turn on the heater an hour before I start running. Then I run the warm-up for the spindle. I heat to the 50’s unless I’m painting, then I’ll crank it up to the 70’s.
My worry about be that going back and forth from the machine being at let’s say 0 degrees to 69 degrees would put stress on the metal and could cause something to warp or worse.
I don’t think it’s that extreme. Across the entire machine that range of temps might expand things under 0.010", and the variance between materials would be less than that.
I’ll put it this way. I’ve had 5 different Shapeokos and a Nomad in an unheated garage over the last 8 years. With a 10°F to 110°F fluctuation. I have not had issue with things loosening and falling off. I might have had the belt machines go slightly slack with that variance, but that’s it and I’m stretching to find that. 
I was thinking if I insulated my space and installed a heat pump and maintained it at a temperature of 40 degrees that would be OK. I could turn the heat up about one hour before I entered the space. Would that work?
Probably would be fine.
It should work well. That’s more than I do.
I am in northern CT. I insulated an attached two garage ( 8/12 roof slope ).
I put a Reznor propane heater and a fan in the “Second floor” to circulate the heat out of the area. I keep the heat at 45 deg F while not in the garage.
If it is windy and cold (< 20 deg F ) I will use a lot of fuel trying to get above 55 deg F.
I used to grab hold of frozen tools, it really takes the fun out of near anything.
Indeed, Mobil Vactra 2, the recommended way oil, may be getting rather thick for the slideways and ballscrews by those temperatures.
It appears to be an ISO VG 68 hydraulic oil, there’s a chart here showing the viscosity behaviour against temperature for those oils
https://en.webtec.com/education/viscosity-of-hydraulic-oil/
The chart is consistent with the pour point being -6C as per the data sheet.
I’ve used the linear rails on my machine down to about 10C, that’s a range of 68cST to ~400cST viscosity, as the pour point is approached it’s not really a lubricant any more. Looking at the chart, I don’t think I’d want to run it any colder as increasing viscosity can do bad things to the bearings in both the slideways and the ballscrew.
So, warm it up a little before using it, the main thing I’d look to minimise is any condensation on the machine, particularly after using the space.
Mobil-Vactra-Oil-No.-2.pdf (77.1 KB)
HTH
I believe that if I use a heat pump that should keep any condensation down.
Depending on how much you want to invest…
Down here, we have uninsulated crawl spaces, and it can lead to issues when winter gets unusually cold. A single 100W (old fashioned incandescent) lightbulb can make a huge difference if the vents are sealed well.
If you were to make a small enclosure for your machine from foam board and mount a single 100W bulb, or a small space heater, you could preheat the machine before a job and get the fluids up to working temps.
Similarly, a good machinist will “warm up” a CNC before the day’s work by running a program that gently gets the spindle up to speed, but also runs all the axes through their range to get fluids moving and ways warm. This reduces growth in operation and improves accuracy, while building a good oil film before any shocks. You could write a similar program, simply a traverse from NE, NW, SW, SE, NE… etc for a few minutes, then some similar ups and downs for your Z.
Personally, I have a MrCool DIY split in my garage and LOVE it. We have to worry about the 110F summers more than the 20F winters, but it does both heat and cool well. Insulated doors and ceiling are a must, insulated floor and walls help too, but it’ll make it survivable for you and stable for the machine. If the machine is preheated through an enclosure, then the axes are warmed, it’ll probably stay reasonably warm in operation if the air is stagnant.
