Howdy all, I’m new to the forum.
I’m looking for a good place to install a 5 Pro. I have an attached garage, but the temperature and humidity can swing wildly because it is not currently climate-controlled. Will this be a problem, and if so, is there anything I can do to mitigate possible issues?
Most people have them in uncontrolled workshops. I am sure there are some in controlled spaces. The heat is not likely a problem for the machine but for the operator that is a different thing. In the cold and below freezing some people have reported they had problems. The problem is the oil on the lead screws gets frozen or stiff and can cause motion problems. I live in East Texas where we seldom get freezing weather. It gets around 40F but I have a two burner propane heater to keep my shop from freezing and my dog warm at night. Many finishes and glues do not like to be frozen.
You can put it inside your house but a CNC creates a lot of dust you likely dont want in your house. Plus some exotics can cause allergic reactions in children. The garage is the most logical place but you need to keep it from freezing and get fans for the summer months. Not ideal but that is what most people are doing.
Thank you. I was hoping that was the case. I’ll look into ways to keep it warm enough while running through the winter months.
Really stable environment control really only matters if you’re doing really high precision work with repeatable results.
I hate sweating in my work. If the envy isn’t good for me I won’t spend time in it so won’t get projects done. I put a mini split AC system in the garage. It keeps me and my tools comfortable. The tools won’t get rusty, but I might.
You can get a DIY mini split which comes with precharged lines for less than half of what the Pro 5 costs.
This is a big part of why my machines are in my (finished) basement — I just run a dehumidifier at need, and everything is consistent and I’m comfortable.
I run my machine in my 40x40 foot shop. The ceiling is spray foamed to 4" thick, but my walls are just tin. The heat in the warm seasons will radiate heat into the shop, can be felt standing a couple feet away from the walls. I have fans that push air around and one of them is an old furnace squirrel fan. It will still take me a couple thousand at least to finish framing in the shop walls for insulation and then finishing the walls to control the heat better, then I could think more about a better system of keeping my shop temp controlled, but until then, I deal with the temp accordingly with the tools I have on hand.
Heating and cooling the shop would be more for my benefit, but if you live in an area with high humidity, then you could find that your wood projects could swell and shrink due to the amount of humidity in the air at any given time. Trying to control the temp of your shop, or area you place your machine, would be ideal, but not necessary if you can’t afford to get the equipment to control the temp.
As Guy Donham stated about really cold weather, the oils in the machine parts will get really stiff/thick and will slow down the movement of the machine. Think of your machine like your vehicle, you don’t usually just jump inside, start it, and take off right away when it is really cold outside. Thus so, you would need to treat your machine the same way. Just keeping the temp in your shop above freezing, maybe more in the 50 degrees area, then you shouldn’t have a concern for your machine’s run ability. At that temp, it is more for operator comfort.
I have mine in a shed that has a split unit. I did find that cold was harder on the machine then heat, but it’s harder on the operator.
I lived in Alaska for 2 years. We had electrical plugs outside to plug a heater in for your car. It really got cold and your cooling system would free and the oil was so thick it was like molasses on a cold morning, thick. Plenty of people live in cold climates and find ways to still work in their shop. Mostly heaters. A friend of mine in Nacogdoches TX has a mini split in his shop. It works well but it really makes the light meter spin. My shop is insulated but still cold in the winter and hot in the summer. As it cools at night the cool air is trapped in the shop until about 11:00 AM and then it gets hot. Same in winter but I have a propane heater to keep it about 50F. I dont want my finishes and glue freezing. Plus my dog gets to stay in the shop at night or on really cold days. She loves it in the shop. The last few weeks it has been middle 50s at night to 60s so she is mad at me for not letting her inside. If I know there is a thunderstorm coming I let her inside because she hates thunder. It is a dog’s life.
My shop sees 10°F - 107°F here in Utah. The air is usually pretty dry, so that helps. I do have a heater but only use it when I go in there and let it warm up for an hour or two to the 50’s. Everything has worked great for me.
