I’m fixin’ to purchase a 3d printer (Bambu Labs P1S is currently the front runner) and happened on a video about using a Jackery as a UPS. It got me thinking…would that work for a Pro 5 as well? The big issue is the potential of power going off (sometimes for no apparent reason other than the sun is too bright!) or worse, a thunder storm comes through and there is a power surge while running a project. We currently have a Jackery 2000 Plus that seldom gets used (1x per year if that).
I know there is a large issue with smaller UPSes (as I learned from purchasing one at the beginning of my CNC journey and it sure didn’t work, then others commented that there is a potential danger to the machine itself).
The consideration of any UPS system is its rated amperage and how long it will run with the power off. UPS has some advantages that your electrical sine wave is very clean. Basically you are continually running on the UPS and it is waiting for the power to go out or come back on.
So just check its rated output amperage and how long it will run at the rated maximum output. See if that meets your requirements. Add up the SO5 power and if you have a 110vac spindle and what that amperage is together. If you are running a 220vac spindle then a UPS would keep the Shapeoko running but kill your spindle. I suppose they make 220vac UPS. The real answer is the cost/benefit analysis over buying the UPS system over what you loose if the machine quits running.
Another consideration is the ability for the ups to switch over power without interruption. You just want to make sure your computer and your machine can run with whatever blip to power you end up with.
My biggest concern would be in one part of the system taking just a bit longer to cut over, maybe resulting in lost steps or some other unexpected impediment to their fairly synchronous operation.
In theory, a good UPS should work just fine though.
An Uninterruptible Power Supply is running all the time and your plugged in systems are actually running on the UPS and not on house power.
Things like Generac whole home systems are not running until the lights are off for a certain amount of time. Then they kick in and generate electricity. So during that timeout there is no power in your home. Most appliances do not need continuous power like a computer or CNC machine needs.
A further consideration is whether the power is sine wave in form or more abrupt and if that is needed by the device being powered — usually a 3D printer simply converts into DC, so should work fine, but check w/ the manufacturer to be sure — this is a concern for certain AC motors such as those used in woodworking routers.
Yes, this can work. Your Jackery unit would have to be able to handle the power load of CNC & possibly your dust collection. I’m not sure if older units are capable of <20ms switch-over time. You’d have to test your unit to see if the CNC controller glitches at all when main line power is cut off.
I bought an EcoFlow as a backup UPS unit. Also use it for powering power tools when I’ve got no line power. Works perfectly switching over from line power to battery inverter in <20ms so the CNC & controller don’t see any interruption. It also doesn’t use the inverter when line power is available - but is able to switch on the inverter fast enough to pick up when the line power drops out.
This describes an “Always Online” UPS. They are typically used in large commercial settings like data centers and are real beasts.
Every consumer UPS I’ve ever seen is a 'Fail-over" UPS. Until the power goes out, the UPS is a pass-through device, and you are running directly off wall power. When the power drops, the UPS comes online, a relay trips, and the UPS starts feeding power instead.
Since the Jackery website shows a response time for their products, they are a Fail-over UPS.
In addition, the quality of the power coming out of the UPS varies by manufacturer. The best create a true sine wave, matching what comes out of the wall. Many instead create a ‘stepped’ approximation of a sine wave, and some equipment will not run on these lower quality electrical forms.
Here is the specific model we have. LOVE IT by the way. It’s more of a Generator than a ups. We have never utilized the solar panels (you just plug it into the wall and it has ready power and we’ve never used it up).
Which means it should be able to keep your CNC running without a hiccup - but do test it to confirm. The power output/capacity of the unit would seem quite sufficient to run the CNC & dust collection for the better part of an hour. Or be able to pause the CNC job for a lot longer until main power comes back on.
