I recently purchased a Pro 5 and it is located in my garage. I have insulated the room and I have a propane heater ( I live in CT ).
I was wondering what a safe range of temperature and humidity would be.
I keep the garage above 45 in the winter. In the Summer it’s a bit of a crap shoot with temperature and humidity.
Any words of wisdom ?
I’d say keep everything lubricated so it doesn’t rust in the humidity and enjoy the machine! We can get sucked into rabbit holes easily with new toys like these, but I had my s3 in my garage for years and never had an issue. My s5 is also in a garage. It’s attached to the house and doesn’t get below about 45-50 in the winter but summer is what it is.
I will note that it will be much more pleasant to use/monitor the machine if it’s in a conditioned space — mine are in the basement for the most part, and I dread using the SO3 I keep at my mother-in-law’s which has to be wheeled out onto her back yard or set up in the garage, and I try to wait until cool weather to cut tropical hardwoods at home (which involves setting up an SO3 on either my back deck, or in the car port).
Ideally, we would all have conditioned spaces for our machines! Unfortunately, it’s not in the budget for this guy! I did, however, mount 3 ceiling mounted fans across the width of my garage for a little bit of comfort on the warmer days!
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In the winter do you bring the room temperature up before using the machine ? I usually set the temperature for 58 or so ( I gets pretty dry if I go beyond that ).
I appreciate the comments
It honestly depends on my tolerance to the cold. I have a heater for the garage I turn on if I’m doing a lot of work in the garage.
The 45 degree temp might be ok but I remember last winter during one of the cold snaps some people reported issues with the oil freezing in very cold spaces. Weather it froze or was just sluggish the machines self corrected when the weather warmed up.
I live in a more temperate climate in East Texas but I have been using propane and need to move to a cheaper fuel source. The propane prices have went up and there is the possibility of carbon monoxide with a space heater in an enclosed space. If you continue to use propane then get a carbon monoxide alarming meter to keep safe. I have been shopping for a forced air shop electric heater that is mounted on the ceiling. I have a 220 30 amp plug I could use in the shop but even electricity is expensive but cheaper than propane. If you get an electric garage heater be sure to get one with a remote and that is thermostatically controlled. You can heat up a space really quickly with an electric heater. My neighbor uses a diesel type heater to bring his shop up to bearable and then uses an electric heater to maintain the temperature.
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I will probably go to 50 degrees and listen. I use three tanks of propane a year (100 gal tank, fill with 85 gals). I use a Reznor Power vent heater. I leery of fumes and hanging from the ceiling freed up floor space. I put a 3 speed fan (old pull chain) in the attic, pointed it so the air would distribute.
The garage is standard 22 x 22 with 32 centers for joist ( no hanging a small block chevy ) and 10 ft to joist bottom. I have plywood along the length with 6 ft gaps at the ends and 8 ft wide. R13 everywhere.
All good except the floor, which is not bad. I got old shop floor mats which made a big difference.
Now to find a place for my wifes Miata …
I had a 1997 Miata, red of course. That was a great car. I wish I still had it. I could go 90MPH over the fly overs on the freeways. When I bought it it was in California. I drove back to Texas and I felt like I was sitting on a skateboard. The 18 wheeler tires towered over me on the freeway but I got used to it and really loved that car. If I ever get another one I would get one with the hard top convertible. I sold it to a friends daughter and she really liked that car. The old saying “It is not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog”. I would never win a drag race but that little Miata kept up with Houston traffic and was a ton of fun. The only time it was ever in the garage was when hurricane Ike came over my house and I moved all my woodworking equipment over and put it in. I parked my truck sideways in front of the garage door to help keep the doors from being blown in. One of its best features is I could unlatch the top at a stop light and put it down with one hand or pull it up with one hand. Nothing better than driving at night with the top down and the air conditioner running. Houston is a little warm.
Just put all your woodworking equipment on wheels so you can move it over and get the Miata in the garage.
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All wood working gear is on wheels. I pull the Miata out to cut down large stock.
We call the Miata a “skateboard” as well.
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