The Death of my Shapeoko

CNC Machines Shapeoko
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Sorry for your troubles.

I’ve got Z axis parts you are welcome to have, gratis. Just pay shipping.

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The SO3 is capable of doing precision work consistently and reliably. Just depends upon how much time you want to put into really understanding the variables and learning to make the right tweaks.

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Really sorry for your loss! I guess I have to reconsider my approach of running 2-3 hour long jobs unattended :thinking:
After I saw this video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dg467-fPEQ ) few month ago I also considered making an automatic CO2 fire suppressor but never get further than buying some parts.

Suck it up and and learn from it!
And please let us know if you ended up buying a HAAS VMC :slight_smile:

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I’m so sorry. I can’t bring your SP3 back to life, but I’d be more than willing to send you a few bucks to help offset the cost of replacing your machine. Let me know if you have are excepting donations via PayPal or gofundme.com. -Ken

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Thats Very kind of you Ken.Another reason this group is so awesome!

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You are welcome. The offer stands. PM if you change your mind.

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Oh Goodness! My Wife’s eye’s are going to pop once she sees this situation!
I just get mine built (not on line though), and yours… well…

This just puts the screws a little more tighter when it comes to turning the power onto the DeWalt 611, or when I send GCode to the controller.

Thanks for sharing this sad story with us. Your loss is an educational experience for us all!

Best wishes and don’t give up!

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you can get automatic fire extingushers and they are quite cheap, i think they are simply heat activated, we used to have one in our test rig. google it, can’t find it now

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I saw that video, the only difference is my work piece didn’t budge, that suckER was nailed down tight.

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I have my XXL in a soundproof (but not fireproof) enclosure in my childs room, I leave it unattended frequently, I use teddy bears to muffle the sound of it running…I am joking, before anyone gets knotted up :wink:

My XXL is actually in my garage, and I have a fire extinguisher handy. While I don’t leave mine unattended usually, I am guilty of slipping into the house to refill my coffee or use the bathroom during long jobs. This is a great reminder of what I was taught at an early age, no matter how well built it is all mechanical things fail at some point, it’s just a matter of when. I’ve visited several large machine shops that run “lights out”, in other words 24 hours a day, even when the shop is closed. Those are big expensive machines with some fail safes built in. Even though they run lights out, these shops still have a couple guys that work through the night to act as “security”. I’d trust those machines more than I would our hobby machines (sorry if me calling them hobby machines offends anyone). I’m sorry to hear that you lost your machine, but thankfully no-one got hurt. I’ll keep this in mind the next time I think I “need” to run inside without having my wife come out to monitor while I’m away. Thank you for sharing.

Dan

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Also with cell phones and wifi webcams you can without too much difficulty setup a remote monitoring system. Combined with a nearby fire extinguisher I’d feel more confident leaving the machine for short periods of time.

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Oh my. And I was already slightly paranoid about these things.
By any chance, does anyone have an automatic fire extinguisher that they would recommend for suspending right above the shapeoko ? There seems to be plenty of automatic fire extinguisher models, but I’m looking for one that would require little to no maintenance over several years. The MABO tube thing seems like a possibility

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I believe Rich C posted a pic and link not long ago for a self contained unit that can be suspended over your machine. Sorry, no time to look for hos post.

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I am very sorry for your loss, and glad that there were no injuries and the damage was contained.

A lot of good advice has come by here, but the key thing that no one has yet mentioned is smoke detectors. Mounted near the unit. Cleaned regularly (I vacuum mine every time I clean the machine). Linked to the whole house alarm set, if you have such (required by code for the last several years)

I have a photoelectric type near my machines, since I am more concerned with a smolder start to a fire, but I would suggest researching the advantages/disadvantages of each type and selecting what is most appropriate for you.

Mine is at ceiling height about 1m from my Nomad, by coincidence, not planning. There is another 1.5m from the grinding station, by design, that is a dual mode (ionization and photoelectric)0 by chance.

A fire extinguisher is a definite smart move, appropriate for the work you do (I have a water type, an ABC, and a type D for metal fires.)

One still should not step away from a running machine, but it WILL happen in many environments. It even happens when best practice protections are implemented, because mistakes happen. Automatic extinguishing may not be appropriate in a home environment for a number of reasons (nothing puckers you up like the alarm for the Halon system going off while you are in the back of an equipment cabinet at the end of the equipment room furthest from an exit, except maybe the cleanup costs).

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Man that sucks, sorry to see that happen to you.

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this might have been the auto extinguisher we used https://www.statx.com/product-catalog/

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Any idea at what these cost?

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not much circa $100nzd

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As i watched the video of the machine continuing to try and rekindle the fire, it seemed clear that simply discharging a fire extinguisher might not solve the problem – unless it happened to kill the machine and/or router at the same time. That got me curious and I found an item that is coming on the market called Fire Avert - https://www.fireavert.com/products/fireavert-110-v?variant=8303217868895. (Sorry. I couldn’t seem to embed the link in the text.) (And, I have no financial interest in the Fire Avert.)

It appears that you sync it to the sound of your smoke alarm and when it hears it, it opens the power circuit. The receptacle layout indicates its rated for 15A. From what I’ve gathered in my Shapeoko research (I don’t own one yet.) that should be sufficient to run the table and the router. Don’t take my word for it. The Fire Avert costs about $150 and is supposed to ship the first of 2019.

I’d be curious about what others might think of this idea.

Thanks,
Jim

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Or any modern smoke alarm with an interconnect output and a $17 (list. I bought one for $6) relay module. (Kidde SM120X is the module. Works with a lot of different alarms)

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