Does anyone leave their CNC router on all the time. I’m wondering if the electrical surge of turning system on is more or less wear on the system than leaving it on.
No.
Please do not do this.
Stepper motors are weird and work their hardest/generate the most heat when holding position.
Everything I have seen people post is that the VFD is highly susceptible to power spikes/surges/fluctuations. It has been recommended by several users to turn it off and unplug them when not in use.
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1980-1990 folks had a notion that leaving electronics on 24/7 was less stress than rebooting constantly. There was evidence to support that, especially in hard drives that had head parking mechanisms…so it became a common practice to leave them on. Some very large computers would run for years. But modern electronics are far less suseptable to the stresses of those days. Better materials, stronger solder, better heat management, etc. etc.
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You reminded me when I was a kid my father would yell at me every time I turned a light on “That costs me a nickel”. The truth is as electrical it is less energy usage to turn the light on and off as needed instead of leaving it on all the time. However as
@cheu mentioned some devices are prone to fail when powered on. Same for incandescent light bulbs. They tend to burn out when first powered on and seldom when on for some time.
As @WillAdams indicated on a CNC the hardest a stepper motor works is when it is sitting still and on. The stepper motors on the Shapeoko have no cooling function but when moving there is some heat dissipation. If you are working in the shop and in between projects I would leave it running. If you are done for the day then power it off. If you have a VFD I would also recommend powering it off and unplugging it when not in use. VFD is sensitive to things like lightning storm and surges on electrical lines. Most VFD’s do not run well in GFIC outlets due to the varying voltages when they change speeds. That makes the incoming voltage fluctuate and GFCI outlets are waiting for that change in voltage/current to trip.
Bottom line is if it is off there is not heat generated to shorten the life of electronics. With the VFD unplugged you will not zap it if you get fluctuation in voltage or spikes from lightning. The electricity coming into your shop is not really all that stable. It is within usable limits but really sensitive devices can be ruined by the problems with your electricity that you toaster will still make toast just fine.
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Interesting post. Thank you. This was the first YT result when looking for “stepper motor cooling” and it to the point and informative. Figure I’d post it here.
Should people be adding those small fans to their motors, or is the benefit negligible?
We have AC shielding and filtering on the VFD kits, plus protection on the motor outputs. No issues turning the machine and kit on and off. I wouldn’t recommend leaving the machine or kit on all the time.
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