Lights dimming on my mill

[Bob W.]

When my air compressor kicks on it dims the work light on my mill (Haas Mini Mill, 240V single phase). I recently moved and I need to upgrade the electrical service to my shop, which is currently set at 70 amps. This is a high priority but in the meantime I have work that needs to get done. Is there the potential to damage my machine? Is there a quick and easy remedy I can do until I get the service upgraded to 200A?

 

Thanks,

Bob

[mrmead]

10% +-

is the range on volts that you need to be in per our electrician otherwise it could get bad.

[mrmead]

let me restate ,someone told me, thats what the electrician said.

[Todd Tracey from Fastech]

Low voltage has the capacity to damage a lot of things. They draw more current as the voltage drops and typically that can cause some issues. If the light dims and stays that way, be careful!It could cost a lot to fix damage caused by something like that.

[Bob W.]

It is just a momentary thing that lasts less than one second.

[Chris Rizzo]

I've had "voltage out of range" alarms on our mini mill. Usually after a power outage or brownout of sorts. So there is some sort of built in protection for that type of situation.

[Colin Gilchrist]

Hi Bob,

 

You could always build a cheap compressed air reservior out of 4" PVC pipe. Just get about 10 - 10' pieces and use two 90 deg. elbows to connect between the pieces in a zig zag pattern. I built a large reservior like that on the ceiling of my garage at home. A 4" PVC pipe 10' long will hold about 5 gallons of air. It takes a while for my little craftsman compressor to fill it up, but I have air for hours. Get the biggest PVC pipe and connections you can. Then your compressor won't have to kick in while your machine is running. That of course depends on how much air you are using...

 

HTH,

 

Colin Gilchrist

[BernieT]

Boy oh boy, I would be careful using PVC pipe bigger than about 3/4" dia. Could explode under the right conditions. (high heat or high pressure or accidental bumping)

 

How much pressure in your system and how hot does it get in your garage, Colin??

 

 

Although, from McMaster Carr catalog, it looks like it should be fine.

 

quote:

---

Part Number: 49035K33

$89.24 Each

Shape

Pipe

Schedule

40

Pipe Type

Unthreaded

Pipe Size

4"

Pipe to Pipe Connection

Unthreaded (pipe)

Material

PVC

Maximum Pressure (psi)

110

Length

4'

Inside Diameter

3.998"

Perforation Type

Solid Pipe

Color

Transparent

Maximum Temperature

140° F

Specifications Met

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL)

ASTM Specification

ASTM D1784

NSF Specification

NSF 61

UL Specification

UL 94V-0

---

[Gary]

89 bucks each? I would go to home depot for that one. I have 3/4 pvc throughout my garage and itsrated for like 600 psi. I don't know if the glue joints will take that kind of pressure but I've been running 135psi through it for about 3 yrs now. Not as durable as black pipe but lots cheaper and easier to work with.

[machtek]

If you have to use plastic pipe for air lines or volume storage, use irrigation piping its much stronger. I have a similar setup at home but 3 phase with a static converter. I fried the spindle servo amp with a similar situation. Sure wished I had bought a pancake compressor that operates on 110v for the toolchanger supply. Still havn't repaired the amp yet.