Winterizing the shopbot

[myxpykalix]

The first question i have is....where do i pour in the antifreeze?
Since my shop has no insulation at some point i am going to probably let it hibernate and i wondered if there is anything i should do to protect it from the extreme cold? Should i wrap the control box in anything to protect the components or is it made to operate in cold? I am in virginia so its not like we get extreme cold but it does get cold, below freezing for part of the winter.

[fleinbach]

Jack,

I live in Maryland and it gets cold enough here to. Mine is also in an unheated shop and I have had no problem running it even below freezing. It just take a little more time to warm up the spindle.

[terryd]

Up here in the Great White North -20 degrees fareheit is the winter norm and the only thing we heat when the shop is shut down is the finishing products, paints, solvents and glues. These all go into a heated cabinet. All the other equipment is left to freeze. Over the years we have seen -35 degrees inside the shop when starting up after a shut down. We give it a day to get up to around 60 degrees then let it rip. The noises made by machinery can be scary but the general rule in my shop is if the flourescent lamps work so do we. Dry is more important than temperature.IMHO

TerryD

[Brady Watson]

Quote:"if the flourescent lamps work so do we"




-B

[mikejohn]

Don't let paint freeze!
I know to my cost


........Mike

[wcsg]

I thought I heard a couple people using their bot to do ice sculptures in a freezer with their puter located in another room?

[jim_hansen]

So when the flouresent lamps burn out does that mean you've worked too much and it's time to go home? Jim

[ckurak]

Jim,

The problem with fluorescent bulbs and cold is not burning out. They just don't like to work (or work well) when the room temperature is too cold. So, when it is warm enough for the bulbs to light, it is warm enough for humans to work comfortably in the shop. :-)

Charles

[tuck]

Terry, please tell me more about your "heated cabinet".

[harryball]

I don't know what Terry uses, but these are boat bilge heaters, explosion proof, short proof, water proof etc... They keep the temp at 45 degrees. We use one in our well house.

http://www.boatsafeheaters.com/specs.html

Robert

[terryd]

Mark,
My heated cabinet(s) is(are) nothing more than a 4'wide x 8'high x 1' deep plywood box with two front doors. 6 shelves inside @ 10" deep. Inside I have electric baseboard heater and a thermostat(free from a bathroom reno). We keep it around 80 degrees. Since most of our finishing is waterborne this works well for us.

[tuck]

Thanks, Terry. I'm gonna put a small electric "anti-freeze" heater in the bottom of my paint cabinet. It'll only cut on when the temp gets near freezing. Like you, I don't care if the shop itself freezes. I have a small shop (20 x 24) and I can get it tolerable in short order with my kerosene heater and a ceiling fan. Down here in Georgia, hard freezes are rare enough anyways.