The weather is getting colder! Be mindful of the affects of it on your Onefinity!

Now that the weather is changing, two things to keep in account.

  1. Homing may need adjusting. This will need to be done from time to time over the life of the machine, especially during season changes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIiP5stsNKg

  2. Cold temperatures. The suggested operating temperature is above 40F. Operating or storing lower than that can cause issues, especially with delicate electronics. It’s not the cold that’s the biggest issue, it’s the condensation (wetness) that forms when going from cold to hot. If condensation happens it’s similar to dumping water inside the controller (which is basically a computer) or inside the screen (which is basically a tv).

Be season aware!

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For 95% of the world’s population, this is 4.4 °C

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danke für deine Dienste lol

For 99% of our customers, it’s 40°f :slight_smile:

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Yay, I’m finally one of the 1%!

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What about in dry climates? Where I live it gets below 10 degrees a lot in the winter but super dry air. Low humidity all year around. Does it matter?

3 says ago my on/off switch started to not work 100% when turning on off. I had to toggle it several times to get it to power up. Two days go my monitor starting going blank screen then back on several times on its own. Yesterday I paused the machine to answer my phone. When I restarted it the bit went off tract and plowed through my board. I hit the E stop. After resetting the E stop button the whole machine is dead in the water. Nothing.
I used a voltage probe and know I have power to the controller.
Imagine my surprise reading this post searching for answers. Not operate it under 40 degrees? So in my unheated garage are you suggesting I have to bring the monitor and unhook all the wires from the controller and bring these two items into my home and wait 5 months until the outside temp reaches at least 40 degrees before I can use my 1F again!
I have a flat screen tv in my garage for 5 years that works perfect year round. I also have a shaper origin which I have owned for 2 years that has worked perfect no matter how cold it is in my garage.
I have emailed you a service request on Sunday and await your call back.

There is suggestion and reality. While I do not know about the controller components, I have run raspberry pis in a maple syrup sugar shack. Think extreme cold to extreme humidity in a matter of an hour shift without issue. I think the main concern here is around moisture/condensation as well as temp shift. Things may bind up if they are shifting drastically and condensation and dust are a bad combo on moving parts. That said… My machine is in an attached garage which stays in that 40ish plus temp range in deep cold but moisture varies.

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So you think the monitor will do ok but my controller might be the issue? I am already planning on building an insulated box to house the monitor and controller with some minor heat source like a reptile mat. I will build the box and mount a thermometer and a hydrometer inside and run tests until I can get the temp to stay between 60-70 degrees through our winters. (before reinstalling both pieces after they are fixed/replaced)
I am looking forwrd to here from 1F service people and my unit is only 6 weeks old so I have the warrenty.
I am also very surprised to learn about the temp issue yesterday through this forum.

A good heavy gage layered tarp will do wonders to reduce or even eliminate condensation.

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Scott, There is no email to tech support from you. make sure you’re emailing the right address, support@onefinitycnc.com

Yes, the suggested operating/storage temperature is 40F or above. Take that and do what you want at your own risk, but running outside of the manufacturers ranges may void your warrenty.

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understood. If I start a propane heater and get the temperature in my garage up to 55-60 degrees before powering up the machine do I fall within warranty specs? Not trying to one difficult here but want to protect my machine and my warrenty.
Thanks!

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Remember, it’s the condensation forming from cold to hot that is most damaging.

Would you recommend putting silica desiccant packs inside the controller maybe? I haven’t taken mine apart, but I’d imagine there’s enough space in that box to tape one or two of those inside to keep things dry.

That sounds like a pretty solid idea, Schuyler. When fighting the cold & humidity in cold climates, just covering the machine with a good heavy tarp when it’s not in use is a huge help to fight condensation. I used to cover my machine with one when I lived in Michigan.

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If the real issue is humidity as a result from going from a cold environment to hot environment… It stands to reason that there is more risk in bringing the electronics inside (warmer) after use then just leaving everything in the shop…

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Remember that propane heaters give off a lot of moisture during operation.

I don’t see how covering with a tarp will help. The same humid air that exists above the tarp is under the tarp. You’re not creating a complete envelope around the machine by laying a tarp over it. Any surface that is colder than the air has the potential for condensation to form on it.

Me too! I hate having to always convert the numbers! :joy: :facepunch::blush:

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Agh, I can’t get the machine to do anything right in these temps. I built a fully insulated enclosure in the garage and heated it up with a space heater all morning and it won’t zero correctly, it runs into itself, Z axis is frozen, etc. even with everything warmed up. Unfortunately this is a huge issue for me, I guess I have to wait until spring to use the thing I just bought and set up and built an enclosure for and everything. And, this is with the controller brought directly from inside, so it’s the resistance in the stepper motors that must be the issue.

EDIT - I was totally wrong on the above ^^^^ - my controller was not set to the right machine. Once I reset the controller to the correct model, everything worked perfectly in the heated enclosure. Yes! Bring on winter!

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