Inverter is always on???

Re: Inverter is always on???

Harvey Meyer in Atlanta

>I had the same concern when I got my 3520 last year. I never unplug it and I almost never hit the red button. I usually just use the speed control to turn it on and off. I also have the remote switch and I use that when I'm hollowing and I'm too lazy to reach for the headstock.

Re: Inverter is always on???

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>My Vega 2400 Hitachi controller is powered all the time as well. The cooling fan comes on anytime that I turn on the lathe.

The only time I unplug the controller/Lathe is when I am going to be out of town, or there is a major thunderstorm in the area.

Mark

Re: Inverter is always on???

Wally Dickerman at Green Valley, Az.

>Harvey, when you use the speed controller to turn your lathe off, you're not actually turning it off. We have a community woodshop where I live and they have several woodfast lathes. Some of the users were not turning the lathes off by pushing the red button, but were using the speed controller. The result was that a couple of the controllers burned out and had to be replaced.

Wally

Re: Inverter is always on???

georgetroy

>My Vicmarc VL 300ES (Australia)has a separate switch for the Inverter, whereas the VL175 Vicmarc does not. I just use junction box to cut power. The Nova DVR also has a separate switch for the inverter. I do not know about Oneway.

Re: Inverter is always on???

Lee Weed

>I installed a switch to control the recepticle that powered my Jet 1642. I would simply turn off the switch when I wasn't at the Lathe.

Re: Inverter is always on???

Harvey Meyer in Atlanta

>Wally - I agree that the inverter is not turned off when the speed control is turned all the way down. I got into this habit because some other turners in Atlanta told me they've been doing for many years. I probably should break the habit and turn it off. If I think about it, I would never leave any other tool in a "turned-on" mode. Thanks for the advice.

Harvey

Re: Inverter is always on???

Fog Tanner

>Both my Vic 300 and Delta 1640 have switches that cut the power to the inverter. I turn them off and unplug them when I am through for the day. In Texas where I live we do have some thunderstorms that will quite literaly knock your lights off. I have had three computers get damaged due to lighting hits, and they all have battery backup/surge supressors. But, I have yet to have a surge jump the three foot airgap to the unpluged cord on the lathes.....

But, when I turn the lathe on for the day or night I leave it on until I shutdown. If I am away at the chainsaw and bandsaw for several hours I leave the inverter on. It does more damage to power up and down than to leave it running during that time.

Re: Inverter is always on???

rprevett

>Jet 1642EVS and lathe lights are both plugged into a heavy duty power strip that gets turned off as I leave the shop for the night.

Re: I wired a switch inline for my 4224

Al Crandall

>I noticed that when I plugged in the lathe, there was a small arcing at the receptacle because the inverter is always in a ready state. It's like plugging is a table lamp with the lamp switch in the on position. There will be a small arc and some tiny sparks. I knew that over a period of time this wouldn't be good for the prongs of the lathe plug or for the receptacle so I wired a box and switch inline so I could eliminate the load at the moment of inserting the plug and get rid of those pesky sparks. We have a lot of short power outtages where I live and it is necessry to unplug the unit and wait a bit to reset it after one of these times. I just feel better with the inline switch.

Re: Inverter is always on???

Barbara Gill, Remlik VA

>I make a point of pulling the circuit breaker whenever I leave the shop. In fact during the summer electrical storm months I even unplug my Oneway. We have some terrible lightening strikes here in Eastern VA.

Re: Inverter is always on???

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>To those that mentioned that they plug lathes & computers into surge protectors, or that you shut off the power to the shop when there is a storm near.

Both of these will (Hopefully) protect you if the surge comes through the power side, but neither will protect your equipment if the surge comes through the ground side.

Mark

Gound side surge???

Richard Allen

>Hi Mark

A surge through the ground side? Please explain how that works. If the lathe is unpluged how does the surge travel to the Lathe?

Thanks

Richard

Re: Inverter is always on???

Frank

>Thanks Everyone! Without a doubt this continues to be the best and most informative forum on any topic I've seen. Sounds like the concensus answer is if I'm feeling lucky, or more likely if I forget, I can leave it plugged in, but the best and safest answer is to unplug the lathe when I'm done for the day. (I saw the replacement Inverter is a $700 part on the Powermatic site, I'm sure cheaper from others, and I don't feel quite that lucky).

thanks again to everyone. frank

Re: Inverter is always on???

MikeinCapeMay

>Fog,

I also have the Vic 300 and do the same. The inverter is on all day and I turn it off at the end of the day. When T-storms are forecast the machine is unplugged.

The McMaster part number that I gave to you for those 1 1/4 X 8 nuts work just fine on the Vic. They're deep enough to seat on the spindle.

Mike

Re: Inverter is always on???

Fog Tanner

>Thanks again. I'll be ordering some of those in the next day or so for some small faceplate fixtures. And if they are large enough, some not so small fixtures. A lot cheaper than machined faceplate.

Do you have the Australian Vic or the C.S. version. If you have the Australian version with the 30mm tool post, have you found a source for a 6" tool rest. The one that came with the machine is really too long for boxes.

Re: Gound side surge???

Fog Tanner

>Scinetific known fact that lightening always seeks the highest priced item.......

Re: Inverter is always on???

MikeinCapeMay

>I have the CS version. The welder that's doing my faceplates recently made two tool rests for me. 1" X 5" post with steel angle welded for the rest, one is 6" and the other 8". Total cost, material included was $22.00.

I already had the big rest that Vic supplies, 12" I believe and I had purchased a 4" shortly after getting the lathe in October.

Anyway, from now on I'm going the local welder route for faceplates and toolrests. In fact I also bought some water quench steel a few months back and have made a few parting tools, small scrapers and a chatter tool. This is way cheaper than buying from the manufacturers.

Been on for two years...

Peter Teubel

>My big lathe is hard-wired, so its inverter hasn't been shut off for two years. No problems.

Re: Inverter is always on???

Jimbo13

>Fog,

Where abouts in Texas are you?

Gidday,

Jim, in Allen.

Re: Inverter is always on???

Earl

>As I have a 3520A, I thought this deserved an "official" response. I e-mailed Powermatic to get their answer and I'll post it as soon as they respond.

Earl

Re: Inverter is always on???

Paul Coppinger

>Frank,

Being paranold aboout lightning, I put a $30 knife switch beside my PM and faithfully disconnect everything lathe related after using. Therefore, my inverter is always off (and protected) when the lathe is not in use.

PAC

Re: Gound side surge???

Gary Evans, Tallassee, TN

>Hi Richard,

I obtained info regarding ground potential spikes some years ago. I don't remember where, but the point was that most damage to household appliances comes from the ground side. Normal ground is at or near 0 volts. When lightning strikes nearby, the ground side of the circuit can jump to several thousand volts for an instant. Of course an instant is all it takes to let the smoke out of an electronic circuit.

Hope this helps,

Gary

Re: Gound side surge???

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>Richard,

You missed my point, or I was not articulate enough. I agree with you - the ONLY WAY to make sure that you do not get damage from a lighting strike is to unplug.

Shutting off the breaker or hooking to a 'Surge Protector or UPS' does not protect from ground side surge. In both cases, the ground wire is not interupted or protected from electrical surge. In the above cases, you are only protected if the lightening hit the power line/transformer and surges down the power side.

You are right, only unplugging will protect you from lightening. Shutting off the breaker does shut off power to the controller - the main point of the thread.

Thanks for helping me clarify.

Mark

Re: Inverter is always on???

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>Paul,

Make sure that your knife switch also interupts the ground wire. See the Ground Surge branch of this tread above.

Mark