[Smokey911]

I am in Ohio, planning on buying the pcnc 770 mill and the only place it will fit is my garage. Will the cold winter effect it? I have a friend in Orlando near the ocean and the salt and humidity is causing havoc on a mill he owns and he has had it for just 3 months. How will the cold effect my machine?

[concombrefrais]

I have mine in my shed with no heating and it had no problem last winter. I live in Georgia so its not that cold. But yours will be in your garage so it may be comparable. Last winter it froze a few times and it did not seem to hurt the 770 in anyway.
Christian

[Smokey911]

I have mine in my shed with no heating and it had no problem last winter. I live in Georgia so its not that cold. But yours will be in your garage so it may be comparable. Last winter it froze a few times and it did not seem to hurt the 770 in anyway.
Christian

Did you use it while it was cold? In Ohio, it can be in the 20's for weeks or even lower. If I was to use it I would turn on a heater and the door would be closed keeping the brunt of the chill off of it.

[TXFred]

Cold is not a big deal. Electronics like cold. Cast iron doesn't seem to care one way or another.

Here in Texas, I have the opposite problem. Heat and humidity. The garage is air conditioned, so the Tormach is at 78 degrees. If it's 100 and humid outside, and I need to open the garage door to bring something in, there is potential for condensation to build up on the machine.

If I know I'll have the door open for a while, I have to shut off the garage AC ahead of time. This lets the contents of the garage come up to temperature before I let the hot, humid air in.

Frederic

[Smokey911]

Thanks for the feedback, I guess the ice cold unbearable 5 months of ice and snow in Ohio has at least 1 advantage.

[philbur]

The manual says the operating temperature range is 7 to 38 degrees C. Electronic components can also be sensative to storage temperature and often have a specified storage temperature range.

If you are concerned contact Tormach. I'm a little surprise that a storage temperature range is not included in the specification. At least I can't find it.

The same issues will also apply to your PC. So if you can find a storage temperature range for it it will probably be a good guide for the mill also.

Phil

[aarggh]

The issue you have here is that metal and most certainly electronics in general, don't care too much about cold, but can't take the moisture associated with cold. That's what wreaks havoc with electros, exposed tracks, components, etc. There's cold, and then there's cold with draughts forcing moisture laden air into and over every part of the machine. This is what you need to avoid, even if you have to cover things with a blanket when not in use. This is what I actually do myself in Melbourne here, as it doesn't get that cold generally, but there's a lot of humidity and condensation/moisture in the air with wild temparature swings at times.

Another thing to watch out for is that some greases get quite hard in cold, and can be a bit of an issue for acme/trapezoidal threads, especially with cheaper nylon/delrin nuts. On one of my smaller units this was enough one winter to cause heaps of missed steps, which really threw me until I figured it was the grease used, cleaned it off and sprayed with WD40 and it was fine.

cheers,
Ian

[rowbare]

I am in Ottawa, ON. It is probably a bit colder and damper here in the winter. My 1100 is in an attached, insulated but unheated garage. I use two electric space heaters for heat when I need it, one regular convection on the floor and a wall mounted radiant heater, both 110V.

It was fine last winter. If I wanted to work in the evening, I would turn one of the heaters on low or medium when I left for work in the morning and then when I got home, would put them both on high. By the time I was done supper and ready to work, it would be warm enough.

The only time I had any rust issues was in the late fall when the weather was changing rapidly. The weather warmed up one damp day and I got some condensation and a bit of surface rust on my table and vise. That was really my fault because I hadn't left a light film of oil on the surfaces. I bought some Boeshield to treat hard to get at spots and I oil the working surfaces and have had no problems since.

bob

[Smokey911]

Thanks for you all's posts... I have an attached garage with the temperatures of Canada. I will get something to cover up machine and have oil handy.... I am ready to go forward!

[C*H*U*D]

Do any of you cold weather owners have issues with the coolant tank? One reason I went with the 770 is that I could get it into my basement. I wanted the coolant tank and was worried about problems in freezing temperatures.

[Magnum164]

Do any of you cold weather owners have issues with the coolant tank? One reason I went with the 770 is that I could get it into my basement. I wanted the coolant tank and was worried about problems in freezing temperatures.

I have my 770 in my basement. No freezing issues, but I did notice last winter was when my coolant started to smell and played havoc with my sinus. So I would be curious if the cold temperatures may have an effect on it. I have not had a problem yet through the summer - has actually been nice.