[robedney]

Hi,
My newly built machine is happily running now. However, I live on a big boat (60' steel trawler) and I'm currently a victim of iffy shore power. The marina has an older distribution system, and breakers randomly pop at times. So, I need some sort of strategy to deal with this.

Here's what I was thinking (but don't necessarily entirely know how to do):

Some sort of UPS (uninterruptible power supply) for the computer. That takes care of Mach3, but of course Mach3 will keep right on running the job unless it's told to stop. So, I need some way to both sense the power loss, tell Mach3 to pause the job as a result and -- preferably -- tell Mach3 to save the job, including current position, etc. I would -- ideally -- also add a relay for the driver electronics, router, vacuum, etc. so that they will stay off upon power resuming until everything is reset.

Or -- depending on how pricey it gets -- I could build a UPS that would handle the power demands of the whole system, keeping it running until I could manually intervene and pause it all (assuming the mains loss is something more than a tripped breaker that can safely be reset). I do have a generator, so another alternative would be to have a UPS to keep everything running until I can start the generator and do a smooth changeover.

Any ideas are appreciated!

[zerodegreec]

Find a UPS that can handle the entire machine load for say 5 min. You could easily wire in a relay that would initiate a program pause on power failure. With a couple minutes of UPS it gives you time to have the machine pause without loosing its place. Possibly someone knows how to save the state of mach before shutting down, or save a simple text file with the line your machine stopped on.

If you really want to go crazy, some expensive backup gen sets can be found that ensure clean and un interrupted power. But costs are typically in the 5k and up price range depending on Kw load and time before shutdown.

[DonFrambach]

Find a UPS that can handle the entire machine load for say 5 min...

I did exactly that for my small router. Here's a link: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy_cn...ml#post1065501. Works great but you may need a much bigger UPS if your router consumes more power than my little one!

My UPS will give me about 30 minutes so my plan for a power failure (which hasn't occurred yet) is to let the machine run for a while hoping that the power will return. If power does not return I'll do and orderly shut down. I have purchased but not yet installed proximity limit/home switches to replace the mechanical ones I now have. With these new switches installed, I hope that I'll be able to rezero precisely and just restart the cut routine I had going when I lost power.

I don't live on a boat and I only have rare and usually short power outages so my needs are a little different that yours. Very interested to see what you come up with.