Originally Posted by
kb0nly
Great to hear that! I have two of these units now and love them!
It doesn't appear to save the set point when completely shut off, i checked over the control boards there doesn't appear to be any battery or super cap backup for what the unit is set to when shut off. What i do is if i'm doing some on and off cutting during the day i just press the start/stop button and leave it with the screen saying Press Start, thats kind of a standby mode basically that shuts off the pump and the TEC's and it just keeps power to the controller. If i'm done for the day then i just flip off the power switch, but i have to set the temp again the next day or next use. Its kind of a slight annoyance but considering the price of the unit its one i can live with!
It uses very little power according to my kill-a-watt meter when sitting in standby so you could leave it on for days without much worry, but i tend to use the laser a full day or two and then not for 3-4 days so i just shut it completely off. When i get ready to cut i set the temp down and get it running and let it cool down for 20-30 minutes before i start using the laser.
I think the way these were originally used they probably were on most of the time or in standby, so they probably didn't turn them on and off a lot. The power switch on my units is really crisp and quite new feeling in operation, they definitely don't seem to have very many cycles on them.
One work around i have been playing with is that apparently you can set the temp and gradient via the serial connection on the side of the unit, so i have been working on exploring that. Then i could boot up the computer turn on the laser and the chiller and set the temp from the computer instead of having to hit the temp down a dozen or more times... LOL