[sansbury]

I have a Tormach 1100 which I've been happily running with LinuxCNC for almost two years. Recently I've started having the machine fault to power-off or estop active when my compressor starts.

I have one of the California Air Tools compressors (4610) and the fault happens about one out of every ten times the compressor starts. I got the compressor about six months ago and it only started faulting like this recently, so who knows if that means anything. The wiring for this is a single 60A sub-panel broken out to a 220 outlet for the mill and a 2-way outlet for accessories. The compressor is on one socket, everything else is on the other.

Running another circuit would set me back at least $1200, I'm in a city-managed industrial building so has to be done to code and the master panel is the size of a refrigerator so I'd never want to stick my fingers in there anyway.

I'm a little unsure of where to go in terms of debugging this (I don't know where the fault is getting triggered, control PC or on the mill?) or possible solutions short of a second circuit, so any suggestions very welcome, thanks in advance!

[Les Bidgood]

Starting of machines causes the mains voltage to dip and this can cause the power from the power supply to stop being able to provide for sufficient power to drive the steppers. UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to maintain power.