personal computers in a machining environment

al-xg · Sun Oct 30, 2011 3:29 pm

Yep

I'll buy/make a case for it some day...

Wow that case is cool !

Lol slightly creepy.

POLAND_SPUD · Sun Oct 30, 2011 7:09 pm

@duane

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:
isolating the PC to another room or the other side of wall will help immensely.

I had misunderstood this, didn't figure you meant just move the tower and keep everything else.

Hmmm... will it mind all the extension cables?

You see? I told you

I didn't get that either

I don't think there will be any issues with it. I heard that usb might have some issues but I guess it isn't a big deal with just a few meters

plus if you can move the pc to another room you can put some really loud cooling system on it

Goats spudz · Sun Oct 30, 2011 9:47 pm

plus if you can move the pc to another room you can put some really loud cooling system on it

why not have a cooler thats quiet?

POLAND_SPUD · Sun Oct 30, 2011 10:17 pm

heh I got an even better idea

put the PC inside a fridge

naah but seriously a fridge can't handle the amount of heat that modern PC computers produce

Just put it in a different room and buy the most powerful fans you can get

jackssmirkingrevenge · Mon Oct 31, 2011 12:36 am

Goats spudz wrote:why not have a cooler thats quiet?

Lovely diagram but slightly impractical

I'm quite happy with the cooling system as it is, and as to noise, not too bothered - if I'm using the PC I usually have music or video on in the background. The extra fan I added for the GPU is a little noisy but I ordered one of these to fit instead of the floppy drive (which I literally have never used) so the idea is that I'll use it to turn this fan on only when I'm gaming.

The only benefit of moving the PC to another room is to protect it from dust, I'm wondering if it's worth it now that I have it far from the lathe/mill, elevated and with filters fitted.

evilvet · Mon Oct 31, 2011 3:38 am

There is another option that I don't think has been considered:
A Virtual Machine

Put the PC/server that is doing the work somewhere/anywhere as a VM in the cloud and connect to it via a dumb terminal over IP. Your dumb terminal can be a Wyse unit, a low end disposable Celeron running XP, anything really, even a tablet that you carry around. Plenty of super industrial dumb units to be had.

Link to the box doing the work via VNC, RDP, MetaFrame, VMware client, pick one. The HID is now your only point of failure, your perfect VM lives in cyberspace immune to the environment from which it is controlled.

Perhaps a little bit of overkill but is does solve the problem since all you want at the point of presence is Keyboard/Video/Mouse. Hey, for not too many dollars get an IP enabled KVM switch and run the whole operation virtually. Fit the lathe/mill with the right combination of steppers & relays and do your machining while sitting in bed with a coffee.

http://www.waset.org/journals/waset/v53/v53-10.pdf

Might be fun

jackssmirkingrevenge · Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:26 am

hmmm... sounds like it would be fine for browsing, but what about gaming?

evilvet · Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:33 am

Hi Jack

If you are gaming from the primary box, your VM or remote physical PC, then your issue comes down to video and I/O refresh speeds to the device running the remote session.

A LAN link at 1Gb or better still 10GbE can provide the speeds needed; the right client with the right compression codecs can make the experience as "real-time as you want.

Before the flames roll, I am not suggesting that a tablet with 20ms video refresh rates is going to deliver the gaming experience that a physical monitor would do. What I am saying is that if you want to run "a personal computer in a machining environment" then a remotely managed VM solution is a real option.

Cheers

jackssmirkingrevenge · Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:39 am

Hmmm... but if the PC was literally a few metres away in the next room, extension cables would be just fine, right?

POLAND_SPUD · Mon Oct 31, 2011 9:04 am

the PC was literally a few metres away in the next room, extension cables would be just fine, right

Well I've got a usb extension cable and it's 1.5m.... arduino works great with it even at high baud rate... I've seen extension cable for monitors so I guess they would not produce them if they didn't work

Just connect your shi# and check for yourself, though as I said earlier I don't think this will be a problem

dewey-1 · Mon Oct 31, 2011 9:06 am

Typically, PC extension cables are 3 meters maximum.

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?s ... cat_id=502

DVI and HDMI cables may be about 15 meters.

velocity3x · Mon Oct 31, 2011 9:49 am

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote: How does CNC hardware deal with the issue, are the special filters on the vents, are they internally coated? If this is a problem and I need a solution it can't compromise cooling.

JSR,
I've used the the same junk computer in my shop for 11 years. It resides about 6' from my mill and runs constantly. Even with the chips from the mill and heavy fog in the shop produced by the mist coolant, it works just fine.

I have the computer in one of these: ht ... H8Q8gIwAw#

dewey-1 · Mon Oct 31, 2011 10:44 am

velocity;

I agree that would suffice for JSR.
It basically is another room existing within the same room.
If that makes sense.

With his filters on the PC it will even be better.
Now if JSR can find something similar in his locale.

I previously mentioned that.
An alternative would be a semi sealed enclosure for the PC with multiple filters. Similar to something like this only home made.

http://www.armagard.co.uk/products/ip54 ... osure.html

Goats spudz · Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:58 am

on my diagram instead of the fridge you could put the copper radiator in a bucket of water and freeze it in a freezer then leave it in there so the oil gets cooled to -1

velocity3x · Mon Oct 31, 2011 1:34 pm

dewey-1 wrote:I previously mentioned that.
An alternative would be a semi sealed enclosure for the PC with multiple filters. Similar to something like this only home made.

http://www.armagard.co.uk/products/ip54 ... osure.html

Dewey,
I think the cabinet in your link would be perfect for JSR's needs. He could install a pancake fan and filter in the back of the cabinet if cooling his computer (or pancakes) was a problem. The fan could keep the cabinet "pressurized" with filtered air, forcing the heat out of the gaps.

personal computers in a machining environment

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