Hello ~ I am looking for some ideas / suggestions to address an electrical interference issue with my Tormach machines.
I own a 770M and an 8L lathe that are located in my garage workshop. I also have a 10+ year old Lincoln 225 TIG welder I use for fabrication projects. Early on when I first got the 770M, I discovered that if I attempted to use the TIG welder while the mill was running, or even just turned on idling, it would trip the machine into reset. It doesn’t seem to be permanently damaging the machines as they come out of reset just fine, but obviously I don’t want that to happen while a program is running. The issue seems to be related to the high frequency pulse from the welder when initially striking the arc, causing electrical interference in the power supply line. I know my wife has commented that she will often see the lights in the house flicker when I am welding down in the garage. Currently, I either power down my machines, or at least hit the e-stop, before doing any welding, just to be safe. Obviously, that is not ideal from an efficiency of work standpoint though, as I’d like be running programs to make parts while I am also doing fabrication work.
The welder is on it’s own dedicated 240V circuit, separate from the 120V circuit used by the two CNC machines. All the circuits are grounded back to the main panel where the main ground for the entire house connects.
I am wondering what options I have to insulate the machines from this electrical noise?
Some possible ideas I am considering would be:
- Adding a ground rod at the welder power outlet
- Sourcing an EMI filter to put on the power supply line to welder and/or the CNC machines
Has anyone else had similar issues?
Any ideas or suggestions?