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Power Conditioner for CMM?

stevenhman

Plastic
Joined
Apr 23, 2014
Location
Durham, NC
We're going to take delivery of our new CMM soon and the site requirements mention a power conditioner. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I'm seeing a lot of gear marketed toward high-end audio folks and I'm having trouble sifting through EE forums for relevant info. Thanks!
 
Any of the APC Smart UPS battery backup units would work well (sized to match current draw). Avoid the Back UPS models, they are a less robust consumer version.
 
Before going to the expense of a UPS, which will need regular battery maintenance/replacement, work out if the mains supply local to the CMM is actually bad enough to need improving.

If the voltage is stable within 5% from hour to hour, Total harmonic distortion below about 3% and spikes or dips are rare, its very unlikely that anything in a CMM will suffer damage or loss of accuracy.

If it makes any difference, my degree was electrical Engineering & Electronics, I've spent the last 30 years looking after computer rooms and factory IT and we had 3 CMMs that I helped with on our site before the b4$t4rds took the work to cheaper countries.
 
I'd certainly agree that if it isn't absolutely required, it would be a shame to spend the money -- HOWEVER, if there is likelihood of voiding of warranty, or suffering non-covered damage due to lack thereof, just get an online UPS such as previously mentioned. Cheap insurance compared to cost of CMM and its repairs.
 
If you don't really need an Uninterruptible PS with battery backup (to provide an output should the line voltage fail), excellent line voltage regulation can be had using a Constant Voltage Transformer (CVT) like these: Constant Voltage Transformers - Circuit Protection from Allied Electronics New ones are a bit pricey, but used ones are available from various surplus sources at much less cost. You may need to have one that is harmonic-neutralized and produces a sinusoidal output (as opposed to the non-harmonic neutralized type whose output approaches a square wave). Both work best when the load approaches their maximum rating, and two in series with each other will do an amazing job of regulating fluctuations in line voltage.

These CVT's may be similar to the Allen-Bradley models Milland mentioned in Post #4 - or they may be totally different. I just don't know.
 








 
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