Liberty4Ever wrote:Hour Meter
I'm still imagineering the laser build and thinking of things I want to include. It's a haphazard process. I'm still trying to finish the BOM & schematic, but even then, I'll be editing in stuff I want as I think of it. About the only positive to this improvisation is that at least, for the most part, I'm not thinking of stuff to add and then forgetting to add it. With the internet so readily available, I don't even bother with a shopping list. I think of it, and I buy it. Instant geek gratification! Hopefully, I'll have a BOM that will allow other laser builders to browse and edit to make their own shopping list, which should trade a lot of dream time for build time!
This morning's purchase is an hour meter, aka a Hobbs meter. It's mostly for the laser tube,but it'll also be useful for other maintenance and preventative maintenance items such as cleaning filters. I hope I'll never be replacing the 8,000 hour laser tube (that's a LOT of lasing!), but if there is a problem, I'd like to be able to tell the supplier that "the laser tube only has 64.9 hours on it", which is a lot more compelling than telling them that I've had it less than six months and haven't used it much. While not essential, the hour meter seemed like a nice feature that's worth $8. Heck, at that price, maybe I should buy two, and use one for machine run time, and the other for laser tube time.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/330768712467
I like the idea of PC based machines. I can keep the maintenance log as a text file on the PC that runs LinuxCNC and the build notes, component PDF datasheets, and maintenance records go with the machine. This information can be easily backed up to a USB thumb drive and the backup copy can be kept on my general purpose notebook PC.
When I was buying the hour meter on eBay, I was surprised that most of the hour meters were advertised the same way, to be used on a car/boat/tractor, but half of those required 220 VAC power. Who has a 220 VAC car, boat or tractor? Buyer beware! Read the description!
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