Occasionally when I'm turning something I'll take a break and wander around for a hour or two..Come back to find out I left the power on to the lathe,as in the red lights are still on the readout and whatever runs inside is still running..Is that hazardous in anyway to the machine at all by leaving the power on..??Thanks for your time..
I think that it is better to shut it off, but I suspect that the life expectancy of the electronics is quite long and just sitting in an idle mode is unlikely to affect very much.
Try to remember to turn it off when not in use, but as Brice mentions, the occasional misstep probably won't hurt you, but power down is normal when not turning.
