Anyon had their Grizzly cyclone turn itself on?

[Matt Meiser]

We went away for the weekend and when I arrived home Sunday morning I heard noise coming from my shop where I found my Grizzly G0441 cyclone running. Can't wait to see the electric bill. Luckily all the blast gates were closed so it wasn't moving a lot of air the whole time and the motor wasn't terribly hot. There may have been some kind of power glitch when we were gone since I had to reboot one of our wireless access points but none of the clocks were flashing. I do have a pair of remote extenders so I suppose its possible they picked up some kind of RF interference and sent a signal as well. I've had it for at least 2 years now and this is the first time its happened. Has anyone else seen something like this?

Guess I need to start turning off the switch on the control unit.

[Mike Goetzke]

I have heard of this happening before. I think I read it on the ClearVue site. As I recall you can switch over to another type of remove controller with a more unique signal like a garage door opener (at least on the ClearVue). Others just always physically turn off the power to the remote system.


Mike

[Neil Brooks]

Elves.

Check for wet paint brushes.

[Matt Meiser]

LOL--that explains the little footprints too!

[Jeff Monson]

Matt, my phase converter is on an x-10 remote control, I have come home on 2 different occasions and found it running. If I plan on leaving for the weekend or longer, I shut off the breaker now.

I like the elf theory better though. Wonder if they do better work than I do? They could at least post a couple photos in the woodworking projects section.

[mreza Salav]

For my DC (hooked up to remote start) I turn the main switch off at the end of the day before leaving the shop.
In fact I have the habit of flipping the breakers of my shop (in the panel) when I leave. This is one of the several reasons.

[Trent Shirley]

I have had X10 devices turn on many times in the past. It seems they fail in one direction or the other. One light would keep turning itself off while others turn themselves on but never both on and off.
This can be the result of abberant signals on the line or even possibly a brownout. A brownout could account for your router hanging but the clocks not losing their settings.
Lastly, it is possible someone nearby uses x10 and you just happened to get a strong enough signal through the air to your receiver or even across the electric line.
A noise filter on the line would be helpful but not necessarily foolproof. If you were so inclined to the work wiring your dust collector outlet into the same circuit as your shop lites would be one way to make sure it could not come on when you are not around. That route might entail an upgrade in the wiring to go to a 20 amp circuit feeding the switch and outlet for the DC. Unless you have a DC that requires even higher amperage of course.
I personally like to keep lights and outlets to different circuits so I do not end up in the dark when a machine overloads a breaker and I even put half my shop lights on a different circuit than the rest so there is light available no matter which breaker pops.

+1 on the idea of one breaker for all the machines though. Who wants to pull out all those individual plastic safety power switch keys every time the grand kids come by?
BTW, breakers are not always safe in the off position. I had two ganged 30AMP breakers going to my electric oven. Switched it off when I replaced the oven only to find out the hard way that half the circuit was still live even with the breaker off by blowing a chunk out of my socket wrench when it contacted the edge of the stove while disconnecting the AC wiring. I had never heard of a breaker failing in the closed circuit position but I assure you I will always use a meter to test in the future. Just glad I was wearing gloves and being careful not to touch the grounded body of the stove.

[Anthony Whitesell]

As mentioned in others but bears reminding, circuit breakers are not switches. Their spring loaded mechanisms inside will wear faster than intended if they are switched too frequently. Just keep this in mind if you find a breaker that decides one day to trip on a light load.

[Dave Gaul]

As mentioned in others but bears reminding, circuit breakers are not switches. Their spring loaded mechanisms inside will wear faster than intended if they are switched too frequently. Just keep this in mind if you find a breaker that decides one day to trip on a light load.

Is it possible to wear the springs out enough that if the breaker must trip for a fault, that it would not fully open and possibly cause a high resistance fault in the panel, and a possible subsequent panel fire/damage?

[Bob Wingard]

As someone said earlier ... I've had my ClearVue do just that, so I make it a point to throw the breaker for that and my air compressor everytime I leave the shop. I'm NOT bashing ClearVue for this, as I realize it's the remote Christmas light controller causing the problem, and next time it goes out, I'll replace it with something better.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Not that I recall. Someone else may have more recent knowledge. The issue I was working on at the time focused on the degradation of the trip point so it would fault earlier (ie., at a lower amperage) than specificied. This is what I know best.

[James Baker SD]

the remote control for a ceiling fan in my house turns on my Oneida cyclone. Haven't found the fan control button that turns the Oneida off yet :-)

[Randy Henry]

Sam Layton posted a thread a while back on contactor switches. Can't find the thread, but maybe he can repost it about how he did his, and I also, thanks to his ideas. Basically, it is a 110v contactor switch that powers up a 30a 220v circuit. With a $20 remote from the Borg, the remote receiver plugs into a 110 outlet that is wired to the contactor switch. I wired the 110v outlet so it comes on when I turn on the lights, meaning the remote will only work when the light switch is on. With this method, I think it is impossible for the dc to get turned on by a stray signal.

[Matt Meiser]

This isn't X10, but an infrared remote. The remote repeaters I have communicate with each other over RF.

Randy, that's not a bad idea. I actually could just wire up a relay, and I think I even have one, so the coil is powered by my lights and the contact is in series with the Grizzly switch. Do elves use the lights or do they work in the dark?

Glad I wasn't out of town for a week!

[Bruce Darrow]

Matt

I use an X-10 to control my cyclone, and on one occasion, when still tin knocking, I had the cyclone come on when I fired up my Roto-Zip to start a cut on a piece of pipe. Hasn't happened since I completed the system, but it sure spooked me at the time.