Something definitely went wrong

[garylmast]

After cutting for 1-hour, I left the shop for about 30-minutes. When I opened the door, the smoke so thick I couldn’t see anything, so I ran and opened the overhead door to air it out, grabbed a fire extinguisher and headed back to the machine. It turned out the dust collector was on fire. Obviously something went wrong when it decided to start cutting where it wasn’t supposed to and created a fire where the dust collector sucked it up, and set the filters on fire.

After cleanup, I sprayed two gallons of Febreze Odor-Eliminating product on all the walls and ceiling using a weed sprayer, but it still smells like I was roasting marshmallows in my shop. Although I got to replace the filters for the dust collector, I definitely got a tear in my eye when I look at the bed of my CNC machine. At least my shop didn’t burn down.

[ger21]

Vacuum tables and dust collectors can start fires almost instantly when something goes wrong.

[Mobius]

This is a good lesson as to why a person should not leave such machines unattended. It sucks, but could have been much worse.

[Xxray]

Ouch, glad it wasn't any worse than it was.

Keep in mind for future reference that opening a large door is not the thing to do [though an understandable impulse] when facing a fire in an otherwise relatively confined space. This feeds it a woosh of air [and oxygen], just what it needs to gain strength.
Can't say I would not have done the same, naturally you want to clear out the smoke so you can find and eliminate the source of the blaze.

Anyhow, good you have an extinguisher on hand, so do I.
I leave the machine unattended all the time, only incident I had was a little fire started due to using a dull bit, friction built up and the fine dust [which would have been chips with a decent bit] reached its flash point and started burning. Was very smokey but little actual flame, luckily wasn't even using the dust collector and I caught it just by chance before it got too bad.

Have since installed a smoke detector that calls my cell phone if it alerts, some people also keep tabs on activity with a bluetooth IP cam.

[plcamp]

Phone alerts and webcams are nice, however it you are 1/2 hour away from your shop the damage is done before you can get back to it. I never leave my machine unattended just call me over cautious.

As you mentioned, it could have been worse...Sorry for the lesson learned

[Xxray]

In life we must strive to make balances between this and that, CNC is no different to me.

One of the most beautiful things about it is it allows you to multitask, once set up it will run and do something productive/profitable while you are doing another task.
Often there are not enough hours in the day to do what needs to be done, if I had to be tied to the machine for hours on end because I was paranoid about a fire, that would put a big hamper on me and take away a large part of my enjoyment of CNC.
So I take a chance and I do what needs to be done while the machine is running, 5+ years later and 1,000's of cuts, no incidents worth mentioning to report.

True, something might happen on cut #1,547, that is in the lap of the gods.
I take what precautions I can and go from there.
Not trying to talk anyone into my style or say its the right or wrong way, we each must decide on our own if the very slight risk of a fire is worth losing productivity and time out of your life by being constantly tied to the machine while it is running.

[ChrisInEstes]

Yikes! I'm glad it wasn't worse!

Chris

[TReischl]

YIKES Gary!

Happy to see no one got hurt and your shop did not burn down.

I don't leave mine unattended. Ever. I was fortunate, one day when I was sorting hardware while the machine was running it took a dive for China. Instant smoke, no flames and I hustled right on over there to stop the machine. That episode taught me real well. It is not a matter IF it will ever happen, but WHEN. A simple thing, like forgetting to set a new Z zero at the end of the day and then putting in a much thicker piece of stock will do it.

The way I see it, I have spent more years getting my shop to where it is now and I do not have that many years left to do it all over again. I got in the habit of not leaving mine unattended when the shop was in the house. Trying to explain to my wife why I felt the need to burn the house down to make a few parts worth a couple of bucks is not something I am interested in doing. Not to mention I have made quite a few tools over the years, planes, gages, all sorts of stuff that I do not care to remake.

Thanks for posting this, it is important and others can learn from it.

[garylmast]

Keep in mind for future reference that opening a large door is not the thing to do [though an understandable impulse] when facing a fire in an otherwise relatively confined space. This feeds it a woosh of air [and oxygen], just what it needs to gain strength.

As soon as I opened the overhead door, that thought hit me. I guess when I was in panic mold my brain wasn't in gear. One thing I did do, when I was building the shop, I had a fire sprinkler system installed. I hope there is never a case when it goes off. Having several fire extinguishers has always been a requisite.

I've been doing several large double sided pieces, where each side runs about 3-hours. Sitting, watching the machine for the entire time has never been something that's practical. The job I just finished took about 24-hours cutting time.

The mill had to bind somewhere in the cut to caused it to kick off course, where I'm still trying to figure out where and why.

Anyway, stay safe and hopefully nobody experiences a fire.

[LittleGreyMan]

It is not a matter IF it will ever happen, but WHEN.

I totally agree. Our machines are sometimes running alone for hours in other materials (PU boards that have been tested for months before that), but we always keep an eye on them while machining wood, or any new material as an unknown PU board.

Happy to know it didn't turn into a disaster Gary.

[TReischl]

Gary, I hear you about those long running jobs :::sigh::::

Just think, you could wind up having the cleanest, most organized shop on the planet! Though for some odd reason, I am not even in the running.

[garylmast]

Just think, you could wind up having the cleanest, most organized shop on the planet! Though for some odd reason, I am not even in the running.

Using a leaf blower, I have blown out the shop twice, I have swepted it and vacuumed the walls, ceiling and floors. I have also sprayed 5-gallons of Febreze Odor-Eliminating product. It's as clean as it will ever get, but I can't get rid of the smell. I guess the next step is a new paint job or get use to that campfire smell.

[TReischl]

Smoke smell is hard to get rid of, but it will go away with time, especially if you keep doors and windows open and a small fan moving the air around.

I have another issue coming up, just bought a small 2.5w laser for my machine. SMOKE! I am already thinking I will use a spare shop vac for smoke suction. The sucker end up by the laser, then connect a hose to the exhaust end and port that out the window, maybe a hole in the wall eventually. Otherwise my wife will think I have been sitting around a campfire slurping beer with the neighbors.

[garylmast]

I had my laser exhaust go through the dust collector filter, but it would expel the smoke smell throughout the shop so I put a dryer vent to the outside. I glued a door screen to it to keep bugs and rodents from entering.

[IslaWW]

Hopefully we all will get not lost in the obvious. CNC machines can start fires and cause great damage.

So I would propose the following:

CNC fires and your wife getting pregnant are similar in the following way: It makes all the difference in the world for you to be there when it happens!